ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Rail union RMT staged a demonstration last month calling for London Underground cleaning contracts to be brought back in-house.

The protest took place outside City Hall to coincide with a Transport for London board meeting. The RMT understands that the London Underground cleaning contract is currently being re-tendered with ABM and Mitie the chief bidders.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers claim the outsourced cleaners receive no sick pay and only the legal minimum pension contribution. They are calling on the city's Mayor and Transport for London to address the situation.

"London Underground cleaners do a tremendous job in keeping our capital's tube going every single day," said RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey. "However they are still denied sick pay, still on poverty pensions and still outsourced to companies whose priority is extracting profit.

"This is a lingering injustice that must be addressed."

Recent surveys by the union show that more than 80 per cent of outsourced rail cleaners struggle to make ends meet while up to 90 per cent worry about their bills every month.

RMT also claims that 88 per cent of ABM cleaners believe passengers would receive a better service if they were directly employed by TfL or London Underground. And 80 per cent of London Underground station managers and depot staff questioned agreed that passengers would benefit if cleaning was brought in-house

A spokesperson for TFL said they would "continue to consider insourcing where it brings clear benefits for both value and service delivery".