Power to the Cleaners - MITIE Staff Strike for Better Pay

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• Power to the Cleaners - MITIE Staff Strike for Better Pay

22 January 2014 | Updated 01 January 1970

Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (UK) – or RMT – working for Mitie on the First Great Western at Paddington and Old Oak Common (operated by the First Group) have ended strike action that started on Sunday. The unions claim the workers are ‘fighting for the London Living Wage and workplace justice’.

Members were instructed not to book on for shifts from 06:00am on Sunday until and  06:00 hours on Sunday and 05:59a.m. on Wednesday 22 (today).

This followed similar industrial action just Christmas. Mitie had tabled a new offer which did not meet a London Living Wage.

Mitie Group PLC accounts show that for the year 2012-13 the firm made pre-tax profits of £58.8m, paid out dividends to shareholders of £20.6m (a 11.9% increase) with the highest paid director pocketing £1.374m (a 7.4% increase).

Meanwhile, First Group, which holds the Great Western franchise has refused to become embroiled.

Crowing loud and long

Bob Crow RMT General Secretary said: “Mitie are key players in the driving down on wages and working conditions for some of the lowest paid workers in Britain. The long-running battle for pay and workplace justice by the RMT Mitie cleaners on the Great Western franchise has become a set-piece confrontation with national implications in the wider struggle between low-paid workers and the cheapskate, facilities and outsource operations that this Government promotes at every opportunity.”

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 22 January 2014

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