Catering staff earning as little as £7.83 an hour danced and sang outside their work at the business department as they staged a 26-hour strike in protest at what they described as poverty pay.
Many of the outsourced catering team at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) earn no more than the minimum wage, well below the £10.55 that the Living Wage Foundation calculates is necessary for an adequate life in the capital.
They were joined by cleaners, porters, receptionists and security guards at the department who are fighting for enough money to survive without hardship.
"We are living in poverty in this company."
— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) February 13, 2019
Ana Joaquim, a barista at @beisgovuk, on the picket as she and colleagues strike for the #livingwage. pic.twitter.com/2PBipw1H3m
Ana Joaquim, from Wood Green, who is originally from Portugal, earns £8.50 an hour as a barista at BEIS, which outsources its catering to a company called Aramark.
“We are living in poverty in this company,” she said. “They pay the minimal national wage; we are not entitled to 28 days’ holiday.”
Her colleague Novlette Hurd, from Wandsworth, who is originally from Jamaica, earns even less – £8.19 per hour – despite 21 years’ service at the department. “We can’t live because, for starters, I’ve got dependent children and it’s just not going anywhere,” Hurd said. “I’ve been meaning to shop for my son since Christmas and I have to save for months just to take him shopping.
“The £8.19 I’m getting, I’m only getting it because before they asked me to supervise, so there’s 50p extra – it was £7.79. Like, you think, why do I bother to work? It just makes you desperate some days. You just get up and you think: does it make sense to go to work?”
"You think why do I bother to work? It just makes you desperate some days. You just get up and you think does it make sense to go to work?"
— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) February 13, 2019
Catering workers Novlette Hurd and Merline Chambers outside @beisgovuk on the @BEIS_PCS_LS picket as they strike for the #LivingWage pic.twitter.com/Q2niqCGP9N
The strike, which began on Wednesday and continues until Thursday at 7pm, comes after joint strike action on 22 January, when support staff in the United Voices of the World union at the Ministry of Justice joined the BEIS workers for a one-day strike and demonstration in Westminster.
The business secretary, Greg Clark, who is responsible for workers’ rights nationally, has been leading talks with trade unions and Labour MPs to try to win support for the government’s Brexit deal.
However, the public-sector union PCS, which represents the support staff, said his department has repeatedly refused to negotiate with them on an increase in pay to the London living wage and a return to the terms and conditions support staff enjoyed before they were outsourced.
"Get up stand up, stand up for your rights"
— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) February 13, 2019
Catering staff with @BEIS_PCS_LS sing Bob Marley as they picket @beisgovuk for the #livingwage. Some are paid just £7.79 an hour. #Solidarity #HeartUnions @pcs_union pic.twitter.com/bWPVww3gmH
Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of PCS, said: “Our members are determined to do whatever it takes industrially, to get decent pay and conditions at work. The private contractors Aramark and Engie should be ashamed of themselves for not paying staff the London living wage.
“BEIS who awarded the contracts to these companies also share the responsibility for resolving this dispute. Ministers need to step in and ensure that outsourced workers are paid the same as other BEIS colleagues and ultimately bring the jobs back in-house.”
A BEIS spokesperson said: “All our staff are valued members of the BEIS team and all deserve a fair and competitive wage, whether directly employed or working for our contractors.
“Following a review of contractor pay, the department has agreed with its contractors that they will align the pay of their cleaning, catering, mailroom and security staff with pay rates for workers in comparable roles.”
