100 signatures reached
To: Richard Sykes, ISS CEO and Edward Troup, HMRC Chief Executive
Improve pay and conditions of HMRC cleaners
Dear Richard and Edward,
We are asking you to give cleaning staff employed by ISS on HMRC premises a better deal by:
Paying all cleaners at least the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, currently £8.25 per hour, with a £10 per hour rate for supervisors.
Giving all cleaners occupational sick pay and holiday entitlements in line with directly employed HMRC staff.
Offering increased hours to staff who want them and recruiting more staff to reduce workloads.
Why is this important?
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.
