Organising in a hostile environment. The Royal Cleaners.

I am posting this retrospectively, as it is quite a good example of how we can organise a-typical workers in increasingly hostile environments.

I started organising cleaners working within the Royal Household in February 2010. PCS, the union I work for, represent most  in house staff in the Royal Household, but not the cleaners – they are employed by two private contractors KGB Holdings and Greenzone, these companies are paid by the Royal Household to ‘oversee’ cleaning.

 

The British taxpayer hands the Queen £30 million a year for the upkeep of the Royal Household, some of which goes to pay these contractors to manage the cleaners.

 

One day  I received a call from a cleaner. He sounded very nervous and upset, and said they needed to join the union ‘urgently’ as people were getting bullied, sacked on the spot. I arranged to meet ‘Sam’ (not his real name) and his colleague ‘Daniel’ at a local fast food outlet (I was not permitted to enter the grounds of the palace as at that time we had no members in the cleaning section).

Sam and Daniel sat right at the back of the restaurant, and were constantly looking over their shoulder incase anyone spotted them – it was clear they were petrified and they talked very quickly and in hushed tones. ‘We are very scared. Please help us. They are making us do impossible work and they make fun of us, because we can’t speak much English. They make women lift beds and clean the shit under them. When they complain that it hurts their backs or that they need more time they laugh. Some people have already been sacked’.

Workers were forced to work with hazardous chemicals, in dingy, dark surroundings with no health and safety book, no first aid box, often on their own. They were not told what to do in the event of a fire. They had to take their lunch in the same place the chemicals were kept, and women and men had to change in the same room infront of each other. They had to keep their clothes in the same cupboards chemicals were kept in, meaning they ‘always smelled of chemicals’. They suffered from red, watery eyes, coughs and chronic back pain, were always running out of the most basic materials and yet  were bullied in to getting jobs done without the necessary equipment  - the list went on...

The two joined PCS and between us, we developed a strategy. Slowly but surely, cleaners joined the union. I started to get calls from members needing advice. I spoke to a group of female members who’s hands were red raw. When I asked them why their hands were so sore they explained that they weren’t provided with gloves and that they had had to spend one shift cleaning upholstery with their bare hands.

I was called by a woman who was extremely upset. I met her and she explained that her manager had tried to force her to lift six heavy bags of rubbish. Her shift had ended and it was too much for her, too heavy, so she refused. The manager snatched her pass off her and she was sacked on the spot.

She collapsed and started to cry, so he called the palace police and she was dragged off site.

Unfortunately, she was not a member of the union, but I put her in touch with a legal firm and I understand she is taking action against the employer.

I could go on, but it would take weeks to cover the full extent of the horrors.

 

Naturally, we came down very hard on the employer and the manager responsible got sacked. Things improved for a short while, and I was able to win a small pay rise for the cleaners, which boosted morale and was an example of what being in a union can achieve.

The new management attempted several underhand tactics, issuing ‘at risk of redundancy’ notices to anyone I had represented for example (a clear case of union victimisation – this was the only way the employer was able to identify union members from non-union members).  But they couldn’t get away with it as we were building and growing in numbers.

As members became more confident, they realised that they had put up with too much for too long.

They knew their worth, and they were worth a lot more than £6.45 per hour. They knew their counterparts down the road in the Palace of Westminster and the House of Lords earned the recommended Living Wage for London £7.85 and wanted the same rate. As one said ‘they think, just because we clean up shit, we have shit for brains’.

Or as ‘Anthony’ said in a recent interview with the Guardian newspaper when asked by the interviewer: So what would a rise of £1.40 an hour mean to Anthony? "The difference between working two jobs a day – like I do at the moment – and having some time to see my children, or my friends, or going to college." (the article goes on to say that Anthony works such long hours he will often crawl into bed exhausted and fully clothed, only to surface and go to work again four hours later)

 

After holding several clandestine members meetings it was agreed to mount a Living Wage campaign and to tie in with the Royal Wedding. If that didn’t get us results, we would stage a further campaign around President Barack Obama’s state visit in May. Afterall, can you imagine the embarrassment of having America’s first black president stay at Buckingham Palace being mopped after by black and migrant workers on £6.45 per hour?

 

There are only 25 cleaners in the Royal Household, surely the mere threat of this would have them running to the negotiating table? Er...sadly, no.

