RMT STEPS UP FIGHT FOR TYNE AND WEAR METRO CLEANERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2013 :: RMTnews 5 C leaners working for Churchill’s on the Tyne and Wear Metro took further 24 hour strike action last month in their battle for pay and workplace justice. The action coincided with a meeting of the Integrated Transport Authority and strikers and supporters lobbied the meeting at Newcastle Civic Centre to demand intervention from regional transport chiefs to force their contractors to pay a living wage. The latest strike will be the twelfth day of action taken by RMT members and follows rock- solid strikes over the Christmas and New Year period. The Churchill’s cleaners’ battle, part of national RMT fight for justice for transport cleaners, concerns an attempt by the highly-profitable company to impose zero per cent pay awards on a workforce already on the bare minimum wage. Churchill’s, working on the Metro for its client DB Regio, has doubled its profits in the past five years and has extracted nearly £7 million from the exploitation of essential cleaning staff on the most basic pay and conditions including no sick pay, no pensions and none of the travel concessions rights enjoyed by other NEXUS workers. While the company is trying to enshrine poverty pay amongst the staff who deliver vast returns for the shareholders, its own highest paid director has had a salary increase of more than 18 per cent in the last five years to nearly £160,000 making a nonsense of their claims that they can’t afford a decent offer to the front-line cleaning staff. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that members had shown guts and determination in the fight for workplace and pay justice which is gathering both top level political support and the backing of the public. “This battle has national significance in the campaign against low pay and exploitation by greedy companies and RMT will continue to ratchet up the pressure for fairness for this important group of North East transport staff as part of our national cleaners’ campaign,” he said. RMT STEPS UP FIGHT FOR TYNE AND WEAR METRO CLEANERS