CAMPAIGNS: JUSTICE FOR CLEANERS
ISS reneges on London Living Wage and uses immigration police to intimidate workers, on London Underground and in London colleges
After cleaners organised by the RMT union on London Underground won the London living wage from contractors, including ISS, in 2008, union activists were targeted by immigration checks in an attempt to intimidate workers into ending their trade union organising. ISS later announced that they would not introduce the living wage after all; in June 2009 ISS pulled the same trick on cleaners at the School of Oriental and African Studies who had recently won a living wage campaign. The cleaners were called into an early-morning meeting and pounced on by immigration police. Seven cleaners were deported without a chance to plead their case. Students and campaigners occupied the office of SOAS director Paul Webley in protest. They ended the occupation when SOAS agreed to look at bringing cleaning back in-house and to respect workers' rights. However, that is not the end of the campaign: SOAS need to be held to this promise.
Barnet TUC supported the SOAS occupation, issuing this statement: 'We oppose the use of immigration law to intimidate and penalise workers fighting for their rights at work. We support the SOAS occupation.'
Justice for Tube cleaners: No to union-busting! Bring cleaning back in-house!
In 2008 Tube cleaners on London Underground, through strike action, made some progress towards winning the London living wage, currently calculated to be £7.45 per hour. Cleaners employed by Metronet* won the London ‘living wage’. Cleaners employed by ISS, who have the contract for cleaning on TubeLines*, were due to get a 60p per hour rise from 1 September, and incremental increases until they reach £7.45 by April 2009. But ISS have engaged in foot-dragging over the agreement signed then. Tube cleaners, for example, still have to pay their own fares between stations they are working on!
Since that time, moreover, ISS have engaged in victimising RMT trade union reps, finding excuses to sack them.
There have been a number of protests against this outside ISS headquarters office, but Transport for London and Metronet have also been targeted. As the bodies holding the contracts with the cleaning companies, they should take their full share of responsibility for the treatment of contracted out cleaners. The real guarantee of cleaners' pay, holidays, conditions of work - and right to practise effective trade unionism - will come when these services are taken back in-house.
* TubeLines maintains trains and infrastructure on Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines; Metronet, which was recently taken back inhouse, does the maintenance on the other London Underground lines.
 Amey plc should reinstate sacked cleaners!
Members of Barnet trades council joined activists from the Campaign Against Immigration Controls and the Latin American Workers Association at a protest outside Merit House on Burnt Oak Broadway on Thursday 30 October. Amey plc have their offices on the 8th floor. We were protesting against the sacking of five cleaners employed by Amey at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) for trade union activities. To intimidate the workers at the NPL, most of them from Latin America, Amey have even called in immigration authorities.
You can support the sacked cleaners' demand for reinstatement by
- calling the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills on 020 7215 5555 or emailing complaints.DIUS@dius.gsi.gov.uk to demand that contractors working at the NPL do not persecute workers for trade union activities
Picture: Julio Mayor, cleaner sacked by Amey plc for trade unionism. © Vicki Morris
Background to what's been going on at the National Physical Laboratory
Two months ago five Colombian cleaners working for Amey Plc at the National Physical Laboratory were suspended for daring to criticise Amey for putting an excessive workload onto ever fewer staff, for unilaterally changing terms and conditions and for disrespecting grievance procedures. The five have since been sacked. They are all members of the Prospect union and some of Unite-T&G as well.
When Amey took over the contract in December 2006 it found itself faced with a largely Latin American migrant workforce that was organised and conscious of its rights. They had recently unionised and were taking steps to gain recognition – a right afforded to all other staff at the NPL.
In order to enforce a serious increase in workload and downgrade in conditions, Amey tricked the cleaners into attending a fake training session, only for the doors to be bolted and 7 of the workers to be taken away by the police. Of these, three were deported – one to Colombia and two to Brazil. All lost their jobs.
These workers were never replaced, and there are now 10 cleaners doing the work previously done by 36! The sacking of the five workers is a direct result of the remaining workers’ attempts to protest against this trend. Amey say that they were fired for bringing the company into disrepute – that is, handing out a leaflet to other NPL staff stating what was happening. Considering these workers had tried to move grievances which were never listened to, what Amey is actually saying is: these workers were sacked for taking the only course of action available to them, or to anyone whose rights are not recognised by their employers.
More details about the campaign: Campaign Against Immigration Controls, contact@caic.org.uk, tel. 07974 331053.
London Undergound cleaners strike shows that action can win [from September 2008 Barnet TUC newsletter]
London Underground cleaners organised by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) took three days’ strike action in June and July and have won an important victory
Cleaners employed by Metronet* have won the London ‘living wage’, which is currently calculated to be £7.45 per hour. Cleaners employed by ISS, who have the contract for cleaning on TubeLines*, will get a 60p per hour rise from 1 September, and incremental increases until they reach £7.45 by April 2009. These rises represent 30+ per cent increase on the £5.50 per hour cleaners earned before the strikes.
The cleaners had been due to take further strike action, joined by cleaners organised by the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), but the action was suspended when the offer of a pay increase was made. The cleaners have not won all of their original demand which included more holidays, better sick pay, a better pension, and more job security. In addition, they will have to be vigilant that ISS honours its commitment.
Despite the qualifications, this is an important victory for London Underground cleaners and for the RMT. It shows that against difficult odds, taking action can win.
RMT activists report that the union worked hard for years to organise the cleaners before the ballot to strike was taken. Importantly, this work included training representatives from among the cleaners themselves. In the ballot, there was a 99+ per cent vote to strike. The strikes were solid, in spite of the considerable victimisation that took place of activists.
During and in the aftermath of the strikes, ISS has used immigration checks to intimidate cleaners, many of whom are migrant workers. A number of activists have been suspended and some even deported as a result of this use of the immigration law by the employers.
* TubeLines maintains trains and infrastructure on Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines; Metronet, which was recently taken back inhouse, does the maintenance on all other London Underground lines.
And solidarity is helpful too...
The morale of the London Underground cleaners taking strike action was boosted by a number of protests organised in solidarity:
● Brent TUC met on 30 July to discuss the dispute. After the meeting, they marched to a nearby London Underground depot where a cleaner activist was facing a disciplinary. Seeing the protest, the employers agreed to an RMT rep attending the hearing, which they had not allowed before.
● A group called Feminist Fightback held two protests, in one they occupied the foyer of Transport for London and insisted that TfL should not be allowed to ‘wash their hands’ of what was being done to cleaners by contractors.
● A group called Campaign Against Immigration Controls occupied the offices of ISS to protest against the use of immigration law to intimidate their employees.
To donate to the Tube cleaners' strike fund, please visit http://rmtplatform.org.uk/cleaners
Report of Brent Trades Council meeting, Wednesday 30 July 2008, in support of London Underground cleaners
by Anon ('because my boss likes to look for my name in Google')
Brent Trades Council held a rally to build support for the struggle of the London Underground cleaners. Around 50 people came to hear cleaner activists and representatives. 30 years ago, the borough of Brent was the scene of the famous Grunwick's strike when a casualised workforce of overwhelmingly women migrant workers caught the whole country standing up for their rights. The similarities with today were strongly reinforced by the meeting.
That very night, at a nearby London Underground depot, a cleaner activist was facing a disciplinary meeting from her employers. The people at the meeting agreed to wrap up proceedings early to march down to the depot in support of the victimised woman. The cleaning subcontractor, who currently has a highly irregular policy of not allowing cleaners represented by reps from "other employers", was so shocked that they allowed the RMT rep into the hearing and eventually decided to "postpone" their verdict. The power of public demonstrations of solidarity should never be underestimated. |
