Around 40 cleaners, porters, security officers and catering staff who work for facilities management organisation OCS at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and who are members of the trade union Unison, are undertaking strike action today (Monday 25 February 2019) in a dispute over pay.
Unison members who work at OCS are claiming that they are not being paid the agreed National Health Service (NHS) pay rate, which has a minimum level of £8.93 an hour. Unison states that its OCS-employed members receive considerably less than this, with some being paid the statutory minimum wage rate of £7.83 an hour.
Furthermore, OCS staff represented by Unison say that employees working for other facilities management businesses at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, performing the same job roles, are being paid the nationally agreed rates for working in the NHS.
All Unison members at OCS (100%) voted in favour of today’s 24-hour strike.
Maria Moss, north west regional organiser at Unison, said: “OCS is a profitable global business and [it] should pay all [its] staff at Liverpool Women’s Hospital the NHS rate for the job. All OCS staff are performing important roles that affect the quality of care and the patients’ experience of the hospital. All the staff are part of the NHS team and they should all be paid the agreed NHS rate.
“We raised this matter with OCS seven months ago and there has been no progress in getting it resolved. OCS staff are very determined that they should be treated fairly and equitably, and their colleagues are supporting them in taking action.”