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At last night’s @RMTLondon Regional Council, our Regional Organiser reported that @ABM_UK and @TfL have withdrawn an agreement made at the beginning of the #COVID19 pandemic to pay cleaners full pay for periods of sickness and self-isolation.
Cleaners will revert to Statutory Sick Pay of £95.85 per week, clearly not enough to live on. This means these low-paid workers may not be able to afford to self-isolate, and may come to work with symptoms — putting themselves, their workmates, and passengers at risk.
This is an absolute scandal from both a workers’ rights and infection control point of view. It’s also happening whilst @ABM_UK, the cleaning contractor, is making profits, as an @RMTunion report has shown: https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/tube-outsourcing-company-profiteering-whilst-slashing-jobs/
The labour movement needs to raise its voice on this. As the tragic death of @UVWunion member Emanuel Gomes showed, #SSP kills. If workers can’t afford to follow public health guidance, the virus will continue to spread and more lives will be lost. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/26/emanuel-gomes-died-just-hours-after-his-cleaning-shift-why-was-he-working
Last month, @SadiqKhan paid tribute to the campaigning of @RMTunion on cleaners’ issues and said he’d “consider” in-housing the cleaning contract when it expired. “Consideration” in the future isn’t good enough. We need action now. https://twitter.com/bakerloormt/status/1293876308397699073
TfL and LU are public bodies, ultimately administered by @MayorofLondon, who chairs the @TfL board. The buck stops with him. He must ensure cleaners receive full pay for sickness and isolation. Anything short of this risks lives.
Cleaners in @RMTLondon are organising to demand the agreement is reinstated. Take action via your own union to support them. You can write to @ABM_UK, @TfL, and @MayorofLondon @SadiqKhan to demand that cleaners, and all outsourced workers, have full sickness and isolation pay.
