Category: Cleaners

RMT says new Transport for London Commissioner must give Underground cleaners the same free travel pass he is entitled to

RMT says new Transport for London Commissioner must give Underground cleaners the same free travel pass he is entitled to

On the day that new Transport for London Commissioner Andy Byford starts work [Monday 29 June], RMT called on him to put a stop to a shameful injustice by giving London’s heroic Underground cleaners the same TfL travel pass that he and the Mayor are entitled to.

In addition to his base salary of £355,000, as a TfL employee Mr Byford, like the Mayor, is entitled to a TfL travel pass allowing free travel across the TfL network. The unsung cleaning heroes who have risked their lives to clean Underground stations and trains throughout the coronavirus epidemic do not get this benefit because they have been outsourced to a US company called ABM.

In spite of praising their ‘amazing work’, TfL and the Mayor have so far refused to extend the travel pass to the cleaners claiming that they cannot afford it. But in a report on Free Travel on the TfL Network (link in editors’ notes below), RMT can reveal that both the existing and previous Mayor had admitted there is “no and nil cost” cost to providing the pass .

RMT Senior Assistant General Secretary Mick Lynch said;

“Mr Byford knows the Underground well, he must know that what TfL are doing is just plain wrong. We’re calling on him to make a fresh start and allow tube cleaners the same free travel pass that he and the Mayor are entitled to.

“This small change will cost TfL almost nothing but it will make a big difference to the low paid cleaners who put their lives on the line every day to keep the travelling public safe.”

tube cleaners are to get full sick pay

RMT welcomes news that privatised tube cleaners are to get full sick pay after union campaign
TUBE UNION RMT ‎today welcomed the news that tube cleaners in the front-line of the fight to contain the Coronavirus on London Underground are to get full sick pay after a campaign of union pressure.
General Secretary Mick Cash said;
“The union has been demanding that all privatised staff on the transport network get full sick pay in light of the Coronavirus outbreak and the news that tube cleaners working for ABM are to get just that is a welcome breakthrough others must now follow.
“Transport workers in all grades are being exposed to high levels of social contact across the board and the idea that any of these essential staff should be financially penalised if they are forced to self-isolate remains a scandal. They cannot opt to work from home and they come into contact with a damn site more people than you encounter on a visit to the pub. Transport bosses and the Government must recognise that fact.
“RMT wants all these services brought in house but the very least that should happen in the interim is that these key staff are fully protected both financially and in the workplace ‎at this time.”

RMT welcomes Labour Assembly Members’ support for Underground cleaners

RMT welcomes Labour Assembly Members’ support for Underground cleaners
 
Pressure is growing on London’s Labour Mayor to commit to ending the privatisation of Underground cleaning as RMT received a statement of support from the Labour Group in the London Assembly.
 
The statement from Len Duvall AM, leader of the Labour Group, pledges the Labour AMs’ support for ‘action to secure better working conditions and job security for cleaners on the London Underground, as well as making the case for bringing cleaners in-house as a viable option for a new contract in 2022’.
 
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said,
 
“It’s good news that London’s Labour movement is uniting around this campaign.
 
“These cleaners are unsung heroes of the Underground and it’s a disgrace that they’ve been privatised on the basis that they are supposedly ‘non-core’.
 
“The truth is that they’re central to a clean and safe passenger experience. I hope Sadiq Khan is listening and I repeat my call on him to commit to bringing these workers in house.”

LUL Circular 14th February 2018

TUBE CLEANERS – ABM CONTRACT

DEMO OUTSIDE CITY HALL AND ABM OFFICES

ON WEDNESDAY 21ST FEBRUARY AT 2PM

 

At 2pm on Wednesday 21st February, we will be holding demos to protest against the treatment by outsourcing companies (especially new mega contractor ABM) of Cleaners on the London Transport Network.

 

The first demo will take place outside City Hall (Address: The Queen’s Walk, SE1 2AA) with participants then moving on to protest outside the nearby ABM Headquarters (Address: George House, 75 – 83 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH).

 

The demo is intended to name and shame the people responsible for the poor treatment of cleaners and lobby for a change. We demand that cleaners be directly employed by TfL, that they – like their colleagues – receive free travel, decent sick pay and improved wages reflecting the often anti-social hours which they work.

 

THE LONDON MAYOR NEEDS TO ACT NOW. ABM is already busy ripping up the sick pay policy of workers who transferred to it from outsourcing company “Vinci”. The demo will be letting everyone know what is going on.

 

Members are invited to attend and encouraged to bring banners, flags etc. Following the demos, there will be recruitment activity, designed to boost union membership amongst ABM workers.

 

(Note to London Transport Region Branches: Supporting attendance at this day of action is a legitimate use of branch funds).

 

RATES OF PAY & CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 2019 – LONDON UNDERGROUND (LUL/0001)

 

The anniversary date for the London Underground pay review is 1st April 2019 and the following two resolutions have been received from the London Transport Regional Council:-

 

“The LTRC recognises that our current pay deal will end in early 2019, with new talks planned for February 2019 and that we must prepare for those negotiations.

 

We the members of the LTRC will no longer accept the disparities between our members because of their length of service. We demand that all employees on LUL are given the same terms and conditions as their colleagues in the same roles. Everyone should have parity of conditions irrespective of their service.

 

To this end, we demand that LUL introduce the PTAC for all staff effective from 2019. There are no excuses for our colleagues to be discriminated against due to their service length especially considering that new TOCs like Crossrail give the PTAC to their employees who can then use that concession on LUL services.”

 

“The LTRC recognises that our current pay deal will end in early 2019, with new talks planned for February 2019 and that we must prepare for those negotiations. We the members of the LTRC will no longer accept the disparities between our members because of the date they entered service. We demand that all employees on LUL are given the same terms and conditions as their colleagues in the same roles. Everyone who have the same job should have parity of conditions irrespective of their service.

 

We demand that LUL begin a process to “level up” pension provision to the higher rate for all employees, as part of any new pay deal. Every staff member in the same roles should on the same terms and conditions. There are no excuses for our colleagues to be discriminated against due to their service length especially considering that this discrimination will result in all junior members of staff suffering a detriment in retirement annuity of thousands of pounds per year and a detriment to their pension pot of hundreds of thousands of pounds over the course of their careers.”

 

This matter has been considered by the National Executive Committee, which has taken the decision to invite all London Transport Branches and the Regional Council to contribute to our Unions submissions for the pay talks with a  view to prepare a comprehensive unified claim. I will keep Branches advised of all further developments.

 

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash

General Secretary

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