RMT says railway cleaners working across Kent's services for Churchill will stage two-day strike from March 12
Published: 08:44, 08 March 2022
Updated: 16:18, 08 March 2022
Cleaning staff on the county's railways are set to stage two days of strike action this weekend as part of their on-going pay dispute.
Workers for cleaning contractor Churchill - which holds the contract for Southeastern, Southern, HS1 and Eurostar services - will walk-out on Saturday, March 12.
It will impact stations and trains across the county's rail network.
Organised by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, it follows a similar day of action last month.
The RMT says Churchill made £39million profit yet continues to pay its staff the minimum wage. It says it wants to see staff paid £15 an hour, given the right to company sick pay and made direct employees of the railway.
Churchill also handles the cleaning contract for the Thameslink and Great Northern rail services.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Churchill have shown scant regard for their staff and have failed to pay them properly despite ballooning profits.
"These workers performed heroics during the pandemic, risking their health and safety to keep London moving.
"But Churchill have so far not offered anything meaningful for our members to consider.
"RMT will not rest until we achieve pay justice and ensure that these greedy multimillion pound contractors are stripped of their ability to exploit workers on our railways."
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Chris Britcher