Much correspondence and protracting occurred, with no results. Chair of PCS’s parliamentary committee John McDonnell was appalled and immediately stepped in to offer help and support. He tabled an early day motion to parliament on the issue.

 

We mounted an online petition on the PCS website and had thousands of flyers and stickers printed ‘Fair Pay for Royal Cleaners’ – the design features a coat of arms for cleaners: mop, brush, rake and bucket’ at it’s centre.  Kate Middleton’s coat of arms was unveiled a day after ours, at a cost of £4,400 – the irony was not lost on us.

 

A timetable of leafleting tube stations, Trafalgar square, Parliament and Buckingham palace staff entrances commenced and we were met with support from all quarters of society. One young woman worker who took a leaflet rushed back to say ‘this is disgusting. I am a single mum and if I can pay my cleaner £8.00 per hour, so can the bloody Queen’.

The campaign received international press coverage from America to Brazil.

 

Due to a ban on protest on the day of the wedding itself, we decided to march on Buckingham Palace on the eve of the wedding.

We were joined by trade unionists from other unions and community activists. John McDonnell led the march proclaiming ‘these people are royal cleaners. Pay them a living wage!’

We carried flags, placards, buckets and brushes and brandished them at the curious masses in a peaceful way. We attempted a stationary protest outside the main palace gates, but  kept getting moved on by police. A couple of by-standards spat and shouted abuse but overall, the response was good. We got dozens of signatures for our giant ‘fair pay for royal cleaners sign’, which we will hand in to the queen on 24 May.

We marched around the front of the palace several times but it proved impossible with the police continually moving us on, so we decided to change tack and march across the royal parks instead, to applause from passers-by and the world’s media.

 

Since our protest, KGB and the royal household tell me that they are looking at ‘efficiencies’ in order to ‘improve salaries’. As we all know, ‘efficiencies is often code for job cuts and harsher working conditions.

 

We will escalate our campaign to coincide with Barack Obama’s visit and beyond that if they don’t pay up. 

 

It is clear that private contractors occupy the position those brutal industrial mill owners used to back in the 19 C. So often unheard, workers who need representation the most fall through the net due to erratic working patterns, language barriers, fear and insecure citizenship. As more and more public sector jobs are outsourced, it is more vital than ever that the trade union movement takes a serious and pro-active approach to organising privately contracted areas.

The situation that met me at the royal household is only the tip of the iceberg. How many other hundreds if not thousands of workers out there are brutalised in this way on a daily basis. We must not, we CANNOT allow these private companies to get away with it.

 

Please do all that you can to support our campaign – sign our petition: www.pcs.org.uk/royal cleaners , agree to distribute leaflets to your friends, families, workplaces and communities; ask your MP to sign EDM 1696.

See Reel News interview with a royal cleaner and footage from the palace protest: http://www.youtube.com/user/ReelNews

 

Get in touch if you would like a speaker from the campaign at your trade union branch/community group, or if you would like to get involved with our campaign.

 

My eye witness report, Gezi Park/ Taksim Square, Istanbul

I joined a trade union delegation, in a personal capacity, to Taksim Square in Turkey, to show solidarity with our Turkish sisters and brothers who are campaigning against the lack of democracy of the Recip Erdogan administration.

What started out as a small protest against government plans to bulldoze Gezi Park, one of the few green spaces in Istanbul,  and replace it with a shopping mall, came to symbolise a massive outpouring of frustration and anger at the lack of democracy in Turkey, with tens of thousands of women, men and children setting up camp and occupying Gezi park against the bulldozers.

Some of the measures Erdogan has put in place include a ban on public displays of affection, a ban on the consumption of alcohol after a certain time, the closure of a socialist public cinema and the indiscriminate jailing of anyone deemed to be subversive to his administration. This includes the jailing of hundreds of trade unionists and trade union leaders, journalists and socialists.

That this is occurring in the financial heart of Turkey, and in the largest city in Europe (Istanbul’s geography means that half of it sits in Europe, while the other half is in Asia), is remarkable in and of itself.

Given the turmoil within this region, as Turkey shares its borders with Syria, Iran and Iraq, this mass civil unrest could end either in a victory for its people, or complete and utter catastrophe. It is vital  that trade unionists globally put pressure on the Turkish government and do all that we can to expose their practices, and offer practical and moral support to our sisters and brothers there during this time to fight for a victorious people of Turkey and a better life for all who live there.

