Tube cleaners victimised: support Mary Oboakye!

Submitted by martin on 15 January, 2009 - 4:01 Author: Bob Sutton and Rebecca Galbraith

At the beginning of the year, RMT London Underground Cleaners’ Secretary, Clara Osagiede was disciplined on trumped up charge of gross misconduct by her employer, the contractor, ISS. Another RMT rep, Mary Oboakye was sacked because, while she waited for the tube-train doors to open, she rested her eyes, injured in an industrial accident two days previously — for which she was unable to take more time off work because she would have received no sick pay.

This was an attempt to break the power of the cleaners to collectively resist the bosses! Both of these women have been courageous in their efforts to organise some of the most poorly paid, overworked, and exploited workers in London.

This is not the first time that sackings have been used as a way of targeting those who are seen as “troublemakers”. One RMT rep was sacked by ISS at Stonebridge depot where, during the strike they had seen the strongest pickets and where cleaners are routinely asked to do the work of skilled engineers, without the training, health and safety, and pay to go with it. Last year another rep was sacked for taking and wearing a safety hat out of the “free issue” store.

Cleaners work nine hours a day, get no free travel, no pensions, no sickness pay and often have no mess room, forcing them to change and keep their stuff in the same cupboards in which the chemicals are kept. When a cleaner died this year after using unsafe chemicals in an unventilated space, the conditions remained the same for the worker who took over the shift. One cleaner was found the morning after she had died in a cupboard.

On Thursday 8 January, 40 activists picketed the ISS offices while the hearings took place. This was mobilised in just three days by the RMT, Feminist Fightback, Campaign Against Immigration Controls, SolFed, London Coalition Against Poverty, AWL and others. All charges against Clara were dropped. Mary’s decision was however adjourned to the following day before the appeal was rejected. Twenty five activists returned the next week to keep up the pressure on ISS with another loud protest.

A major feature of the cleaners’ struggle has been the way private cleaning companies, ISS, ITS, ICS and GBM, have used the immigration status of organisers as a weapon against them, colluding with racist immigration controls to arrange the deportation of key activists. Not having the correct immigration status makes you completely vulnerable to this kind of repression at any time. Papers for all is a matter of working class self-defence.

We should not forget that the cleaners’ grade itself is a product of privatisation. Prior to sub-contracting cleaning was part of a normal station assistant’s role. Now these workers do nothing but clean broken glass, food, vomit, shit, piss and blood. This notion of a ‘lower caste’ doing ‘womens’ or ‘migrants’ work is an obstacle to effective solidarity.

Cleaning on the London Underground is a hard and hazardous job. It should not be undervalued. The cleaners’ existing demands of a living wage, free travel, sick pay, pensions and papers are of immediate priority and should be fought for by all grades.

However, in the longer term we should look to abolish the cleaners’ grade entirely and for such arduous tasks to be spread across all staff on the underground.

More activists are urgently needed both to continue these types of actions and help build solidarity, organisation and union membership amongst cleaners.

• Attend the rally in support of Mary — 6pm, Friday 23 January, at the Exmouth Arms Starcross Street, Euston.

If you want to get involved in planning, writing leaflets and agitating on the Tube contact Bob on 07843 945 005 or e-mail bobsutton1917@gmail.com.

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