A NATIONAL CLEANERS’ CHARTER

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2023 :: RMTnews 14 Cleaners have been exploited by rail companies and employers across the economy as cleaning has been outsourced to private companies because it was thought they were not essential workers. But the Covid pandemic revealed that cleaners were essential keyworkers and more and more people came to recognise the way cleaners are treated was a national scandal. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that was why the union had launched a national charter for cleaning workers and cleaners were now using their collective strength through our union to demand better. “Cleaners all over the railway are angry and they’re right to be and it is time for a change. “The millionaires and billionaires who get rich off our railways and your work, want to turn the clock back and put you back in your box because hey are frightened of you and your power. “The RMT National Cleaners’ Charter sets out our vision and lays out our demands for cleaning grades. “We will use it to win political support for its demands and we will work to get its principles embedded in agreements with our employers. But we also need members to use it to recruit. The more cleaners we represent, the greater will be our bargaining power as our employers will know that when we speak, we speak for you,” he said. THE CLEANERS’ CHARTER A PAY RISE TO £15 AN HOUR NOW The scandal of low pay among cleaners must be ended. 63 per cent of cleaners reported they were struggling to make ends meet before the pandemic. Now rising prices are wiping thousands of pounds off the value of cleaners’ pay. Basic pay should be lifted to £15 an hour now. DIRECT EMPLOYMENT AND AN END TO OUTSOURCING 80 per cent of cleaners on the railways are outsourced to private companies who hold down pay and conditions to extract profits on their contracts. Outsourcing is a scourge that must be driven out of the railways and all cleaners should be employed directly on the same terms and conditions as other rail workers. A PROPER SICK PAY SCHEME THAT KICKS IN FROM DAY ONE The pandemic highlighted that one of the ways outsourcing companies make their money is by not paying sick pay. ANNUAL PAY INCREASES AND PROPER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ARRANGEMENTS Because they are outsourced, cleaners’ pay is negotiated separately in arrangements that vary from company to company in a patchwork of contracts. Collective bargaining should be conducted through a national bargaining structure that is integrated with that of other rail workers. A DECENT PENSION Again, because they are outsourced, cleaners are denied a decent pension in retirement while outsourcing companies profiteer by winning contracts by reducing the cost of employing cleaners. This is a disgrace that should be ended and all cleaners should have a proper pension. TRAVEL FACILITIES Cleaners should receive free travel to and from work. No transport workers should have to pay for train travel to and from work or in their leisure time anywhere on the network. NATIONAL CLEANERS’ CHARTER A NATIONAL CLEANERS’ CHARTER Union launches a cleaners’ charter to demand a fair deal for these largely outsourced workers