Manchester

More than 150 staff, who care for 1,000 seriously-ill psychiatric patients, are on picket lines across Manchester and say they will not return to work until senior nurse Karen Reissmann is reinstated.

The strike follows the decision of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust bosses to sack Ms Reissmann on Monday.

UNISON members who work for Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust are protesting about the ongoing suspension of their branch chair and national health executive member, Karen Reissmann.

This coincides with the disciplinary hearing for their branch chair, Karen Reissmann. There will be a mass lobby of the hearing Thursday 18th October 8am, at the Trust’s headquarters (Chorlton House, 70 Manchester Rd, Chorlton, Manchester M21 9UN) where the disciplinary hearing will take place.

In a statement, UNISON said:

Striking nurses lobbied their board last Thursday and were told their trust had “made approaches to Unison Regional Centre regarding ways of halting the industrial action”. When they met yesterday (Monday) UNISON regional officers were merely informed that the trust was to convene a disciplinary hearing for Karen the week beginning 15th October.

Reissmann, a psychiatric nurse, was suspended in June for allegedly bringing Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust into disrepute.

The union Unison said she was suspended for speaking out against job cuts and government policies. The NHS trust has said it is a private employment matter. About 700 workers staged a similar three-day strike last month.

About half the strikers were on lively picket lines at the four main sites - at Wythenshawe Hospital, Chorlton House (Trust HQ), Manchester Royal Infirmary and North Manchester General Hospital.

Rachel Tombling sustained injuries when her head hit a computer screen in an on-board shop when her train experienced rough riding - but was sacked for wilfully damaging it. The sacking was upheld at an appeal, and now workers from Virgin West Coast’s Manchester Piccadilly depot are on strike, having been out for three days so far.

The Manchester Evening News reports:

Parking attendants in Manchester have gone back to work after a day of industrial action. They turned up for work this morning but refused to go out to work in a continuing row over pay and treatment by management.

The university admitted that it is looking to make voluntary redundancies to offset the debt, which was created by the merger between the Victoria Manchester University and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (Umist) in 2004.

There are no plans for compulsory job cuts.

The strike action will be taken by 250 community nurses, occupational therapists and team secretaries to stop the cuts in community mental health teams which include:

* reduction in staffing numbers in community mental health teams and consequent higher caseloads, and a reduction in service to keep people well