We are NHS workers in Lancashire and we urgently need your support. As hospital cleaners and catering staff, we are outsourced to OCS and have worked 24/7 throughout the pandemic to keep staff and patients safe. But while OCS boasts it turned over hundreds of millions during the COVID crisis, it continues to pay us less than our NHS colleagues doing exactly the same jobs. Hospital workers employed by OCS are £2000 worse off than our colleagues working for the NHS. We also have inferior working conditions including 7 days less annual leave and lower sick pay. We submitted a collective grievance about this issue in May 2021, and EIGHT MONTHS on, we finally received a response- which failed to address any of the issues and passed blame to the NHS Trust. We have become increasingly frustrated and have now voted 97.8% in favour of taking strike action to resolve this issue. One OCS worker said: "I work for OCS as a domestic on the hospital wards. When accepted the job I was told the rate of pay was minimum wage, but was not told I would be working alongside work colleagues on a different contract which has a higher rate of hourly pay and full sick pay, they also receive 35 days holidays and we get 28 days including bank holidays. We have all worked through the pandemic, working on Covid 19 wards where some Covid patients have been walking freely around the wards. As a thank you from OCS we received a 2 finger KitKat and told we could also have an extra 10 minute break! We all found this very insulting, we have been fighting our dispute with OCS for 3 years now and we feel that the 2 tier pay system and contracts that OCS have in place are very unfair and causes friction amongst work colleagues, we all do the same job and we should all receive the same rate of pay and terms and conditions." Sadly, OCS still isn’t listening. We think that a great way to get the Chief Executive’s attention is to flood his inbox with emails from all of us. Can you take a few minutes to email Bob Taylor? It’s easy, you just need to add your details and press send. We don’t want to strike if we can avoid it, especially not in the middle of a global pandemic but we will do what it takes to get fair treatment. Health bosses and OCS can still avert a strike by agreeing to pay us the correct rate for the job. Claps don't pay the bills. Key workers demand fair pay. #ONENHS, nobody left behind.

The heritage and wider cultural sector was hit very hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of jobs were lost as vital income streams dried up. As museums, galleries and other spaces have been able to reopen to the public and tourism has begun to recover there have been some green shoots of recovery. However this can only happen with both a safe workforce and visitors that feel confident about attending Covid-secure venues. This is being put at risk by the failure of the UK government to mandate the wearing of facemasks for visitors to indoor heritage venues in England. Although masks will only be one part of a comprehensive strategy to address the risks posed by Covid the World Health Organisations recommends them as an important part of this comprehensive approach.

PFI BLEEDS THE NHS DRY, TIME’S UP FOR PFI PROFITEERS! Unison Lanarkshire Health Branch has launched a campaign to bring private contracts within NHS Lanarkshire back in house into public ownership. The campaign aims to end the private Serco and ISS contracts within NHS Lanarkshire; which provides catering, portering, domestic and security services at Hairmyres and Wishaw Hospitals back in house to put an end to a two-tier workforce. Once brought back in-house it will allow all NHS Lanarkshire workers at these sites to be employed on equal terms and conditions. Bringing these contracts back in house will also put an end to profit-motivated contractors providing public services at the public’s expense. Unison has produced a letter which we have directly mailed to all Lanarkshire Councillors, MSPs and MPs asking them to support our campaign to bring the staff back in-house where they belong. Let's be clear, PFI contracts are bleeding NHS Lanarkshire and its time to put a stop to private profiteers draining OUR National Health Service. Support our campaign and sign our petition! You can also get more involved in the campaign by: Phone: 01698 754333 Email: [email protected]

Throughout the pandemic, biomedical scientists have been on the frontline of our NHS, analysing patient blood samples and carrying out covid-19 testing. Their work has been critical to keeping us safe. But the NHS Trust has let these key workers down. They have acted in bad faith and failed to fully honour the agreement to upgrade them from band 5 to band 6 and pay the back pay they are entitled to. After exploring all options to resolve the issue, Unite members were left with no choice but to take industrial action. And now the Trust is wasting public funds trying to break the strike. These workers need your support. Can you add your voice and demand East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust honour their agreement?

PCS members have been in dispute with DVLA management and the Department for Transport (DfT) since January over covid safety in the workplace. With the highest numbers of workplace cases, management were slow to act and showed scant disregard for members health. After 8 days of strike action PCS negotiated a deal to end the dispute and put in place clear safeguards for those in work. At the 11th hour the draft agreement was scrapped by management without a clear explanation why. Further strike action is now underway. We believe government ministers stopped the DVLA management signing the deal. We need to apply pressure to the Secretary of State to settle this dispute. Please sign the email to him. It’s your right to be heard and only pressure from union members and our friends and family will work now.

Latest Government figures revealed a staggering 385,000 people have been living with symptoms of long Covid for a year or more. And spiralling infection rates mean many more people are likely to contract long Covid. Symptoms include fatigue, brain fog and shortness of breath, and it’s more common in key workers, women and those living in the most deprived areas. Our research reviled wide spread discrimination and disbelief at work 1 in 20 people with long covid have been forced out of their jobs. This is not acceptable. We must stand in solidarity with everyone who has long Covid. We demand the Government urgently address the discrimination people with long Covid face.

