As members of the NHS team, security, facilities and catering staff employed by OCS provide essential care and support to patients and our communities when they need it most, in a number of hospitals and clinics across the North West.
We work alongside our colleagues who are employed directly by the Health Service. The only difference between us and directly employed NHS staff is our employer, which in our case is a private contractor (OCS), and our pay & conditions.
All staff who provide healthcare in our NHS should be entitled to dignity, fair pay and decent conditions.
OCS Petition
OCS are paid to deliver NHS services but reap the profits from taxpayer-funded contracts whilst paying us less than our colleagues employed by the NHS on the correct Agenda for Change rates.
That’s because we’re paid below the correct pay band for the job and didn’t receive the lump sum pay award paid to NHS workers last year.
We are amongst the lowest paid workers in the health service, and we are losing out in our pay packets whilst taxpayers’ money is siphoned off in profits to bosses and shareholders.
This is unfair and has left many experiencing financial hardship and feeling less valued than our NHS-employed colleagues.
OCS staff at Lancashire Care, Liverpool Womens’ Hospital and Wigan, Wrightington and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust are coming together through our union UNISON, to demand that we receive the same pay and conditions as those employed directly by the health service, as well as last year’s lump sum payment.
We demand pay parity and ask our NHS colleagues, patients, service-users and members of the public to stand with us in our campaign for fair pay.
Sign the petition below!