CLEANERS EMPLOYED ON EUROSTAR

Early day motion 2770, tabled 23 February 2012 by Frank Dobson (Labour). Signed by 33 members.

That this House supports members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union in their industrial dispute with Rentokil Initial; applauds cleaners at the Eurostar terminals at St. Pancras International, who help maintain the UK's status as a major tourist destination, particularly during this Olympic year; notes that staff employed by Rentokil Initial to do this important job, who have not had a pay rise for four years, currently earn 6.76 per hour and have rejected a miserly 13 pence per hour pay rise; regards such poverty wages for cleaning staff maintaining the plush Eurostar terminal as a national scandal; believes that cleaners across the capital should be paid the London living wage of 8.30 per hour; further notes that cleaners working for other contractors on the Eurostar terminal earn around 8 per hour; is alarmed by testimony that Rentokil Initial has contracted a recruitment company that is recruiting workers to break the union's strike action; and calls on the Government to intervene in this dispute to persuade the employer to attend Advisory, Concilliation and Arbitration Service talks to resolve this pay dispute and to stop exploiting vulnerable workers.

Signatures by party: Labour 26, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, DUP 1, Green 1, Independent 1, Liberal Democrat 1, Plaid Cymru 1.