Pressure Mounts on Mayor as DLR Cleaners Protest at City Hall

Outsourced cleaners are set to strike while staging a protest at Transport for London’s Board meeting on 4 February, stepping up pressure on Mayor Sadiq Khan over the use of outsourcing and control of the capital’s transport network.

The demonstration is due to begin at 9.30am outside City Hall on Kamal Chunchie Way and coincides with ongoing industrial action by cleaners working on the Docklands Light Railway. Those staff are employed by contractor Bidvest Noonan and are currently in dispute over access to company sick pay.

According to the RMT union, cleaners have been told that sick pay would only be considered in the most exceptional cases, such as terminal illness, a position the union has described as an insult to the workforce.

RMT argues that the dispute highlights what it sees as the consequences of TfL’s outsourcing model, which it says enables private contractors to erode pay and conditions while TfL and the Mayor distance themselves from accountability.

The protest also follows TfL’s decision to award a new five-year cleaning contract covering more than 2,000 workers to outsourcing firm Mitie. The union says this move contradicts previous statements from Mayor Khan indicating support for bringing cleaning services back in-house.

RMT claims the contract award shows the Mayor allowing TfL to prioritise private corporate interests over democratic oversight, as well as the needs of both staff and passengers.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said:

“The upcoming strike action by DLR cleaners' lays bare the cruel reality of outsourcing where frontline workers are treated with contempt by ruthless contractors. The Mayor cannot wash his hands of responsibility in this matter. He must follow through on the commitments he made to our union that he would end outsourcing. The protest on 4 February is about linking these disputes directly to the political decisions that are at the heart of this super exploitation of outsourced workers. Democratic control must be wrestled back from TfL bosses and the Mayor needs to act on his mandate given to him by the electorate to run the transport system in the public interest."

The union is calling on the Mayor to cancel the Mitie contract and set out an urgent timetable for the early insourcing of all TfL cleaning staff.

Image: RMT