Grey power, a living wage and dignity - BBC cleaners deliver mass petition
Latin American Workers Association | 23.06.2007 14:55 | Workers' Movements | London
The BBC at White City, via cleaning contractors OCS, is booting out cleaners because they are 'too old', as well as paying a minimum wage, no sick pay etc. There are hundreds of cleaners at the BBC - White City of all ages and nationalities. Despite continual OCS management harrassment and high levels of fear, they are now reacting....
At 13.30 on Thursday 21 June a delegation of ten cleaners at the BBC – White City handed in a petition to BBC head Mark Thompson, signed by 700 cleaning staff and BBC employees, including the likes of Moira Stuart, Gary Lineker and the entire Weather Room.
The petition is a response to the cleaning contractor OCS’s decision to sack nearly a dozen cleaners because they are over the retirement age. The first to go was 80 year old Nancy Buckley at the end of May, who then told BBC internal newspaper Ariel that “if we couldn’t do the job or were a liability I would understand, but I am as fit as I was 20 years ago”.
The cleaners also demand that the BBC require OCS to pay a Living Wage of £7.20 per hour, as opposed to the minimum they currently receive, along with other basic benefits such as sick pay and 28 days holiday.
In the petition, they demand an urgent meeting with BBC director general Mark Thompson.
These demands have already been met by a number of cleaning contractors on sites acros London, most recently on Wednesday, when Rentokil Initial awarded an hourly rate of 7.50 on its contract with Barclays following demonstrations by cleaners linked to the T&G-Unite union's Justice for Cleaners campaign.
Photos of the petitioners were taken by BBC internal newspaper Ariel, and the Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Gazette.
Support has come so far from the Latin American Workers Association and Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre, itself under threat from the local council which is imposing huge cuts on community groups (see
http://hammersmithlaw.wordpress.com/)
More information:
Latin American Workers' Association
218 Green Lanes, London N4 2BR
tel: 020 8826 2063
The petition is a response to the cleaning contractor OCS’s decision to sack nearly a dozen cleaners because they are over the retirement age. The first to go was 80 year old Nancy Buckley at the end of May, who then told BBC internal newspaper Ariel that “if we couldn’t do the job or were a liability I would understand, but I am as fit as I was 20 years ago”.
The cleaners also demand that the BBC require OCS to pay a Living Wage of £7.20 per hour, as opposed to the minimum they currently receive, along with other basic benefits such as sick pay and 28 days holiday.
In the petition, they demand an urgent meeting with BBC director general Mark Thompson.
These demands have already been met by a number of cleaning contractors on sites acros London, most recently on Wednesday, when Rentokil Initial awarded an hourly rate of 7.50 on its contract with Barclays following demonstrations by cleaners linked to the T&G-Unite union's Justice for Cleaners campaign.
Photos of the petitioners were taken by BBC internal newspaper Ariel, and the Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Gazette.
Support has come so far from the Latin American Workers Association and Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre, itself under threat from the local council which is imposing huge cuts on community groups (see
http://hammersmithlaw.wordpress.com/) More information:
Latin American Workers' Association
218 Green Lanes, London N4 2BR
tel: 020 8826 2063
Latin American Workers Association
e-mail:
latin_americanworkers@hotmail.com