EUROSTAR cleaners are to go on a series of strikes next month in an ongoing dispute over low pay and worsening working conditions.
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The first day of the strike will be this coming Friday, 2 October, followed by further stoppages on Sunday 4, Friday 16, Sunday 18, Friday 30 and Sunday November 1.
Despite the lack of cleaners on those dates, Eurostar say trains will continue to run on time.
Cleaners have a catalogue of complaints against the company Carlisle, which has a cleaning contract with Eurostar, including planned redundancies, lack of a pay increase and the use of finger-printing instead of traditional clocking-in machines.
They are amongst the lowest paid workers on the railways and are seeking the London Living Wage, set with the input of Boris Johnson, at £7.60.
“I urge all London businesses to pay it,” said the London Mayor.
On top of the strike, cleaners have launched a ‘cyber picket‘ in which supporters around the world are being asked to send emails to Eurostar.
“Eurostar is a global brand and it makes perfect sense for us to launch a global trade union campaign,” said Bob Crow, the head of the RMT union which represents the Eurostar cleaners.
“The treatment of cleaners on the Eurostar, our flagship European rail service, is nothing short of a national disgrace.”
Meanwhile, Eurostar will be hit with a huge bill when it pays back fares to around 1,000 people trapped in trains on Friday evening, the result of a power cut.
