This video from England says about itself:
London Mayor Boris Johnson promised London Underground cleaners the London Living Wage a year ago. He has failed to stay true to his word and these workers continue to struggle along on the minimum wage in one of the most expensive cities in the world. They work in appalling conditions cleaning up vomit, urine, excrement and even after suicides. They also work nightshifts for no extra pay. RMT says to the London Mayor – Boris Keep Your Promise! Give the cleaners the London Living Wage of £7.60 an hour.
From daily The Morning Star in Brtain:
Web picket launched as strike escalates
Friday 10 August 2012
by Tony Patey, Industrial Reporter
Cyber-pickets are being mounted as London Tube cleaners continue their fight for an Olympic bonus in line with other colleagues and bid to highlight a raft of other grievances.
Transport union RMT has linked up with campaigning website LabourStart to launch the global Internet picket of London Mayor Boris Johnson in tandem with the cleaners’ street presence.
Around 500 staff employed by private subcontractors through the Tube and Transport for London walked out from 13 depots at 5.30am on Thursday for 48 hours – the second solid two-day strike action taken since the start of the Olympics. Other cleaners in the area are getting around £100 a week in bonuses, and the Tube cleaners are determined to fight on.
Similar LabourStart campaigns have helped win victories around the world on workplace rights and pay and conditions.
Pickets were out in force at Stratford and other London locations to publicise their poor wages, lack of sick pay and no free travel as well as claims of intimidation, especially against union reps.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “It will help us apply maximum pressure to end this scandal of poverty pay on London Underground.
“The many millions enjoying the events around the globe must not forget the London transport cleaners on minimum pay rates doing some of the dirtiest jobs in often appalling conditions.
“The Olympics has to be about equality, inclusiveness and social justice and that’s what our cleaners are standing up for as the spotlight shines on London.”
Details of the LabourStart/RMT cleaners’ campaign can be found online at http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1484
Potential cyber-pickets can go through to LabourStart’s website and sign up to a message of support for the cleaners which will be sent on to subcontractors, TfL and Mr Johnson’s office.
RMT Cleaners Demonstration at Stratford Station; video here.
This photo essay on the London Olympic Games includes a number of images showing the unprecedented security clampdown in the capital: here.
Corporate “Sin-Washing” – Embracing the Olympic Brand Pays Off for Sponsors: here.
Con-Dem attacks on Britain’s social fabric were laid bare again on Friday after it was revealed that one in 10 families struggle to put three square meals on the table a day: here.
Reblogged this on NonviolentConflict.
London Underground cleaning workers go on strike for Olympic bonus pay
Cleaning workers on London’s Underground Tube network went on a 48-hour strike last week in a dispute over bonus payments for working during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The workers, employed by private contractors, walked out at 5:30 a.m. and mounted picket lines outside Tube stations, including Stratford, close to the Olympic Park.
The London Olympics has meant an incredible extra stress being placed on an already largely antiquated transport system and its low-paid workforce. In May, London Underground staff secured a deal that would see them receive up to £850 for working during the Olympics, with drivers set to receive payments of up to £1,000. In June, London bus drivers staged a protest over the same issues and eventually secured bonuses of at least £500 for working during the Games.
http://wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/wkrs-a17.shtml
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