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17.11.2025 / News / Justice for Cleaners / St Helier and Epsom

Over 500 St Helier and Epsom hospital workers win £10 million NHS contract deal after historic fight

“We won this by joining UVW and fighting all together… We kept spreading the word and talking to each other and one by one we became hundreds. We got united and that gave us power to get a deal.” 

Min Chale, cleaner of 9 years at St Helier hospital and UVW member

Over 500 cleaners, caterers, porters and patient transport workers at St Helier and Epsom hospitals have won a landmark £10 million deal after years of being denied full NHS pay, pensions and conditions. Brought in-house four years ago but kept off Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts, they were shut out of sick pay from day one, weekend and night enhancements, full annual leave and proper pension contributions, losing millions in pay, sick leave and other entitlements. For years, these essential workers—who clean wards, transport patients, and prepare meals—had repeatedly requested NHS terms and conditions but were ignored. 

It was only when they joined United Voices of t3 World (UVW) union in their hundreds and organised a powerful campaign, which included a stunning 98% vote for strike action, that the St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (GESH) finally relented. The deal brings them onto full NHS terms and conditions, restores their length-of-service rights and ends a two-tier system that overwhelmingly hit Black, brown and migrant workers.

“I’m very happy about the new contract,” said Pujan Sherpa, a cleaner for nine years. “Before we had nothing. Now we have NHS holidays, sick pay, pensions and better pay for weekends. It will have a big impact on our family life.”

The workers will finally have their length of service formally recognised, impacting both their annual leave and sick pay entitlements, which didn’t increase with time unlike for other NHS employees— rights they had been denied for years. 

The fight stretched across months of organising, a march on the GESH board meeting in July to demand answers, and escalating community support. Workers spoke to each other across wards, kitchens and corridors, building confidence shift by shift. “We won this by joining UVW and fighting all together,” said cleaner Min Chale. “We had been asking and waiting for years and nothing was changing. But when we became hundreds, we got united, and that gave us power to get a deal.”

For many, the campaign was also about understanding their own power. “Before we joined our union, we didn’t know we had rights,” said cleaner Shushima Limbu. “It was all work, work, work and nothing else — but now we know.”

This is believed to be the only dispute in the country where in-house NHS workers have had to vote to strike for AfC contracts and full equality with NHS colleagues.       

A UVW’s investigation into the scandal – “NHS at 75: The Hidden Cost for Low-Paid, Migrant Workers at St Helier and Epsom Hospitals” (October 2025) – revealed more than £32 million in missing pay and benefits and £6 million in withheld pensions, a pattern it identified as “institutional racism” inside GESH. The UVW members’ survey revealed a two-tier system in which predominantly white staff enjoyed full NHS rights, while majority Black, brown, and migrant workers were systematically excluded. It found that some of the workers had been underpaid by as much as £10,000 a year.

The deal was won through workers’ courage and the credible threat of strike action. After years of being ignored and underpaid, they pushed the Trust to treat them as equals. The strike mandate remains live to ensure the employer honours the agreement, and the fight for backpay continues, including potential legal action.

This historic win shows what workers can achieve when they stand together. If you are facing inequality or exploitation in your workplace, come to UVW, get organised and fight with us.

  

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