Train cleaners strike to ‘get rid of vultures’ who profit from railways

Train cleaners strike in London (Picture: Guy Smallman)

Train cleaners are taking on poverty pay, dangerous working conditions—and multinational outsourcing giants. 

The RMT union members, who clean trains on Avanti West Coast, GWR, Northern, GTR and Southeastern, rounded off a 48-hour strike on Saturday. They’ve struck more than 20 times since February of last year to demand outsourcers Churchill, Bidvest Noonan and Atalian Servest give them at least £15 an hour. 

Bella Fashola was picketing in Hastings on the south coast of England. “The end goal is to be brought back in house,” she told Socialist Worker. “We need to rip up the contracts to get rid of the vultures.

“Outsourcing has gone on for too long. It’s a race to the bottom when they fight for the contracts—and that is a detriment to us.”

Bella says workers are striking for “company sick pay as we are forced into work when sick or forced to use our holiday leave”. They’re also demanding “free travel which would be life changing as it’s so expensive”. 

“We want better holidays, pensions and at least £15 an hour to lift our heads above the cost of living crisis,” she said. “We’re all fed up, we can’t afford to live as the ‘real living wage’ isn’t enough.”

The strikes are hitting the train operating companies. And workers’ strikes and union campaigning has forced Transport for London bosses to give their outsourced workers free travel. “That was a really important win for us,” said Bella. “But we say if mayor Sadiq Khan can give it to those cleaners, why can’t the rest of us get it?”

Despite the long running action Bella said there is “lots of energy” and since the strike began “new stations have walked out”. She said she’s “very confident” about workers winning a reballot at the end of May to renew their strike mandate.