Outsourced NHS workers threatening to strike over unequal pay
Outsourced workers at several NHS healthcare sites in Ormskirk, England are threatening to strike due to unequal pay against their NHS-employed counterparts.
According to UK’s largest union Unison, domestic employees who are tasked to clean and cater at healthcare sites are forced to work even when ill due to what they consider unequal pay and rates from their employer, the facilities management giant OCS.
Unison said that although OCS, and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust agreed to match the pay of outsourced employees to workers who are directly-employed by the NHS, this did not include sick pay, annual leave, other allowances.
Unison North West Regional Organiser Dale Ollier said: “This dispute has never been just about pay. It’s about ensuring everyone working in the NHS is treated the same. Although OCS workers now earn more an hour, many are still struggling.”
“OCS staff should be paid in full when poorly, receive the same as NHS colleagues for night or weekend work and be allowed to take the same amount of holiday,” he added.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust said that they have already “made significant additional investment to achieve salary parity for OCS staff” that aliens the salaries with the NHS scale and above the national living wage.
