In front of Willis Insurance Brokers building

Liverpool St.Tube

As the marvellous but short-lived campaign Justice for Cleaners has ended, it is now Cleaners for Justice! Cleaners from all over London are beginning to come together again to continue the fight for their rights.

Yesterday, over twenty protesters made a lot of noise in front of Willis Insurance Brokers, demonstrating for the re-instatement of cleaners who had been sacked by sub-contractor Mitie.

The second ‘unofficial’ demonstration seemed to be the charm and news is that the cleaners have been called in to negotiate.

This first step toward victory has been achieved with the dedicated, hard work of the cleaners concerned and their supporters despite the absence of official support from the union Unite.

See the video for more...

Jerry Hicks is standing as general secretary of Unite-Amicus. He has been storming up and down the country, taking on the establishment within the union in his campaign to become general secretary. He travels everywhere by coach (because it’s cheap), stays overnight in supporters’ back rooms, and is currently nursing a fractured leg kindly donated by the police while he was picketing on behalf of the workers outside Staythorpe Power Station. His campaign is financed by voluntary donations of Unite-Amicus activists. He deserves our support.

With workers everywhere being forced onto the defensive through employers’ attacks on jobs, pay and conditions the victory at Lindsey of the protests and strike action will be seen as a marvellous example to others of what can be achieved in the face of attack. The background to this latest dispute has been a deliberate employers’ offensive over a number of years to undermine the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI). The slump in the construction industry since last summer and the onset of the recession only intensified these attacks.

Rail unions held a protest on Wednesday February 11th outside London Underground head offices against the first wave of threatened cuts of 1,000 jobs. Workers turned out to demand that those responsible for running up the massive TfL/LUL deficit of over £2.5 billion be sacked, and not the workers who are being threatened with the sack because of senior management incompetence.

Socialist Appeal interviewed Keith Gibson, spokesperson for the Lindsey strike committee:

“I believe the result in Lindsey was an excellent victory for the workers. It truly inspired me. The solidarity of the lads around the country in particular was tremendous. It was spontaneous. The lads were looking for a lead, especially as they were fed up at seeing employers with their own workforce for years coming in and under-cutting the national agreements."

"The workers were prepared to break the law. The national trade union bureaucracy don't want a fight on their hands. They are more afraid of losing their salaries and cars. They do not understand the anger of workers fearful for their jobs and livelihoods. I asked the coppers what they were doing here. “Shouldn't you be in London arresting bankers and city speculators?” They seemed to agree. We told them to move the BNP. If not, then we would move them ourselves, so they obliged."