19.03.2026 / Press releases / St Helier and Epsom

UVW union signs collective agreement with St Helier and Epsom Hospitals 

• United Voices of the World (UVW) union signs collective agreement with St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (GESH) 

• The agreement covers more than 500 mostly Black, brown and migrant workers, in-house catering, cleaning, and portering staff at St Helier and Epsom Hospitals in Surrey. 
  
• The agreement establishes a framework for regular dialogue, collective bargaining, and union representation, covering workplace conditions, organisational change, and employee protections.  
   
• The cleaners, caterers and porters joined UVW in their hundreds in 2025 following four years without NHS Agenda for Change conditions after being brought in-house, a 98% vote for strike action led to a landmark deal securing NHS pay, pensions and full Agenda for Change benefits.  
   

UVW union has secured a collective agreement with the St Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust covering over 500 cleaners, porters and catering staff, most of whom are Black, brown and migrant workers. 

The agreement establishes a formal framework for regular dialogue, consultation and negotiation and includes arrangements for ongoing engagement between the Trust and UVW over the harmonisation of terms and conditions towards Agenda for Change. 

It also makes provision for regular meetings; consultation on workplace policies and organisational changes; representation in all formal meetings for workers who clean wards, prepare meals, and transport patients; paid facility time for union representatives; ensuring workers have effective representation in the workplace; and commits both parties to promoting equality, tackling discrimination, and improving workplace standards. 

The signing of the agreement follows a high-profile campaign which ended four years of essential workers being denied NHS terms and conditions, despite being directly employed by the NHS. That campaign – that resulted in a 98% yes vote in a strike ballot for full NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) terms and conditions – forced the Trust board to agree to negotiate with UVW union. Staff will now receive NHS pay scales, pensions, annual leave, sick pay from day one and enhanced payments for evenings, weekends and overtime, after four years of inequality. 

The St Helier and Epsom dispute stands out as the only Trust where in-house NHS workers have had to vote for strike action to secure AfC contracts and full equality with their NHS colleagues.  

Farrokh Hormoz, Porter at St Heliers Hospital, said: 
 
“For so long, the lowest-paid workers have gone unheard — now, finally, they have a platform that reflects their voices. I’m incredibly proud of my union, we held management to account in every meeting, and that persistence paid off. This win shows what’s possible when workers organise and refuse to be ignored.” 
 
Nassaia Nkusi, Cleaner supervisor, at St Helier Hospital, said: 
 
“This means everything to us. It wasn’t easy, but now we finally have a voice — we’re no longer being pushed aside or ignored. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together. This victory is the result of our unity, our voices, and our hard work, and it will be felt across the whole hospital. I’ve worked here for 26 years, many people didn’t believe this was possible, but we proved them wrong. There were sleepless nights, but we kept going because we care deeply about this place — my children were born here. I’ve never been in a union before, but today I feel truly grateful. We now have recognition, we have strength, and with UVW standing with us, we will continue to fight for our rights. This is a huge achievement for all of us.” 

Petros Elia, General Secretary of United Voices of the World, said: 
 
“This is a historic victory for over 500 essential NHS workers – mostly Black, brown and migrant cleaners, caterers and porters – who refused to be treated as second-class. Today’s collective agreement gives them a permanent seat at the table with regular bargaining, strong union representation, paid facility time and protections. No longer invisible, these workers now have a collective voice in every decision that affects them. We will keep organising until every facilities worker receives the dignity they deserve.” 

For more information contact the UVW comms team 

Cristina: 07548 759340 

Isabel: 07706 987443  

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk     

Notes for editors  
 

The St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (GESH) runs St Heliers and Epsom hospitals in South London and Surrey. 
 
Contracts for NHS staff are governed by the 2004 Agenda for Change (AfC), which provides much better conditions than privately outsourced workers. 

The campaign for AfC pay, pensions and conditions,  included a workers’ march on the GESH board meeting in July 2025 to demand answers, widespread support from local residents, councillors, and London MPs and politicians, and the publication of a shocking UVW report — “NHS at 75: The Hidden Cost for Low-Paid, Migrant Workers at St Helier and Epsom Hospitals” (October 2025), which exposed what it described as “institutional racism entrenched in the NHS.” 

The MOU between GESH & UVW covers: 

• Framework for partnership working: Establishes a formal structure for regular dialogue between Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and United Voices of the World to support safe patient care, staff wellbeing, and effective worker representation. 
• Coverage for facilities staff: Applies to in-house Catering, Cleaning and Portering staff, setting out arrangements for consultation and collective bargaining on local terms and conditions such as pay, hours, shift patterns, and workplace policies. 
• Stronger worker voice and representation: Confirms the Union’s role in representing members in workplace matters including grievances, disciplinary processes, organisational change consultations, and health and safety issues. 
• Commitment to fair engagement and protections: Includes agreements on facility time for union representatives, equality and anti-discrimination commitments, consultation on major workplace changes, and protections for workers participating in lawful union activity. 

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect. 

SHARE