Workers' Liberty

On the morning of the first cleaners' strike, members of the socialist feminist activist network Feminist Fightback turned up at 55 Broadway, armed with feather dusters, brooms and mops. They whipped past the security guard before he realised what was happening and caused much disruption for about 20 minutes throughout the large lobby.

They wanted to help TfL 'clean up its act'. They gave out leaflets and held up a banner outside, making the point that TfL operates the Public Private Partnership and is complicit in the cleaners' low wages and exploitation.

The protesters set to work cleaning the lobby while calling out the demands of the cleaners' strike, pointing to the gendered nature of this work (mainly women, totally undervalued, sexual harassment rife). The seemingly inoffensive cleaning activities and 'cheery' demeanours confused the security for long enough for them to make their point to the whole building.

A senior HR manager came down to argue with them. He said they had no place to be demonstrating on the cleaners' behalf as he reckoned they 'all had degrees' (obviously unaware that a lot of cleaners on the minimum wage also have degrees). When the protesters said they were only there to demand a living wage for cleaners, he yelled, 'They've f***ing got one!'. Which shows how much he knows, or cares. TfL bosses like this deserve to be fully exposed.

The demonstration continued until they got carried out by the police.