After two weeks of demonstrations and actions, including the occupation of Goldman Sachs headquarters, the cleaners celebrate their victory and move into the next stage.
The cleaners at many buildings in the City of London have reasons to celebrate after the Justice for Cleaners, part of Transport and General Workers Union, won an agreement with the largest cleaning company in the world, Denmark-based ISS. ISS is partly owned by Goldman Sachs, so cleaners and supporters staged a successful sit-in in the lobby of the venerable capitalist institution. The agreement means that all cleaners working for that company can now have a single negotiating point, instead of fighting lenghty a battle on each site, a key problem of subcontracted labour.
However, many problems remain with ISS, such as its "pioneering" use of BIOMETRIC clocking machines, which are being imposed on London Underground cleaners at several depots. Workers are currently refusing to put their bodies in the machine and are facing the sack. The deadline for compliance is Monday 4th of December at night, and so far the situation is heading for an ugly stand off at Hainault depot. Workers there are worried that as African migrants, they are already potential targets for discrimination. So far the company has not produced a detailed written policy on their handling of biometric data, just some vague assurances.
Back in the City, the cleaners have now set their sights on Lancaster, another large cleaning company with contracts to clean financial institutions all over the City. Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, all get their floors polished by this company's migrant workforce.
In Merril Lynch things turned particularly nasty in the past, when several cleaners were told that they should go for special training, only to find a squad of Home Office immigration stooges who promptly detained them. They were deported within days, some leaving their wife and kids behind.
The Justice for Cleaners campaing is calling all supporters to join them for a demonstration on Monday 4th of december in the afternoon at the headquarters of Merrill Lynch. Groups will be walking form Liverpool Street station (McDonalds exit) at 12 noon.
Remember to follow agreed guidelines on the actions to avoid putting migrants in danger. If supporters do not do anything extremely silly, the TGWU will provide legal assistance, although this demo should not carry risk of arrest.
There will be more actions this week, keep tuned to the Indymedia newswire.
However, many problems remain with ISS, such as its "pioneering" use of BIOMETRIC clocking machines, which are being imposed on London Underground cleaners at several depots. Workers are currently refusing to put their bodies in the machine and are facing the sack. The deadline for compliance is Monday 4th of December at night, and so far the situation is heading for an ugly stand off at Hainault depot. Workers there are worried that as African migrants, they are already potential targets for discrimination. So far the company has not produced a detailed written policy on their handling of biometric data, just some vague assurances.
Back in the City, the cleaners have now set their sights on Lancaster, another large cleaning company with contracts to clean financial institutions all over the City. Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, all get their floors polished by this company's migrant workforce.
In Merril Lynch things turned particularly nasty in the past, when several cleaners were told that they should go for special training, only to find a squad of Home Office immigration stooges who promptly detained them. They were deported within days, some leaving their wife and kids behind.
The Justice for Cleaners campaing is calling all supporters to join them for a demonstration on Monday 4th of december in the afternoon at the headquarters of Merrill Lynch. Groups will be walking form Liverpool Street station (McDonalds exit) at 12 noon.
Remember to follow agreed guidelines on the actions to avoid putting migrants in danger. If supporters do not do anything extremely silly, the TGWU will provide legal assistance, although this demo should not carry risk of arrest.
There will be more actions this week, keep tuned to the Indymedia newswire.
