UNISON has won a decision to bring outsourced workers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) back in house at the end of the current contract in August 2022.
The move follows months of negotiations, after the union submitted a claim for the insourcing of staff employed by Samsic UK in 2019 on behalf of the dedicated cleaners and security staff at the school.
In a huge win for the outsourced workers, parity of terms and conditions will now be offered to the staff, many of whom have worked tirelessly on the front line throughout COVID-19 to keep the researchers safe and the school open to help combat the effects of the global pandemic.
A contract with the school itself means that the work of these frontline staff is being recognised, with an increase in benefits such as additional annual leave and access to a hugely improved pension scheme.
UNISON regional organiser Sam Ferman welcomed the decision, noting that the staff “will now finally be welcomed as full members of the LSHTM community from August 2022 following months of negotiations and discussions with UNISON.
“LSHTM is the most recent institution to recognise that ending unfair outsourcing arrangements is the right thing to do, and we look forward to working with LSHTM to ensure that the process of bringing their outsourced staff back in-house is a successful one.”
