20/07/2005

Cleaners picket parliament in pay dispute

Peers and MPs attending the Houses of Parliament today had to cross a picket line as cleaners staged their first ever strike.

Around 170 members of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) were holding the one-day strike over pay and holiday entitlements.

The TGWU had earlier written to MPs asking for their support including a request to join them on the picket line.

The cleaners, who are employed by two agencies are paid £5 an hour with no company sick pay or pension scheme and have 12 days off a year, are campaigning for £6.70 per hour; 20 days (+ 8 public days) holiday; sick pay; company pension and "dignity and respect".

TGWU Deputy General Secretary Jack Dromey said: "Parliament should be ashamed of poverty pay in the home of democracy. A living wage, decent conditions and respect at work are only possible if the Parliamentary Authorities now act. The cleaners deserve it and the public expect it."

Shahid Malik, MP for Dewsbury, who put down an Early Day Motion in Parliament which has 129 signatories, said: "I came into politics to make poverty history, not to tolerate it for cleaners in the Houses of Parliament. If we can't get these hardworking and dedicated people a living wage it undermines confidence in what we can do for others around the country."

(SP/GB)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

09 November 2005
Parliament cleaners on strike again
Cleaners in the Houses of Parliament are staging another 24-hour strike, as part of an ongoing pay dispute. Around 140 cleaners have demanded a pay increase – from £5.20 per hour to £6.70 – as well as improvements in their working conditions, including the provision of sick pay and pensions.
09 February 2006
Parliament cleaners receive pay rise
Cleaners at the Houses of Parliament are to receive a pay rise, after settling their long-running pay dispute. The workers' rate of pay will increase in stages from £5.20 to £6.70 per hour by next January, under the terms of a deal agreed with the Transport and General Workers Union.
19 August 2014
New Data Shows Women Hit By 'Mid-Life Pay Crisis'
Female managers over 40 years old are earning 35% less than men, according to new data by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR. To earn the same as a male manager over a career, a woman would have to work the equivalent of over 14 years more.
01 September 2011
Commission On Minimum Wage Visit
Two Low Pay Commissioners are to visit London next week on a fact-finding visit about the National Minimum Wage. The visit is one of a number of planned trips the Low Pay Commission is making around the UK during 2011 to "gather information on how the minimum wage is operating".
26 September 2008
Funding Boost Of £455m For Equal Pay Claims
Funding of £455m will be awarded to councils in England to allow back payments relating to thousands of equal pay claims from women workers. In a move to speed up long-term commitments to achieving equal pay for all council workers, local government minister John Healey gave the go-ahead to 34 councils to raise the money through capitlisation.