GMB union members and workers at Yeovil District Hospital are demanding respect and fair pay. Simply Serve Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust. NHS workers in non-clinical roles (e.g. Porters, Cleaners, Housekeeping, Admin, Catering,) who were transferred from the Trust into its wholly-owned subsidiary, Simply Serve Limited (SSL), remain on the NHS “Agenda For Change” (AFC) contract, while new starters are paid on the lower SSL rates, despite doing the same job. It is not acceptable for staff to do the work of NHS workers, but not be be recognised and paid as NHS workers. GMB demand equal pay for equal work. It is fair, it is reasonable and it is right. Join GMB, sign the petition and support the campaign for Pay Justice in our NHS!

Simply Serve Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust, which pays staff less than the standard NHS pay, terms and conditions. It is not acceptable for staff to be employed to do the of job NHS workers, but not be paid as NHS workers. Tell the Board of Directors: Direct your wholly-owned subsidiary, Simply Serve Limited, to meet the GMB demand for harmonisation for all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract; or better still, dissolve the wholly-owned subsidiary to harmonise all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract!

Every day since March 2020, these workers have put themselves at risk; at risk of getting infected and at risk of infecting their family. To discover the subsidiary you set up and oversee has been paying many of these workers on less than the standard NHS pay, terms and conditions is unacceptable. Tell the Board of Directors: Support and direct your wholly-owned subsidiary, AGH Solutions, to meet the GMB demand for harmonisation for all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract; or dissolve the wholly-owned subsidiary to harmonise all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract.

Over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of Stoke care workers have been, and continue to be, financially penalised for doing the right thing and protecting the vulnerable people they care for.   Proper sick pay is known to prevent the spread of infections to service users and the wider community. Care workers need the assurance that they will not be financially penalised when they need to self-isolate.   In Stoke, the majority of care workers who have spoken to UNISON have reported that instead of receiving their normal pay in line with Government guidance, they are having to survive on SSP at £96 per week, use annual leave, or in some cases get nothing at all. This is despite care employers receiving millions in public funds and being instructed to use them to pay self-isolating care workers their normal wages.

Low-paid workers at Cumberland Infirmary are in urgent need of our support. These porters, cleaners, switchboard and catering staff are outsourced to Mitie and have worked 24/7 throughout the pandemic to keep staff and patients safe. But while Mitie boasts it is making massive profits from the Covid crisis, it continues to pay these workers less than their NHS colleagues doing the same jobs. This is despite North Cumbria Integrated NHS Foundation Trust saying it handed over a "substantial sum" for them to be paid NHS rates when the contract was privatised in 2010. The 150 workers, who belong to UNISON and the GMB, have been on strike for two days. Instead of investigating where their missing wages went, health bosses and Mitie chose to squabble over who's responsible for paying the workers what they're owed. Sadly, Mitie still isn’t listening. We think that an even better way to get the Managing Director’s attention is to flood his inbox with emails from all of us. Can you take a few minutes to email Phil Bentley? It’s easy, you just need to add your details and press send. This is not what our members want. They don’t want to strike, especially not in the middle of a global pandemic. Health bosses and Mitie could have averted the strike by agreeing to pay the workers the correct rate for the job. The rate the Trust said they'd be paid when the contract was privatised in 2010. We know who’s side we’re on.

Employees at AGH Solutions Ltd, a private wholly-owned subsidiary of Airedale NHS Trust responsible for facilities management, estates and procurement services are currently on unequal pay rates despite doing the same job. Workers who were transferred (TUPED) over from the Airedale NHS Trust into AGH Solutions (AGHS) in 2018 remain on the NHS “Agenda For Change” (AFC) contract, while many new starters are paid on lower pay rates. For the majority of workers on the AGHS pay Grade A, this means they receive nearly £1.00 per hour less in basic pay than the rest of their colleagues employed under the NHS AFC contract on Band 2. If you factor in unsocial hours pay on the weekends and nights the wage gap widens much further. “I don’t feel valued. I do the same job as a friend who gets paid more than I do for the same work. It’s not right.” - Shift Porter To outline the pay difference. A Domestic employed on the NHS contract receives a basic rate of £9.89 per hour. If they work between 8pm - 6am or on a Saturday they get paid £14.14 per hour, and if they work on a Sunday they get paid £18.29 per hour. 

In contrast, a Domestic employed on the AGHS contract only gets paid £9.00 per hour no matter when they work. The basic hourly pay gap and the fact that AGHS workers don’t receive unsocial hours enhancements makes a huge difference. This is all without comparing sick pay rates, holiday entitlement and pension plans, all of which are significantly better under AFC. The purpose of this petition, our campaign and the GMB dispute at Airedale Hospital is to end the pay disparity for the majority of workers employed on AGHS pay rates and stop the race to the bottom in our NHS. “GMB will continue to stand-up for key workers. This pandemic has highlighted the tremendous debt of gratitude we all owe our frontline NHS heroes, and at Airedale, with this campaign, we can begin to repay that debt” - Rachel Dix, GMB Regional Organiser