DLR cleaners will strike alongside City Hall outsourcing protest

Outsourced cleaners will strike alongside a protest at Transport for London’s (TfL) Board meeting on 4 February. This will increase pressure on mayor Sadiq Khan over outsourcing and democratic control of the capital’s transport system.

Outsourcing cleaners

The protest, starting at 9.30am at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London E16 1ZE, comes amid ongoing strike action by outsourced cleaners on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) employed by contractor Bidvest Noonan, who are in dispute over company sick pay.

The RMT says cleaners have been told that sick pay would only be considered in extremely limited circumstances, such as terminal illness, which the union branded an insult.

The union says the dispute is a direct consequence of TfL’s outsourcing model. This allows private contractors to drive down terms and conditions while TfL and the Mayor distance themselves from responsibility.

At the same time, TfL has awarded a new five-year cleaning contract covering more than 2,000 workers to outsourcing giant Mitie, despite Khan previously stating his support for bringing cleaners back in-house.

The RMT says the decision demonstrates that the mayor of London is allowing TfL pursue private corporate interests, overriding both democratic accountability and the interests of workers and passengers.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said:

The upcoming strike action by DLR cleaners’ lays bare the cruel reality of outsourcing where frontline workers are treated with contempt by ruthless contractors.

The Mayor cannot wash his hands of responsibility in this matter. He must follow through on the commitments he made to our union that he would end outsourcing.

The protest on 4 February is about linking these disputes directly to the political decisions that are at the heart of this super exploitation of outsourced workers.

Democratic control must be wrestled back from TfL bosses and the Mayor needs to act on his mandate given to him by the electorate to run the transport system in the public interest.

The union is calling on the Mayor to terminate the Mitie contract and publish an urgent timetable for the early insourcing of all TfL cleaners.

Featured image via the Canary