“We can build power together and win real changes at work. If we can come together, that is where they will have to listen to our voices.” – Vida, Caterer at National hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
UVW migrant caterers at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London have won a major workplace victory after collectively challenging new restrictions on annual leave imposed by their employer, Medirest.
The new rules limited workers to a maximum of two weeks of leave at a time. Leave during March, August and December was restricted to just one week, while the number of workers allowed to take leave at any one time was capped at 10% of the workforce.
For these workers, many of whom are migrant women with families overseas, the restrictions had a serious impact on their family lives.
As caterer Vida explained, many of the workers are from Africa and travelling home can mean an expensive long-distance flight. For workers on relatively low wages, taking a long journey simply to spend two weeks with their families can be difficult to justify or afford. As she put it, “it’s difficult to buy a ticket and go and spend just two weeks and come back.”
The restrictions were particularly difficult for workers with children. March and August coincide with school holidays, making them important periods for parents to spend time with their children. December is also a key period for family celebrations and for migrant workers who want to travel overseas to see relatives.
The new annual leave form introduced by management imposed further conditions on workers requesting time off. Workers were also warned that failing to return to work on time could result in disciplinary action or dismissal.
The caterers decided to act collectively. They called a meeting with management and demanded that the previous annual leave arrangements be restored. Following their collective action, the contractor has now scrapped the restrictive annual leave form.
“We want to work our jobs effectively and assist our patients in each ward,” Vida said. “And we can only do that with enough time off.”
Health and safety at work shouldn’t be a lottery
This is not the first time these caterers have organised to defend their working conditions. They previously challenged a proposed lottery system that would have randomly assigned them to different hospital wards, despite many workers having extensive experience in particular wards and knowing the patients they regularly cared for.
The workers raised concerns that moving caterers between wards could also have implications for patient safety. Caterers need to understand the dietary and medical needs of the patients on their wards, and workers argued that their experience and knowledge of individual patients should not be disregarded.
The caterers filed a collective grievance and negotiated with their contractor, successfully preventing the lottery system from being introduced and maintaining their regular shifts.
The victories highlight the wider inequality faced by outsourced workers in the NHS
These caterers provide essential services in an NHS hospital but are employed by a private contractor and are therefore subject to Medirest’s terms and conditions. Directly-employed NHS staff are covered by the NHS Agenda for Change terms and conditions, providing a framework for pay, leave and other employment rights.
Outsourcing can therefore mean workers doing essential jobs in the same NHS environment have very different employment conditions depending on who employs them. For migrant workers like these caterers, who are employed by contractors rather than directly by the NHS, those differences can have a significant impact on their working and family lives.
However, these caterers have shown what workers can achieve when they organise collectively and through their union.
As Vida put it: “We can build power together and win real changes at work. If we can come together, that is where they will have to listen to our voices.”
When workers organise, they win.