Railway cleaners begin 11-day strike over salaries
Railway cleaners began today an 11-day strike to increase their salary to £15 per hour.
The union RMT said its members working for contractor Churchill aboard the GTR, Southeastern and HS1 networks will go on strike until 7 May.
As part of the campaign, RMT is calling for cleaning staff to be treated like other railway workers and be eligible for company sick pay and free travel.
“Churchill need to recognise the damage to its public reputation and the fact customers will have to board filthy trains during their commutes and leisure travel because of their refusal to pay cleaners a decent wage,” said RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch.
“We will continue to ramp up this campaign and ensure that these greedy multimillion pound contractors are stripped of their ability to exploit workers on our railways.”
Commenting on the strike, Churchill said it would continue working with unions to resolves the situation.
“We are committed to working collaboratively with the RMT to resolve the situation as we continue to support our employees,” a company spokesperson said.