RMT calls for cleaners to be brought in-house on Southeastern trains

Rail union RMT has called for an end to outsourcing on Southeastern services, demanding that cleaners employed by private contractor Churchill be brought back in-house under public ownership.

The government took over running Southeastern in 2021. It’s due to be integrated into Great British Railways. However, an external company, Churchill, still employs the cleaning staff. The RMT says it offers inferior pay and conditions and little to no job security.

The union highlighted that Churchill has paid out more than £50m to shareholders in the last two years. It argues that the company is prioritising profits over the interests of frontline staff and the travelling public on Southeastern.

The RMT added that the Labour government had promised the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation but that so far it hadn’t followed through on that commitment.

Activists from the union will leaflet Ashford International station from 7am on Thursday 30 April. A short demonstration will follow from 9am, in order to highlight the campaign.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said:

There is no justification for keeping cleaners outsourced to a private contractor when Southeastern is in public hands.

Churchill has paid out tens of millions to shareholders at the same time as suppressing cleaners pay, denying them sick pay and leaving them without a proper pension.

Cutting corners on staffing and conditions inevitably impacts on cleanliness and standards across the railway which negatively impacts on passengers.

We are calling on the government to end outsourcing on rail and bring these essential workers into Great British Railways where they belong.

John Parsons, RMT regional organiser, said:

Our members are being asked to keep trains and stations clean without even the basic tools to do the job properly, with reports of bin bags being rationed, a lack of PPE and serious safety concerns ignored by Churchill.

Staff who speak up are being managed out of the business, which our union finds totally unacceptable and is yet more evidence of the contempt outsourcing companies have for railway workers.