Railway cleaning staff strike for living wage

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Morning Star:

Mitie Cleaners Occupy First Great Western HQ

Rail workers demand firm act to bring in living wage

Striking rail cleaners swept in to occupy the Swindon headquarters of train company First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) in a dramatic protest over poverty wages yesterday.

Over 50 noisy protesters peacefully entered the building in Swindon to deliver a letter to FGW managing director Mark Hopwood.

The cleaners, who are employed by subcontract giant Mitie, travelled in from London, Bristol and Swansea. They are demanding that FGW, whose trains they clean, put pressure on Mitie to pay a living wage - or get rid of the subcontractor altogether and employ them directly.

The occupation came at the start of a three-day strike across FGW rail services over pay and conditions. It is the third strike in as many months and railway union RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) has said there is more to come if their terms are not met.

Stubborn Mitie bosses are refusing to pay the cleaners a living wage despite earning more than ^100 million in profits last year. Most cleaners for the group earn the minimum wage, even those in central London. Although promising in an internal letter to employees to "address the issue" of a living wage union reps said the company had dismissed the idea out of hand during talks.

Mitie employee Moses Owusu travelled from London to attend the protest. The 33-year-old is expecting his first child with wife Bertha early next year. He said: "I don't know what we will do. There's so many things we need to buy but with this wage there's no chance. It's a serious issue - by the end of every month I'm in deficit."

Cleaner Anna Tryjankowska, from Bristol, was at the rally in Swindon. The mum of two also struggles on the minimum wage. She said she'd spent seven years working side-by-side with cleaners who are employed directly by First Great Western, yet was on lower pay and worse conditions. She said: "We clean their trains, they should take us onboard."

Cleaners represented by RMT have rejected a paltry 3 per cent pay rise by Mitie, citing that their FGW equivalents earn 30 per cent more than they do. Mitie have explained their position by blaming FGW.

According to the union the train operator only awarded Mitie the new contract, valid until 2015, if it reduced costs by 20 per cent. This has led to an influx of zero hour workers and attempts to get rid of contracted employees.

The RMT are pressing FGW to take responsibility for the effects its deals have on workers. FGW has so far refused to acknowledge the dispute, telling the Star the issue ^is for the RMT and Mitie to resolve.^

Mitie said it was ^currently in discussion with the RMT.^ This has not stopped the firm from threatening non-union employees with disciplinary action if they strike or refuse to cross a picket line. Assistant general secretary Steve Hedley promising to smash ^the apartheid Mitie cleaners currently work under.^

From the Socialist Worker:

Mitie cleaners strike for a third time to demand a living wage



Striking First Great Western (FGW) train cleaners demonstrated outside Paddington Station this morning, Friday, in their third strike for a living wage from outsourcing giant Mitie.

The cleaners who are in the RMT union are also set to demonstrate at FGW^s headquarters in Swindon today.

Mitie bosses sent all the cleaners^ letters by special delivery this week offering 3 percent increase backdated to April this year. It would work out for most as 19 pence extra an hour. The cleaners want ^8.55 as well as sick and holiday pay and overtime for Sundays.

^It^s bullshit^, a cleaner said, ^Mitie^s made at least ^99 million profit this year, this is way off respecting someone who works hard for you.^

^We^re striking Friday, Saturday and Sunday because they^re so busy. You can see how dirty the trains get^on Sundays we^re running from 3.30pm to 11 at night with no breaks.^

The bosses^ letter also offers permanent contracts to the workers on zero-hours but only if they work regular hours. One worker who has cleaned the trains for five years got hardly any hours for six weeks earlier last summer on a manager^s whim.

The letter makes clear that the strikes are hitting Mitie hard. Bosses are worried about their contract with First Great Western. Other companies have lost contracts because cleaners fought them for better wages.

^There are more of us striking today,^ another added, ^We asked new people to join. Some were a bit scared but we told them they will be safe in the union.^

Another cleaner said, ^What use is 19p to me. If they want I^ll strike a week or a month to get a living wage. I^ve already lost a lot of money working for Mitie.^

[bobm]

From the Swindon Advertiser

Striking First Great Western cleaners demonstrate outside Milford House

PROTESTERS put the pressure on First Great Western and Mitie yesterday when a 70-strong crowd bearing placards, banners and megaphones descended on Swindon.
 
