Cleaners hit northern cities in national fight for pay justice

Transport cleaners operating services across the north will be taking strike action from Friday as part of national fight for justice for staff working on cleaning and security contracts.

There will be a protest outside TransPennine Express HQ Bridgewater House 58-60 Whitworth Street, Manchester on Friday 30 November from 8.00am, followed by a picket at Manchester Piccadilly station at 9.30 am.

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) cleaners members on East Coast Mainline and Tyne and Wear Metro will be holding a joint protest and picket at Newcastle Central station at 9am on Saturday 1st December.

The cleaners and security staff are demanding a living wage and major improvements in pensions and working conditions. RMT firmly believes that the best way of securing those decent pay and conditions, and an end to exploitation, is by bringing all of the cleaning and security work in-house.

The northern transport action is part of a national campaign by cleaners on seven major transport cleaning contracts who will be taking strike action this week as RMT harnesses the joint strength of transport cleaners across the country in a battle aimed at securing pay and workplace justice in a series of disputes over pay and conditions.

The strikes will hit services on:

ISS contract on the East Coast mainline - 00:01 hours on Friday 30th November 2012 and 23:59 hours on Saturday 1st December 2012.

Carlisle Cleaning contract on the Transpennine Express - 00:01 hours on Friday 30th November 2012 and 23:59 hours on Saturday 1st December 2012.

Churchill’s cleaning contract on Tyne and Wear Metro - 22:30 hours on Friday 30th November 2012 and 22:29 hours on Sunday 2 December 2012.

To step up the political support for the fight for justice, RMT has also called a National Lobby of Parliament for Cleaners in the Transport Industry on 11th December 2012, at 15.00 in Committee Room 11 in the House of Commons, with the assistance of the union’s parliamentary group and its convenor John McDonnell.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “RMT is kicking off an unprecedented, co-ordinated national campaign for pay justice for cleaners and security staff across the transport industry and the action across the north through Friday and Saturday is part of building the pressure behind that fight – pressure that will secure a major victory for cleaners and security staff.

“RMT’s campaign will involve industrial, political and public campaigning that will drag the exploitation of cleaners out of the shadows and into the spotlight. As well as naming and shaming the companies involved in this low-pay scandal we are also turning the screw on the train operators and transport bodies responsible for awarding these contracts.

“Each one of these seven separate disputes has the same issue at its core – greedy private contractors who seek to exploit their workforce and offer poverty pay while creaming off fat profits for the company shareholders.

“These are all long-running disputes where the train operators and the authorities have sought to wash their hands of the issue and have refused to take any responsibility for the gross and brutal exploitation of cleaners that is taking place on their watch.

“The rock-solid solidarity shown by RMT cleaners on previous strike days sends out a message that the union is geared up for an all-out fight for cleaners’ pay justice. The train operators and public bodies who give a green light to exploitation by these parasites should be using their clout to force them back to the negotiating table.”