Workers' Liberty

After several faltering starts, the strike for the London Living Wage for cleaners is planned to go ahead again.

RMT is apparently moving closer to organising a strike of cleaners demanding better pay and conditions.

The ISS cleaning company, which has many cleaning contracts on the Underground, has started checking cleaners' National Insurance numbers. They aim to root out people who are working without the correct papers, and cleaners could face instant dismissal if a problem is found.

Saturday morning, and a 'customer' decides to deposit a poo on the stairs at Temple station.

The RMT has announced a 'victory'. Cleaners on lines formerly maintained by Metronet will be paid £7.20 p/h when TfL takes over the contract.

ISS cleaners on the Northern line have been messed around for months.

Many have no fixed station, don't know where they'll be working from one day to the next. They are forced to work on stations where they haven't been familiarised. They are losing out on the stability (as well as opportunity to get organised!) that having a regular station would provide.

Ken Livingstone has a habit of trumpeting his commitment to a decent living wage for Tube cleaners. Problem is, they ... er ... don't get a decent living wage. Ken's excuse? He doesn't have the power to impose decent wages on the cowboys who hold the contracts.

So Tubeworker was intrigued to read this little snippet on Unison's website ...

Cleaners at Morden depot have prevented their management imposing anti-social new rosters.

The cleaners' union reps did not agree to the new roster, but ISS went ahead and imposed it anyway. The cleaners refused to work it, and management threatened to send them home. But the cleaners stood their ground, and RMT activists from other grades turned up at the depot at their signing-on time to offer support.

In Queen's Park depot, chemicals are used to clean graffiti off trains in safe area 'A', but not in area 'B', where there is live electric current. It's a simple rule to protect cleaners' health and safety! But managemenst would rather order them to risk their safety by cleaning trains in B.

At Upminster, the cleaners' mess room is cold and has no facilities. At Ealing Broadway, the mess room is more like a cupboard where you can't even stand up straight! At Euston, the room is so hot and airless you can't breathe ... and there are other stations where cleaners have no mess room at all!

It seems that some cleaning supervisors think they can pore over the station's Visitors Register to check exactly what time the cleaners are coming and going.

At Angel station, a Station Supervisor accused a cleaner of neglecting their duties. The cleaner got an RMT rep, who proved that there was little basis for his allegations.

Now, the next time the cleaner goes in with the union to see management, it will not be a disciplinary hearing against the cleaner, but an investigation into whether the supervisor harassed the cleaner.

At Ealing Broadway station, the cleaners have no mess room. They have to hide in the toilets to rest and eat their meals.

And yet their management, rather than sort them out some decent facilities, prefer to clamp down. When the toilets have been busy, cleaners have been seen resting on trains or around the station during their breaks, and management are disciplining them – in one case photographing someone taking a breather and snitching them up.

• £7.20 London Living Wage NOW

• 28 days holiday minimum NOW
• Free travel NOW
• Cleaners to be directly employed

Various big cheeses will be gathering for a conference called 'London: the most successful world city?' Come and tell them about the disgrace of a 'world city's' railways being cleaned by people on poverty wages and appalling conditions.

A group of cleaners and other union activists met on Saturday to take stock of how the cleaners' campaign is going and decide our next steps.

The union's success in stopping 200 redundancies from ISS has been followed by a well attended demonstration outside the mayor's office for a 'Living Wage Now!'. There were new cleaners at the demo, showing that the campaigning is growing. The story also made the national news.

Cleaners on the Underground often experience aggressive bullying from their supervisors. No worker should have to experience such degrading treatment as part of their job. It further highlights the lack of respect that cleaning companies have for their workers.

Cleaners in the RMT on London Underground are gaining the confidence to stand up to supervisors who demand unreasonable extra duties.

One ISS cleaner was asked to work at three different stations in the same day, instead of at her own regular station. She refused, saying that she was tired of being bullied and rang the RMT to get their assurance that they would support her.

• London Living Wage NOW

• 28 days holiday minimum NOW
• Cleaners to be directly employed

Protest on Wedesday April 4th at 9.30am at City Hall, The Queen's Walk, More London SE1 2AA. Nearest station: London Bridge.

ISS has today issued instructions to Northern Line station cleaners that are as absurd as they are oppressive. The cowboy contractor has told half the cleaners that they must take two weeks holiday from tomorrow, leaving the other half to clean 3 or 4 stations each.

Following a threat of strike action by ISS cleaners, ISS have said that they will not make the planned 200 - or any - compulsory redundancies. This clearly shows the strength that cleaners have gained since being part of a union, particularly the RMT, who used its all-grades strength to threaten station closures and bring trains to a halt on health and safety grounds if the cleaners went on strike.

Fightback against ISS redundancies
Mass Meeting - Monday 5th Feb

Around 40 people attended the meeting to plan the fightback against ISS cleaning company's intended 200 compulsory redundancies this month. Pat Sikorski (RMT Assistant General Secretary) gave the background: what the the RMT has done so far (sent 3 letters demanding meetings with Tubelines, RMT and the Mayor's office, held demonstrations, got an Early Day Motion sponsored by the RMT parliamentary group). Bob Crow said that this has not been enough so far and that it is time to strike to save these jobs. Bob sounded determined to fight and emphasised that the whole union will be in support of the cleaners if they take action.

• This Wednesday afternoon, protest at TubeLines' offices

• Monday 5th February, 5pm, Exmouth Arms, Starcross Street (near Euston) - meeting for RMT cleaners and other members to plan the campaign to save ISS jobs.

Contractor ISS is still trying to sneak in biometric booking-on systems for cleaners - but it is coming up against the power of all-grades trade unionism.

Night cleaners have been removed on the Central line and District line. These cleaners work for ISS, the same company that is trying to lay off 200 cleaners on TubeLines contracts at the moment - a move that RMT is fighting.

Lobby Ken Livingstone to support Rail and Tube cleaners

• Stop ISS TubeLines cutting cleaners by 20%

• Sack the contractors not the cleaners
• Support RMT's Cleaners' Charter

Monday 8th January 10am, at the Mayor's office, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA - nearest station London Bridge, leave by Tooley Street exit

Cleaners working for poverty pay on London Underground will be struggling to make ends meet this Christmas. Working for £5.35 an hour - the pitiful minimum wage - is not enough to meet basic needs in London, let alone the extravagance that this time of year demands.

TubeLines has announced a cut of one-fifth in the value of its cleaning contract. This can only lead to attacks on cleaners' jobs and already-appalling terms and conditions, and to (even) worse standards of cleaning and therefore of safety.

RMT is holding a fortnight of intense organising activity amongst rail and Tube cleaners - supplementing its day-to-day work with this grade. This will run from 27th November to 8th December, kicking off on the first day with a 'visit' to a major rail company's headquarters, followed by a training event at a location near Euston for everyone who wants to be involved in this organising drive.

Cowboy cleaning contractor GBM have withdrawn night cleaners from stations on the Barkingside, Buckhurst Hill and Greenford groups.

While the cleaners' union(s) need to be fighting over this issue, station staff can help too. If your station has an overnight build-up of rubbish, or a spillage, that makes it unsafe to open in the morning, then don't open it. Keep either the whole station, or at least the affected part, closed, report it to the FRC, and don't open until they clean up.

Cleaning contractor ISS wants to introduce a system of signing in by handprint at Stratford Market and Hainault depots. The only problem (other than the civil rights implications and the thin end of the wedge) is that the RMT has an agreement with Metronet and TubeLines not to allow this but to run a trial of ID cards instead.