30th march london forum: what unions do we have, and what do we need?

The next of The Commune’s ‘uncaptive minds‘ forums on “capitalism and the working class today” is on the subject of “what unions do we have, and what do we need?”

The meeting, taking place at the Lucas Arms near London’s King’s Cross from 7pm on Monday 30th, will be looking at the decomposition of the official labour movement in recent decades; the signs of revival of class struggle and the new forms of activism taking place among the casual workforce;  and the dynamics of rank and file and bureaucracy, and how we can empower self-organisation.

The speakers leading off the discussion will be John Moloney, a PCS activist in the Department for Work and Pensions; Fabien Liberski, Convenor and Health & Safety Officer in Southwark Council, who was victimised by his employer with the collusion of UNISON bureaucrats; and Alberto Einstein Durango, a cleaner activist who played an important role in the victory of cleaners at Schroders in the City of London and is now helping with the Mitie/Willis campaign in the face of resistance by the Unite union.

All are welcome to come and take part in the debate. Email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com to register your interest or to find out more information. A map appears below.

video of mitie cleaners’ protest

On Thursday 26th was held the second of this week’s demonstrations in the City of London in support of the cleaners working for Willis victimised by Mitie, and twenty people – including cleaner activists and their supporters – turned out and mounted a strong display of solidarity in spite of the Unite union’s failure to do anything to help them. See here for reports on previous protests and posts outlining the dispute.

demo in the city against unfair dismissal of cleaners

On Thursday 12th twenty people demonstrated outside the Willis insurance broker’s building in the City of London. Cleaners employed by Mitie, unfairly dismissed after protesting against being forced to work full time hours at night, were supported by cleaners from Schroders bank at the ‘unofficial’ demonstration.

Mitie cleaners, including Bolivian, Ecuadorian and Portuguese workers, were sacked from various workplaces when they objected to this change in their conditions, which happened with no consultation. At the protest a manager claimed that the cleaners “ought to have gone through the proper channels and spoken with human resources” – and yet one office worker, expressing his sympathy, told us that “Willis don’t allow us unions either”.

In a lively protest we chanted “Reinstate the cleaners” and “Queremos justicia ahora!”. Five City of London police briefly came to the protest, without incident. When they asked Roberto who was in charge of the demo, he replied “everyone!”. Unfortunately, “everyone” did not include the Unite union, who failed to organise the slightest support for their members in dispute.

The fight against victimisation continues – contact Edwin Pazmino on 07931464890, Juan Carlos Piedra on 07908099375, or williscleaners4justice@live.co.uk

video on cleaners’ dispute at npl/amey

In December 2006 the government’s National Physical Laboratory, contracted out its cleaning to Amey, a multimillion pound services provider. When they took over the contract there were 36, unionised Latin American cleaners earning £7 an hour. After an immigration raid and multiple sackings there are now 15, many of whom are on temporary contracts and only earning the minimum wage.

Julio and Pedro were sacked for trying to tell the other staff what was going on.

Contact: contact@caic.org.uk for more information and to get involved with the campaign for reinstatement.

demo in support of victimised cleaners

There is an ‘unofficial’ (so far) cleaners’ demo, tomorrow Thursday 12th February at 13:00 pm outside Willis’s building at 51 Lime Street, London EC3M

This is a result of negotiations breaking down over the reinstatement of six Unite union activists who were made redundant on the spurious grounds that they could not alter their shift hours exactly as Mitie cleaning company demanded. The dispute is detailed here.

Still doesn’t look like Unite will be supporting them. Please bring placards, banners, whistles, megaphones and anything else that makes noise.

The protest is being supported by Schroders bank cleaners.

To confirm you’re coming, text or call Alberto 07803 634 319

defend cleaners’ rights: protests 30th january

URGENT: DEFEND LATIN AMERICAN WORKERS’ RIGHTS

The MERU [Ecuadorians’ movement in the UK] solidarises with our comrades unjustly sacked by Mitie, who include Bolivian, Ecuadorian and Portuguese workers.

This dispute started a few months ago when Mitie, without consulting the workers as it ought to have done, established new contracts with Willis Group forcing workers to work full time at night. A situation which the cleaners could not accept.

This attack was confronted by the workers, but today the struggle is still going on and needs fresh support. So MERU is putting out a call out for a protest against the Mitie company so that the workers are either allowed back to work or re-located.

These sackings are taking place in various workplaces, so we must be on the alert and fight back in unity to guarantee our rights at work.

PROTEST FOR THE DIGNITY OF THE CLEANERS, SO THAT THEY ARE ALLOWED BACK TO WORK, FOR UNITY AND SOLIDARITY WITH CLEANERS

Assemble at the Willis Building, 51 Lime Street London EC3M 7DQ (nr Liverpool St) at 1pm, Friday 30th January.

