The next action by the cleaners working at Willis Group in the City who were unfairly dismissed by cleaning contractor Mitie will take place from 1pm on Friday 29th May at the Unite union’s London HQ. The Transport House building is located on Theobalds Road near Holborn station. During the lobby the Mitie workers handing in a … Continue reading willis cleaners lobby transport house – friday 29th
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The next of the protests organised by the sacked Mitie cleaners who had been working at Willis Group takes place this Friday, 1st May. These migrant workers were unfairly dismissed after protesting when they were forced to work their shifts at night rather than during the day. Their campaign has been ongoing for over three months: … Continue reading willis cleaners’ demo this friday
Defiant City cleaners stepped up their protest against victimisation yesterday with another noisy demonstration outside the plush offices of a multi-national insurance firm. The four union activists were recently sacked from their jobs by cleaning privateer Mitie after organising a union and winning the London Living Wage at the Willis building in the heart of … Continue reading report of demo for mitie/willis cleaners in city of london
Tawanda Nyabango reports on discussions among cleaner solidarity activists At this year’s Anarchist bookfair the Industrial Workers of the World organised a discussion around the issue of solidarity with cleaners. Speakers included a Cleaners Defence Committee regular, a leading organiser in the University College London Living Wage Campaign and a member of The Commune. The meeting … Continue reading precarious work and solidarity
by Chris Kane The cleaners’ struggle at Swiss bank UBS has extracted some significant concessions from the bosses, thanks to a determined campaign. As reported in previous issues of The Commune, in February UBS switched to cut-price contractor Lancaster, effectively meaning a 10.75% pay cut for cleaning staff in its City of London offices. When the … Continue reading gains from UBS cleaners’ dispute
by Chris Kane We have received shocking news that Lancaster Cleaning Services, a contractor for Union Bank of Switzerland, has once again colluded with the UK Borders Agency against cleaners. On this occasion Lancaster, having taken over the contract at UBS, has provided the Borders Agency with information on one of their workers who had … Continue reading UBS worker detained by UK borders agency
by Chris Ford There is a long history of British trade union leaders becoming Members of Parliament. This has often represented the next step by individuals whose primary concern is the advancement of a cause very dear to their hearts – their own self-interest. In some cases however there are those who have genuinely sought … Continue reading no surprises as rat boards sinking ship
In September 2009 Unite the union ordered the Latin American Workers Association (LAWAS) without notice to vacate the office which it had provided the Association with in its southeast region HQ in Manor House, thus ending a five year partnership. This followed an organised campaign by officials againt LAWAS, because of the latter´s support for … Continue reading latin american workers in unite: from heroes to pariahs
by Brian Garvey “We have been the victims of so many acts of corruption… But the workers have supported us in forming a new trade union, because they want change – a radical change – so that we are the new administration of the collective contract, because the union we have is useless” Luis Flugo, … Continue reading community unionism: from the workplace to the streets
Leaflet for tonight’s demo against Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time – Labour and Tory anti-fascism is a con – Support migrant-worker organising: no borders – For workers’ action against racist propaganda The recent row over the British National Party’s appearance on BBC Question Time displays the level of anger at the rise of the … Continue reading ‘get this racist jack straw off the bbc’…?
60 Latin American workers meet to elect a new committee for the Association. The general assembly of the Latin American Workers’ Association began at 4:30pm on Saturday 15th August, at SOAS university. Derek Wall, national representative of the Green Party, opened the event before the reading of messages of support from various parts of the … Continue reading report: latin american workers’ association conference
by Chris Kane According to shocking information obtained by The Commune, union activists, with cleaning companies organised with UNISON (SOAS), RMT (LUL) and UNITE (Mitie and Lancaster) – are in the pay of the bosses! This is of course a pack of lies, nevertheless it is a disgusting lie being officially circulated, in writing by … Continue reading exposed: soas unison, rmt and unite cleaner activists in the pay of the bosses
by David Broder On Monday 3rd August the government outlined its new proposals for a ‘points system’ through which immigrants to the United Kingdom can seek citizenship. The ‘points system’ will see migrants ‘earning’ their citizenship in a ‘probation’ period following a five-year stay, as opposed to the current set-up whereby five years of working … Continue reading immigration ‘points system’ plans to stifle migrants’ freedom of speech
We have produced the first issue of a Spanish-language bulletin for Latin American migrant workers, La Comuna. The publication will be a space for discussion of activism and organising in workplaces and the trade union movement, as well as the fight against immigration controls. The objective is that La Comuna should mostly written by migrant … Continue reading first issue of ‘la comuna’
