AbOUT 600 porters, cleaners, domestics and caterers start an overtime ban today and are to strike on Monday after talks at the region's largest hospital trust broke down.

Health union Unison has ordered an overtime ban and called ancillary workers out on a one-day strike after the collapse of talks with Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust.

Hospital bosses said they will do all they can to protect patients from the effects of industrial action.

Ancillary workers at four Newcastle hospitals, including the Royal Victoria Infirmary, The Freeman Hospital, Walkergate Hospital and Newcastle General Hospital, are involved in a wrangle with management over parts of a national agreement.

Unison says the Agenda for Change package, agreed nationally, means long-serving workers on Tyneside are being paid less than new recruits.

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust officials say they cannot stray from the national agreement and accused Unison of cherrypicking. The officials also denied union claims that new employees receive more pay than existing staff while doing the same job.

Unison regional officer Ian Daley said: "I am disappointed the trust has chosen not to address these issues. The chief executive claims they cannot vary a national agreement, but the truth is that trusts and unions up and down the country have been quietly negotiating local agreements within the national framework to their mutual satisfaction.

''Unison has consistently pushed for negotiations to resolve the issue, but faced with a management who simply refuse to address the problem, we have no other option but to proceed with the overtime ban and strike.''

Trust chief executive Len Fenwick said: "The trust has been consistent about implementing the whole package and maintaining faith with what the national level negotiators, including Unison, signed up for."