HOSPITAL cleaners have won a race discrimination appeal against Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) in a ruling their union called “a historic rupture in the systemic injustice that has plagued the NHS for decades.”

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld an appeal brought by 80 cleaners, who argued they were unlawfully treated less favourably than other staff by being denied Agenda for Change (AfC) pay and conditions after transferring into direct NHS employment.

The cleaners had been employed by outsourcing firm OCS Group UK Ltd between August 2016 and July 2021, before transferring to Gosh under the Transfer of Undertakings (Tupe) regulations.

They argued that even after moving in-house, they were not immediately placed on full AfC terms and continued to receive inferior pay and conditions.

The EAT confirmed that their claims of indirect racial discrimination succeeded for the period after the transfer, rejecting arguments that responsibility could be avoided through delay.

The workers, represented by law firm Leigh Day and members of United Voices of the World (UVW) union, argued that the trust’s approach disproportionately disadvantaged cleaners from global majority backgrounds compared with predominantly white directly employed staff.

Their solicitor, Aman Thakar, said: “This is a long-overdue victory for a group of workers who have been treated as second-class staff for far too long.

“The EAT has recognised that it is not lawful for an NHS trust to benefit from the labour of predominantly global majority workers while denying them the pay and conditions afforded to their colleagues.

“The judgement makes clear that responsibility cannot be avoided through delay after workers transfer in-house.”

United Voices of the World general secretary Petros Elia said the ruling sent a clear message to NHS trusts that “the era of a two-tier workforce is over.”

“This is not just a victory; it is a historic rupture in the systemic injustice that has plagued the NHS for decades,” he said.

“For too long, thousands of predominantly black, brown and migrant facilities workers — the cleaners, porters, caterers and security staff — have been treated as second-class citizens and paid third-class wages, whether outsourced or in-house, despite being the backbone of our health service.”

A Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) spokesperson said: “Our cleaning and domestic services colleagues are valued members of our team at GOSH.    

“This was a complex process, and we worked hard to harmonise staff into NHS employment quickly and in ways that worked best for individual staff.  

“We are carefully reviewing the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision. As the appeal process is ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment further.”