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HAMISH the West Highland terrier sits quietly on his master’s lap, kept warm by a tartan coat covered in Unite union stickers.

The three-year-old dog has become the mascot for Ninewells Hospital porters’ strike and hasn’t missed a day of the industrial action that is now in its 12th week .

But while the amiable Westie has come to symbolise the three picket lines, so has the incredible sense of solidarity which has been fostered among the staff.

The 117 workers, who began their action in early April, believe they were wrongly graded 10 years ago and are due millions of pounds in back pay from the Dundee hospital – which NHS Tayside dispute.

This week, the Record visited the porters and found a defiant and proud group who have bonded during their fight.

They have been forced to make huge sacrifices in their daily lives but have been supported by union bosses, friends, relatives and the general public, whose astonishing charitable gestures have helped keep them going.

Among the workers is British Empire Medal recipient Margaret Robinson, who has been a porter on Ninewells’ cancer ward for 22 years.

The 62-year-old told us: “Disputes like this bring out the best in people. I’ve got to know some of my colleagues who I normally only saw briefly in the corridors really well.”

Hamish’s owner, 57-year-old Allan Glen, has worked as a porter for 20 years and said: “We have received over £30,000 in donations including from a pensioner couple, who drop £50 in our bucket at the same time every week. The public have been incredible and are fully behind what we are doing.”

The group experienced tragedy last month when one of their own, hospital worker Grahame Nicholson, died following a serious illness – and the 51-year-old’s closest friends were not allowed to temporarily break their industrial action to take him on a “fitting last journey” to the mortuary.

Dundee-based MSP Jenny Marra, the Shadow Health Secretary, recently raised the issue of the strike with Nicola Sturgeon during First Minister’s Questions and politicians later met the porters at Holyrood.

Sturgeon said: “I think that it is right and proper for the process to run its due course, but I am hopeful that it will lead to that successful resolution.”

Fresh talks on the issue started yesterday and it is hoped that a resolution to the dispute can be finalised this week.

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Paul Maher has been a porter for 21 years and works in Ninewells Hospital’s busy A&E department.

The 47-year-old, who is originally from east London but now lives in Dundee’s Menzieshill, said it is a very pressurised environment because everything happens quickly and porters have no idea what’s “coming through the doors”.

As a Unite shop steward, one of his roles is to try to keep morale up on the picket lines and support the strikers when they are struggling.

He said: “Striking is all about keeping the faith and believing in what we are trying to achieve.”

Paul also described the level of camaraderie that has built up over the last three months.

He added: “Most of us go out for a few pints together now and some even stretch to a game of golf. The strike has definitely made us a much stronger and more formidable group.”

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ALLAN Glen is one of the first on the picket line each day and makes sure Hamish, the strike mascot, is decked out in full union livery.

The 57-year-old, from Whitfield in the north of Dundee, admits that making ends meet is the biggest challenge he’s faced during the dispute.

His daughter got married last week and his financial challenges made the build-up to the ceremony more stressful.

Allan told how union bosses at Unite had eased some of his worries and assisted him when it mattered most.

He said: “The union has helped me out with my mortgage and heating through the strike – without that support I would have been stuck.

“It got so bad at one point that I broke my tooth before the wedding and my daughter had to pay to get it fixed because I couldn’t afford it.

“Doctors at the hospital have made regular donations to the cause because they know exactly how important we are.

“I think people understand that we are not bad people and that this dispute isn’t about wanting pay rises or more cash, it’s simply about asking for what we are entitled to.”