 

 

 

 

On 15 June 2013, I joined a trade union delegation to Taksim Square in Turkey, scene of mass demonstrations against the Erdogan government.

The delegation consisted of Steve Hedley, Sean MacGowan and Karlson Lingwood of the RMT, and Martin Powell-Davies of the NUT.

We arrived in the middle of the night to a carnival atmosphere, all facets of society were represented in the square: hippies, working class families, artists, and trade unionists. There was even a German pianist who had flown over especially, with his piano, to give free performances to the demonstrators. People gave out ‘free hugs’, kids wearing ‘anonymous’ masks played around in burnt out water cannons.

There were dozens of food stalls, giving out free food and drink, and tellingly, stalls selling goggles and masks, to be used in the event of gas attacks.

What struck us was how well organised and disciplined the park was, and how democratic (the committee consisted of representatives from across the social strata). No wonder Erdogan and his administration were running scared.

While children played football on the adjacent pitch, water cannon tanks loomed large, and hundreds of police pointed their guns menacingly as they began to round in.

The next morning we met the general secretary of the main civil service federation, KESK, who gave us a chilling insight into the treatment of trade unionists at the hands of the administration, police broke into the homes of leading trade unionists, arresting them on the grounds of ‘terrorism’ for organising trade unions, and the seizure of trade union files containing information on members and activists.

This draws parallels with the methods deployed during the early days of Pinochet in Chile, or Franco in Spain.

Later that day we joined striking cabin crew trade unionists and technicians, who had been sacked for union activities. Their picket line was well organised and well attended. We gave brief speeches of solidarity and they gave us chocolates and tea. The hospitality we received during our visit was incredible and testimony to the warm and friendly culture of the Turkish working class.

Due to lack of time (I bought my ticket the night before the trip), I was unable to take PCS flags with me, but I did have a PCS tabard which I gave to one of the striking women, she put it on straight away and walked around proudly wearing it.

In the early evening we met with the Gezi Park organising committee, who gave us an insight into their organising methods and their plans to build upon the mood. Around 120 different organisations are represented on this committee.

On returning to Gezi park, we enjoyed an excellent performance by a leading Turkish singer. Old men danced with their grandchildren on their shoulders, the park was packed with families, young and old all enjoying the music and soaking up the atmosphere.

We decided to get some dinner in a restaurant on Taksim Square at around 8 pm. No sooner had we sat down to eat we were informed that the police were attacking the park. While it was clear they were planning to do this due to their heavy handedness, we didn’t expect it to happen on Saturday evening when the park was full of families and particularly, small children.

We immediately raced out to offer solidarity and were met with horrifying scenes of old people gasping for air, and children running for cover, wearing swimming goggles to protect against the tear gas which was thick in the air.

At no time did we see any of the protestors respond with violence, instead they began signing and chanting. This however did not pacify the police who began to shoot plastic bullets at the crowd, as well as water cannon, tear gas and pepper spray.

Our delegation got water cannoned and tear gassed several times, pics attached, there was no escape. A plastic bullet shot in our direction missed Steve Hedley’s head by a matter of inches, and a tear gas canister exploded right next to me and our Turkish translator.

We were led to safety by a group of demonstrators who gave us fresh lemons to rub on our faces (which gets rid of the effects of the water cannon chemicals), and towels.

On returning to our hotel, we all had at least 3 showers, yet this exacerbated the effects of the chemicals, making our skin burn even more.

We had sore throats, sore eyes and burning stinging skin. The discomfort was awful but imagine how this would be to a child or an older person?

We then discovered that there was a march consisting 10,000 people making its way up the motorway to Istanbul to join the protestors and give support.

The irony is that the oppression has brought together those who previously were sworn enemies; Kurdish separatists, Turkish nationalists, democracy campaigners, socialists, communists, trade unionists and youth.

On touching down at Heathrow, we drove straight to Trafalgar Square to speak at a rally organised by Turkish community group the Day-Mer Centre. We gave messages of solidarity from Turkish workers and reported on our trip.

 

 

The KESK and DISK trade union federations have already called strikes in response to these attacks. The international trade union movement could play a decisive role in the fight for democracy and civil rights.