IWW-Londres|Story and video of the victory of cleaner-honest-s Guildhall

[youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?= the jYXnz_zX6VM&feature=youtu.be]
Unionized cleaners with IWW emerge from labor dispute against Guildhall, in London.

Published on 25 July in English on http://iww.org.uk/node/590

London company cleaners Guildhall won a major victory in their dispute with the subcontractor Ocean Contract Cleaning London Ltd (Ocean). This represents a major achievement for these unionized workers with the “ Cleaners and allies branch - Syndicat Industriel 640 »Of Industrial Workers of the World(IWW).

The Guildhall was built between 1411 and 1440 as a symbol of the English ruling elite, and many of its labor policies are still stuck in this medieval past. The workers who maintain the splendor of Guildhall are paid a miserable £ 5.93 (9,60$CAN) and have no health insurance or pension fund. They are hired by Ocean, a society which also has a history worthy of a medieval establishment. for example, in 2006 community organization London Citizens discovered that workers employed by Ocean at a university in London were generally underpaid, or not paid at all. These cleaners subsequently recovered £ 50,000 in unpaid wages.

At Guildhall, cleaners find themselves in a similar situation having not been paid repeatedly, or receiving their pay several months late. Some waited two to three months to get the wages they were owed. Other fault, these workers even had their statutory holidays deducted from their holidays. As if that weren't enough, the workers, overwhelmingly immigrants from Latin America, from Asia and Africa, are subject to managerial abuse such as bullying and unjustified disciplinary measures. for example, an employee may have returned home for showing up five minutes late. At the second delay, this same employee can be fired. Workers who are members of IWW said they were threatened with dismissal for being two minutes late.

Cleaning workers fight back !

The thirty-four cleaners of the Guildhall were quick to organize and respond with direct action to the arrogance of management. Tuesday 14 and wednesday 15 June, these workers put direct pressure on management by staying in the entrance hall from the start of their shift, until they get the assurance of being paid for their work!

Despite the confirmation of’ Ocean that workers would be paid the following days, there were still two weeks of unpaid wages on average. The workers then submitted to management a formal complaint from the IWW as to the many unpaid hours, which unfortunately was not heard. The cleaners of IWW responded by stepping up their campaign with a day of action on Friday 15 July.

This time, the demonstration was called by the Cleaners Branch of the IWW, and was accompanied by a wave of solidarity. Several people joined the demonstration in support of workers in the Guildhall : workers and students of University College London and of School of Oriental and African Studies, activists from Colombia Solidarity Campaign, other cleaners of the General Branch of Members IWWs from London as well as members of various other groups. More than sixty people demonstrated in solidarity from 5:30 a.m. to Guildhall. We can note the support offered by Vicar David Parrott who, in addition to having made the facilities of his church available to them, offered tea and coffee to workers.

Cleaners want guarantees

The workers, with the words "Stop the violence"On their hands, chanted slogans like "No salary, no job», or the wobbly hymn "Solidarity Forever ». For at least once in its existence, the Guildhall will not have sung the praises of the lords of capital !

It was only following the intensification of the campaign by members of the IWW that the leadership of the Gsublime intervened by calling a meeting between her, the IWW and Ocean. A delegation made up of Alberto de Durango (secretary of the London IWW Cleaners Branch), the Chris Ford (of the General Branch of London Members) and three cleaners from Guildhall, members of IWW, was able to meet with management and the subcontractor Ocean.

In order to facilitate negotiations, and with the approval of the workers, we agreed to move the demonstration outside the court of Guildhall - management pretended that we were on private property, even if the municipal police had given us permission to demonstrate twice. The bosses were clearly irritated by our demonstrations and repeatedly tried to fool the union by offering workers to move into another room until the end of negotiations. We may be employed slaves, but we are not fools !

Under pressure, and while the direction of the Guildhall debated openly with the management of’Ocean - the IWW guaranteed an agreement for immediate payment of wages due and a review of wages in the past six months. After five hours of whistleblowing actions, the IWW has had a written guarantee that the human resources department of’Ocean was going to make a direct payment to the cleaners before the end of the event.

Both the manifestation of 15 July as the previous actions in June resulted in the major achievement of the demands of the Guildhall cleaners. All unionized workers IWW of Guildhall and some General Branch of Members welcomed this inspiring campaign.

Disguised threats and the aftermath

Many times, the direction of Guildhall of London denounced the actions of the cleaners IWW, calling them illegal industrial actions. Unlike traditional unions, the IWW does not work in the wake of fear of Thatcher-style anti-union laws. It goes without saying that the union does not regret the actions democratically decided by its members in order to advance their interests. When it was implied that disciplinary action could be taken against the cleaners, activists of IWW have made it clear to management that they will organize another campaign to defend any worker threatened after trying to get their due wages.

However, Contrary to what the bosses and some websites have said, unionized activists from IWW did not need to call a strike at Guildhall. The cleaners were actually dealing with the equivalent of a lockout. It’s the management of the company, not the cleaners, who was unlawful in having repeatedly failed to fulfill his contractual obligation to pay workers wages in return for their work. These proletarians who receive less than the minimum wage will certainly not volunteer!

We'll clear up these things on Thursday 28 July when activists from IWW will meet with the General Management of Ocean. The IWW Cleaners Branch will follow the next steps in a campaign to improve conditions for union members in Guildhall. Among the main objectives are:

1. Recognition of IWW.
An independent workers' union including almost all of the cleaners in the Guildhall are now members. Instead of trying to undermine them IWW, like the new contractor Sodexo seeks to do this by holding individual "consultations" with the cleaners, employers face the reality that the union is here to stay.

2. An immediate living wage.
The members of IWW of the General Branch of London Members decided to campaign on living wages, currently estimated by the Municipality of London to be £ 8.30 an hour. Cleaning companies see wages as a burden on profits, and therefore try to keep them as low as possible. For the working class the hourly rate is a matter of survival. With an increase in the cost of living and the worsening of the current recession, work at £ 5.93 / hr, it's worse than living in poverty.

The Guildhall claims he is not responsible for the cleaners. According to Management, it would rather be the subcontractors Ocean currently and Sodexo from September 1. However, as the saying goes "Who pays the ball leads the dance» ; it's the Guildhall who decided to contract out cleaning services ;so it is indeed the Guildhall which sets the terms of the submission. The Guildhall could award the contract himself and thus give the cleaners the same conditions as their other employees.. It could also choose to award contracts only to organizations that pay a living wage and recognize unions. Let it be Guildhall who employs the cleaners directly or through a subcontractor, union members and activists in IWW demand justice for these workers now!

Cleaners, cleaners, know your rights !

Union activists from IWW of the General Branch of London Members will hold an information session for the cleaners of the Guildhall, after the end of their shift. (date and place to be announced). The IWW also invited a professional in labor law who will give workers an overview of their rights, with particular regard to their employment contract, their wages, leave, pauses, to discipline, grievance and much more. French and Spanish translations will be provided.

English language courses

As is often the case with migrant workers, employers used workers' lack of knowledge of English to exploit and abuse them. While union activists from the General Branch of London Members arrange for materials in Spanish and French to assist members, they will soon organize free English language courses for London members of IWW.