RMT President Alex Gordon writes, “RMT Railway Cleaners have begun a 48-hour strike (Fri/Sat 14-15 April), covering outsourced cleaning contracts across most mainline train companies including Avanti West Coast, Great Western, South Eastern, GTR Southern, Northern Trains.
The contractors involved include huge multinational Atalian-Servest who have just been subject to a takeover bid and merger with OCS (Office Cleaning Services) by a US vulture fund. These workers cleaned trains throughout the pandemic at great risk to themselves and are now being offered a pay increase of 50p/hr. Their union, RMT is demanding a minimum rate of £15/hr, contractual sick pay and free travel facilities.
More than 1 in 10 cleaners on the transport network are using food banks, RMT survey finds.
Cleaners, working for Atalian Servest locally, are demanding £15 an hour, company sick pay, decent holidays and good pensions from contractors – some of whom are raking in profits of over £100 million a year. For the first time this will be a national strike of contracted out cleaners.
The union’s survey of 1,000 contracted out cleaners working for the likes of Churchill, Atalian Servest and Mitie also found that over a quarter have skipped meals (28%), 1 in 3 are relying on credit cards to pay for cost of living and 84% are struggling to make ends meet.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Cleaners need a pay rise, company sick pay and holiday entitlement if they are going to get through the cost-of-living crisis. https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-launches-cleaners-ballot/
RMT contracted out cleaners took further national strike action on 31 December 2022.
picket at at the viaduct on Jones Rd off Stafford Rd, WV10 6JQ from 7pm-8-30pm.
Cleaners picketed Friday 23 September 2022 at Oxley depot, at the viaduct on Jones Rd off Stafford Rd, WV10 6JQ, after talks to improve their £9.90 night rate fell through.
https://www.rmt.org.uk/campaigns/rail/justice-for-cleaners/
Cleaners of Wolverhampton RMT striking at Oxley depot 23 Sept 2022
The outsourced cleaners are paid £9.90 per hour, £1 less than the Real Living Wage and have no company sick pay, meaning that they frequently come into work when sick because they cannot make ends meet.
In a report ‘Striking Atalian Servest cleaners in their own words’, download here https://bit.ly/3uilTQH published by RMT, 91% of Atalian Servest cleaners said they were struggling to make ends meet, with 68% saying they were regularly struggling and a shocking 94% of said they had had to come into work while sick because they couldn’t afford not to.
Other updates see https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-news/
Sixth two day strike by Wolverhampton RMT Cleaners at Oxley Depot Sat 4th and Sun 5th June 2022 in their ongoing demand for a pay rise over the miserly 6p per hour which was offered.
Fifth two day strike 14 and 15 May 2022.
RMT cleaners held a fourth two-day strike with pickets at the Jones Road, Oxley Depot on Saturday 9th April and Sunday 10th April from 7-30pm-9-30pm each night.
RMT cleaners held a third two-day strike 10–12th March, at the Oxley Depot
RMT are in dispute with Atalian Servest, following a breakdown in talks after 1.75% pay rise was offered by the company and rejected.
Picket lines have been supported by Wolverhampton TUC delegates and Oxley Labour councillor Clare Simm.
The long running dispute is over fair pay for twice-outsourced cleaners employed by French multinational Atalian Servest working in French multinational Alstom’s depots, cleaning Avanti West Coast’s trains.
The cleaners, who earn little over the minimum wage want a fair pay rise to meet the cost of living and a proper sick pay scheme so that they don’t have to work when sick. So far, bosses of the three companies have failed to engage properly with this claim in spite of the escalating cost-of-living crisis.
We value our rail cleaners and the work they do to keep our trains and stations safe and hygienic to use. We are deeply concerned that you continue to make profits and pay dividends to your shareholders while these hard-working keyworkers are struggling to get by on low pay and forced into coming into work whilst sick because you don’t pay sick pay. We urge Atalian Servest to make these cleaners a pay offer that settles their concerns and ends their dispute.
A group of West Coast MPs have now also weighed into the dispute, writing to the Directors of the three companies urging them to make funds available for a fair pay settlement.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said, “I welcome this intervention from West Coast MPs because the companies involved are effectively trying to starve our members back to work rather than pay them a fair wage. These companies are all paying multi-million pound dividends while our members struggle to pay their bills and come into work with Covid. The government is effectively running these contracts now and the plight of our rail cleaners is on them as much as the fat cat parasites. The industry needs to sort this out now.”
Their roles include cleaning train throughout the night and have been keyworkers throughout thye pandemic.
Currently Wolverhampton RMT is in dispute with Avanti trains and Atalian Servest. They are still in negotiations with Avanti.
The strike that took place in January was also well attended.
Wolverhampton RMT branch is a multigrade, multicompany branch. They organise workers at Alstom which is based in Oxley Depot; Atalian Servest Cleaning in Oxley and at Wolverhampton Station; Avanti Trains and West Midlands Trains based at Wolverhampton Station and other depots; Carlisle Cleaning based in Stations; DHL based at Oxley and Wolverhampton Station along with various Transport, Cleaning companies within our area. Please contact wolvesrmtbranch@gmail.com for further info.