cleaners take to streets
WORKERS, MAR 2005 ISSUE
Cleaners at the House of Commons took to the streets on 8 February as part of a struggle to unionise cleaning workers and improve their working conditions. Through the Transport and General Workers' Union they are demanding more pay and better contracts, to bring them closer to their better paid counterparts in the House of Lords.
Commons cleaners are paid £4.85 an hour, the lowest legal minimum for an adult worker. They have just 12 days' holiday, no company pension scheme and only statutory sick pay. They are demanding dignity and respect, which in practical terms means £6.70 per hour, 20 days' holiday, sick pay, a company pension and union recognition. Parliament could face strike action by the cleaners if their demands are not addressed and if a pending vote to take action is supported. The cleaners are realising a long-standing class truth: working-class progress depends on workers standing up for their own interests and getting organised.