Staff who clean HM Revenue and Customs offices are overworked and undervalued. Paid just the minimum wage, they have now been told they must shoulder the cost of introducing the government’s so-called “national living wage” through cuts in their hours and jobs.
Their employment follows a familiar pattern. HMRC handed the contract to a private company, Mapeley, in 2001. Mapeley set up another firm, Salisbury, to handle the contract, which in turn subcontracts the work to the global firm ISS Facility Services. This arrangement blurs the lines of responsibility. ISS insists it is bound by its contract, while the others claim they cannot intervene as they are not the direct employer.
It is inconceivable that the money cannot be found to pay the cleaners a wage that allows them to afford a basic standard of living. Added to this, cleaners currently only receive statutory sick pay and holiday entitlement. We do not believe they should have fewer rights than the civil servants they work alongside in HMRC.
We are campaigning not just against the threat of cuts to hours and staff, but for equal treatment with HMRC’s own employees. And we are demanding that both the department and the contractor face up to their responsibilities to these low-paid workers.
Marianne Owens PCS national executive committee
Clara Paillard PCS national executive committee
Petros Elia United Voices of the World general secretary
Sandy Nicholl Soas Unison branch secretary
Peter Dowd MP
Carol Gerrard, Hamish Drummond, Dave Hansford, Lorna Kennedy, Mark Leopard, Gerry Noble and Patrick Smyth PCS HMRC group executive committee
Phil Dickens PCS HMRC north-west regional organiser
Cathy Crane PCS VOA Manchester branch secretary
Harvey Crane PCS HMRC Anglia branch secretary
Karen Dow PCS HMRC criminal justice branch secretary
Ian Hough PCS HMRC West Mercia branch secretary
John Lynch PCS Liverpool City & Netherton branch secretary
Darren Madge PCS HMRC Salford Revenue branch secretary
Alison Mandrill PCS HMRC Portsdown Vectis branch secretary
Phil Millar PCS Bootle taxes branch secretary
Steve Ryan PCS HMRC north-west & north Wales branch secretary
Paul West PCS HMRC Fenland branch secretary
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