Cleaners

Word reaches Tubeworker HQ that ABM has been salami-slicing its staffing levels at a number of stations... again.

At Oxford Circus, for example, the contractor wants to have just two cleaners on the 07:00-15:00 shift, a ludicrous proposition given the size of the station and the workload involved...

At the recent Labour Party conference, London mayor (and ultimate boss of TfL) Sadiq Khan was directly questioned by conference delegate and RMT activist Janine Booth about the outsourcing of Tube cleaning. We transcribe Janine's speech here. For the video, see the embedded tweet below.

ABM cleaners will be on the frontline of cleaning up after boisterous (and then jubilant/despondent - delete as appropriate) football fans enjoying the Euro 2020/1 final today. They'll have to deal with spills, bodily fluids, and heaps of discarded food and drinks packaging.

This is after a...

Cleaning contractor ABM has unveiled a new yellow hi-vis vest as part of cleaners' uniforms.

The printing and graphics are bit toned down than the previous one, but the bright colour still ensures cleaners are often some of the most visible staff around, especially in stations, meaning cleaners...

Sadiq Khan's manifesto for the 6 May London mayoral elections contains a great deal about transport. Tubeworker will comment further on other aspects of it in the future: we want to pick up on just one here.

The manifesto goes further than Khan has gone previously towards indicating the in...

TfL is currently participating in a trial whereby rapid antigen Covid tests are made available to directly-employed staff and some external staff, such as the British Transport Police. Several testing centres have been set up around London.

The trial must be expanded to be accessible to...

Strikes by Tube cleaners in 2007-8 won an agreement that cleaners’ wages, regardless of which company held the outsourced cleaning contract, would be pegged to the London Living Wage. The 2019/20 LLW calculation was £10.75. That’s due to rise to £10.85 in April 2021.

But that 10p/hour increase...

RMT and the TUC in London and the South East have teamed up produced an extremely useful briefing, setting out the case for Tube cleaning to be brought in house.

The contract, currently held by ABM, is up for renewal next year. RMT is pressuring Sadiq Khan’s Labour administration to bring the...

It seems ABM is attempting to weasel out of its commitment to pay all cleaners full pay for periods of sickness and self-isolation.

Managers are instructing workers to apply to their local councils for the £500 self-isolation grant, and saying ABM will top up any remainder, or that they’ll only...

Risk your life carrying out essential, frontline work during a deadly global pandemic... how does your employer reward you? Well, if you're a cleaner on London Underground... it's with a small badge.

There's widespread anger amongst ABM staff at what's seen as a slap in the face. Rather than...