Contact Edwin Pazmino 07931464890 or Juan Carlos Piedra 07908099375

info@movimientoecuador.co.uk, williscleaners4justice@live.co.uk

A second demonstration in defense of Sodexho cleaners will take place from 2:30pm on Friday 30th outside ING Bank, 60 London Wall.

stop union-busting of rmt cleaners: defend clara osagiede

by Chris Kane

The campaign to bust the rail workers’ union RMT amongst the cleaners on the London Underground has taken a further turn for the worse, with the possible dismissal of Cleaners Grade Secretary Clara Osagiede.  Clara is facing trumped up charges ‘of gross misconduct’ by the cleaning company ISS, whose bosses have not hidden their desire to break the union.

Clara has been a breath of fresh air in the labour movement in London and an inspiration to many workers.  She was at the forefront of organising the cleaners and played a leading role in the pioneering strikes in July 2008 across the London Underground to secure the living wage.  Despite agreeing to the RMT claim, contractors have been dragging their feet in implementing the agreement.  Worse is that since the strike ended there has been a systematic campaign of harassment and victimisation of RMT tube cleaners working for ISS, ITS, ICS and GBM, private contractors on the London Underground.   Over fifty cleaners have been sacked by bosses under the pretext of checking National Insurance numbers, two RMT have been sacked and several deported under racist immigration laws.

The attacks on RMT cleaners on London Underground have been the biggest single victimisation of trade unionists in British industry in many years. Clara was at the forefront of winning RMT (LUL) London Regional Committee to agreeing a policy that it should mount a campaign against these victimisations in September 2008.

Clearly that policy needs putting into practice, as was done in the case of the victimised rep Andy Littlechild, the victimised safety rep in Metronet, where the RMT responded with an immediate ballot for industrial action.  Historically the RMT has a record second to none in defence of victimised reps including wildcat strikes.  RMT, ASLEF and TSSA members, especially at Hainault where Clara is employed, need to urgently discuss what action they can take to defend this leading member of the union.  Members who work directly for LUL need to recognise that the victimisation of Clara is an attack on the entire union. This was not fully appreciated during the strike in July and the bosses have felt confident to continue the victimisations ever since.  It is time to say: enough is enough

There will be a demonstration in support of Clara and the RMT on the day of her disciplinary hearing: The Commune calls on our readers to mobilise for the demonstration:

Thursday 8th January
8 AM Meet for demonstration at Hainault Station
10 AM  Meet at WHSmith London Bridge, (inside the station)
11 AM Assemble at the ISS Office at 15 Park Vista, Greenwich

precarious work and the struggle for migrant workers’ rights

Public Meeting:

Sunday November 16, 5.30pm at the Pullens Centre, 184 Crampton Street, Elephant and Castle London SE17 3AE, with:

Julio Mayor, Prospect – Amey @ National Physical Laboratory

Robinson Baldeon, Unison – Ocean/ISS @ University of London (SOAS)

Alberto Durango, Unite-T&G – Lancaster @ Schroders Bank

Rodrigo Nunes – Campaign Against Immigration Controls

demos for reinstatement of sacked colombian cleaners

Reinstate the 5 sacked Colombian cleaners. Papers for All.
Que reintegren a los 5 cleaners colombianos despedidos. Papeles para todos.

Wednesday 29th October
Protest outside the Amey offices in central London.
12.30 – 1.30pm
Meet 12.30pm @ Chancery Lane tube on the Central Line
protest at 5th Floor, 1 Waterhouse Square, London EC1N 2ST

Thursday 30th October
Protest outside the Amey offices in Colindale (supported by Barnet Trades Council)
12.30 – 1.30pm
Meet 12.30pm @ Colindale tube on the Northern Line
protest at 8th Flr, Merit House, Edgware Road,, Colindale, London NW9 5AF

solidarity action for sacked national physical laboratory cleaners

from Jake:

This is to invite you to our next action in support of the five sacked Colombian cleaners working for Amey Plc at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). (see background story at http://caic.org.uk/node/18)

Date: Wednesday 22 October Time: meet 12.30 Embankment station (south/river exit) to walk together to the Institute of Engineering and Technology, next to the Savoy Hotel, Savoy Place (south side), where there is an all-day conference which NPL is supporting

Bring: anything visible or noisy.

schroders cleaners’ demo 17th october

From Jake

The Schroders cleaners’ demo time has changed at the last minute to 1pm; the date is still Friday 17th October… here is their leaflet:

Schroders is a global asset management company with £130.2 billion (EUR 164.4 billion / $259.1 billion) under its management as of 30 June 2008. And it is paying its cleaners only £6 an hour.

The cleaners have been trying to get a pay rise for over 12 months. For all this time our management (Lancaster Cleaning Company) have kept promising an increase, and 3 times have stopped the cleaners demonstrating in front of Schroders Headquarters based on these promises.

We had been congratulated for our good job, but congratulations don’t pay our bills.

Now we have been told that not only will we not receive the London living wage, but also will lose our jobs because Schroders want a night shift to replace our 4 hrs part time shift, and to reduce the staff from 30 workers to 9 workers.

We are appealing to all Londoners to help us stop this injustice by supporting our demonstration in front of Schroders Headquarters: 31 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QA on Friday 17th October 2008 at 1pm.

You can also send your letter of support to our email: schroderscleaners4justice@live.com

We want to thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely

Cleaners from Schroders