Coaches bussed in members of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers union from London Paddington, Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol and Westbury to the headquarters of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in Milford Street.
 
The protest by railway workers employed by Mitie on behalf of FGW, was against low pay and zero hours contracts.
 
It was held in the middle of the third strike in four weeks.

The strikers walked out at 6am on Thursday and were due to return today at 6am.

Bill Leckey, 65, of Ridge Nether Moor, in Liden, is a retired train dispatcher at Swindon train station.
 
He attended yesterday^s protest as a representative of the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers).

^Our workers are on zero hours contracts and they want better conditions. They want more hours and more security,^ he said.
 
^People will wake up next Friday and not have a job to do, which is the danger of these contracts which Mitie hand out.
 
^People are working one week and then sat at home the next.

^There is no holiday pay, no sick pay. It is an infringement of their human rights.

^They want this service brought in-house by First Great Western, that is why we are here, outside their offices.^
 
Brendan Kelly, RMT^s regional organiser for the south west and South Wales, said Mitie had made an offer earlier this week to return to the negotiation table and hold meaningful talks.
 
A spokesman for Mitie, said: ^We are currently in discussions with the RMT. However we have full contingency plans in place to ensure no disruption to passengers during this period.^
 
A spokesman for FGW said: ^Our position is the same it^s always been, ultimately this has got to be resolved by those striking and their employer sitting down and talking around the table.
 
^We were there at the protest to take delivery of the letter that the RMT were wanting to give to us and I am sure we will respond when we have time to look at it properly.
 
^We are aware of the conversation going on between the RMT and Mitie. It is their employers, Mitie, who must resolve this.
 
^The only advice we have given to both, is that they need to sit down and come to an agreement on it.
 
^We do have cleaners in-house on some areas of the network according to need. This is an issue between Mitie and the RMT.^
 

[JayMac]

Assistant general secretary Steve Hedley promising to smash ^the apartheid Mitie cleaners currently work under.^

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) assistant general secretary Steve Hedley should read about late 20th century social history before he starts using the word 'apartheid' to describe this dispute. Is he seriously suggesting that the dispute is down to segregation and discrimination on the grounds of race? Idiot*. 

I often have sympathy for RMT union members in their disputes with their employers, and I certainly do in this instance, but their union leaders do them no favours whatsoever with public pronouncements such as this. 


*Personal opinion

[John R]

I'm often in the other camp, with not a great deal of sympathy for strikers (particularly RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) related). But I do think the insidious growth of zero hours contracts is too heavily weighted in terms of employers. After all, Mitie will know exactly what they are contracted to provide to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) each week, and it won't change much week on week. So they should be able to determine a roster that gives their staff certainty of hours.

[ellendune]

Paying low wages is a good way of writing your own cheque at the expense of the taxpayers.  If people do not have enough money they have enough money they end up claiming benefits. Low wages are one way rich corporations take money from the ordinary people.

[trainer]

I concur with the thrust of the last three comments in this thread.  Low wages amount to a tax-payer subsidy to those paying them - including public bodies.

[bobm]

Latest round of strikes suspended according to the Swindon Advertiser.

CLEANERS campaigning for better pay and working conditions on First Great Western trains have suspended this weekend^s strike after employer Mitie made an improved offer late last night.
 
Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)) were scheduled to walk out at 6am this morning and stay away from First Great Western services until 6am on Sunday.
 
However, an 11th hour bid by Mitie to appease the RMT and its members, who are contesting poor pensions and zero hours contracts, was enough for the strike to be called off.
 
In a letter to members, Bob Crow, general secretary at the RMT, said: ^Further to my previous correspondence on November 22, there have been fresh developments. The company [Mitie] has approached your union in a bid to try and resolve this dispute.
 
^In the interests of fostering good industrial relations, the Executive Committee has taken the decision to suspend the strike action to allow for further talks to take place.
 
^All members are instructed to work as normal. I will write again shortly with full details of the latest developments in this dispute.^
 
A spokesperson for the South West and South Wales branch of the RMT said this offer would be followed up and did not rule out further strike action before the New Year.