Interserve Demo Poster

RMT says that the cleaning contractor Interserve, one of two main cleaning companies on London Underground, is going all-out with an Ebenezer Scrooge impression this Christmas. Every month, Tube cleaners are short paid, leaving them massively in arrears. Interserve, a multimillion pound, multinational corporation, blames administrative errors but the union says it is stealing money from low-paid workers in one of the world's most expensive cities.

• Read details about the demo here.

Cleaners face bullying and harassment from managers, on top of having to do one of the hardest and most unpleasant jobs on London Underground.

To make matters worse, Interserve is slashing jobs across the Tube. Night shift cleaner numbers have been reduced by more than 50% in locations like Oxford Circus, where five cleaners now have to do work previously done by 13.

Interserve, which makes millions from its various cleaning contracts, also subcontracts to agencies like AGS People, who pressure their workers into registering as "self-employed contractors" or "limited liability companies" in order to avoid paying National Insurance on their wages and to avoid having to respect statutory rights on sick pay and holidays.

RMT is taking the fight to Interserve this Christmas with the following demands:

• Pay up! All cleaners must be paid in full, on time, every time. No excuses!
• £10 an hour! Even the Mayor's "London Living Wage" of £9.40/hour is not enough to have a decent quality of life in London. £10/hour should be the minimum.
• Stop job cuts.
• Direct employment for all agency workers.
• Travel passes for cleaners.

 
 RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
 
“Cleaners on London Underground, doing some of the dirtiest and worst paid jobs on the transport network, have had enough and will be taking their demands and their anger to the doorstep on the giant facilities outfit Interserve who are making a fortune off the backs of RMT members. That scandal has to stop.
 
“Boris Johnson and his TFL top-brass cannot wash their hands while workers who keep the tube clean are treated like the dirt they sweep up. This is an outrage that shames London this Christmas as the Mayor claims we are a modern, global capital city while his own workers are subjected to Dickensian pay and conditions by his appointed contractors.
 
“Ultimately, we want London Underground to take outsourced functions like cleaning back in house, so cleaners have access to the same pay scales, pension rights, and staff benefits as other Tube workers.

“In the meantime we would urge Londoners to support their tube cleaners in their fight for workplace justice.”

• Read details about the demo here.