ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Cleaners staged a protest outside London's Ernst and Young headquarters in June over alleged plans to cut the company's cleaning staff by 37 per cent.

Around 50 members of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, which represents gig economy workers, amassed outside EY's London Bridge offices holding banners and demanding better pay and conditions.

The protestors highlighted the fact that the company's partners receive average pay packets of more than £720,000 while cleaners were being axed. "EY make millions every year but they still want to cut the pay of the people who clean their toilets," they claimed. "They want to make more profit on the back of these low-paid workers."

According to an EY spokesperson: "EY's workplace and security services in the UK are provided by an external supplier, Mitie, and their third-party delivery partners. Our suppliers are currently conducting a consultation process with their employees about proposed changes to their resourcing model."

This is not the first time that EY has faced protests from its cleaning staff. In 2018 a group of 65 workers at the company - contracted through ISS - were told that some would lose their jobs and others be given reduced hours in reforms aimed at achieving "operational effectiveness and financial efficiency".

The IWGB staged protests both inside and outside the company's London offices. Protesters distributed leaflets around the building informing fellow employees about the redundancies. As a result, ISS cancelled both the planned redundancies and the reduction in hours.