Activists disrupt Mayor's Question Time to express anger at Boris' betrayal of tube cleaners

Mayor's Question Time had to be adjourned twice today as activists protested Boris Johnson's failure to follow up on his promise of a Living Wage for tube cleaners.  The cleaners' demands were shouted from the public gallery while more than thirty people demonstrated outside City Hall for the demands to be met.
Today's action was the latest in a series that have been called to protest the conditions faced by cleaners on the tube. Anne-Marie O'Reilly, who took part in the action today said:
"Cleaners on the Underground are essential for a functioning public transport system in London. It is totally unacceptable that their demands for a Living Wage and decent conditions have been met with intimidation and victimisation on immigration status grounds. We need to expose the employment practices which capitalise on workers' insecure status to allow poverty wages and demeaning conditions to continue."
Two months after the Mayor's 1 August deadline, many cleaners are still waiting to see their wages increase to the Living Wage. On top of this immigration checks have been used to intimidate those who took part three days of legal strike action this summer. One rep has been suspended and three union members have been deported for not having official immigration status.
Andy Ansah, who was at the demonstration outside City Hall and who until recently worked as a cleaner on the tube said:
 
'Immediately after the strike this summer the companies that run the tube used immigration controls to get rid of people.   We are here to protest against that.  Cleaners should not be victimised or deported for demanding the living wage.'

Cleaners will continue to organise and solidarity activists have said actions will continue until the Living Wage is extended to all cleaners on the Underground, and intimidation stops.

Footage of the action in City Hall today should be available here: http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/webcasts.jsp

Contact: Richard Whittell, 07824 996724, richard.whittell@gmail.com

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Notes

1. The action has been organised by with the involvement of activists from several solidarity groups including Campaign Against Immigration Controls (http://caic.org.uk/) and Feminist Fightback (www.feministfightback.org.uk).
2. Some of the media coverage of previous solidarity actions with tube cleaners can be found here -
http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/07/feminist-fightback-women-tube-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/03/london.tradeunions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7487468.stm
www.labourstart.org
http://www.24dash.com/news/Communities/2008-07-03-Striking-Tube-cleaners-subjected-to-appalling-intimidation
http://www.meltontimes.co.uk/latest-london-news/Striking-cleaners-39threatened-with-sack39.4252906.jp
3. 700-800 tube cleaners from the RMT Union were on strike for 24 hours from 1800 on  Thursday 26th June and for 48 hours from 1800 on Tuesday 1st July to demand:

•    A wage of £7.45 per hour, the minimum London living wage as determined by the GLA last year.
•    Sick Pay
•    Decent pensions
•    28 days' annual leave
•    An end to third party sackings
4. The strike action this summer won a commitment from Transport for London, which the Mayor chairs, that cleaners working for companies contracted by Metronet (all but three lines) would receive a London Living Wage.