Stop the unjust reduction of hours and redundancies at Southwark Council

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Stop the unjust reduction of hours and redundancies at Southwark Council

Southwark Council

As cleaners for Southwark Council we are outsourced to a company called OCS. Under OCS we have been mistreated for years. There are regular illegal deductions from our wages, and regular failures to pay us statutory sick pay when we are off work.

Now, OCS has announced a wave of redundancies and severe cuts to our hours.

Some of us who have been cleaning Southwark Council sites for 16 years are suddenly at risk of losing half our salaries. Others face losing our jobs altogether.

We are asking you to rally around us, raise your voices, and demand Southwark Council puts a stop to these callous cuts.

Please sign this petition to send a letter to Southwark Council telling them you stand with the workers who keep Southwark's libraries, offices and education centres clean.

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IWGB Cleaners and Facilities Branch

To: Southwark Council
From: [Your Name]

I am writing to demand that Southwark Council stop the proposed reduction of hours and redundancies across its sites where cleaning services are subcontracted out to OCS.

An extreme reduction of hours is being proposed for cleaners across Southwark Council buildings. OCS is one of the world’s biggest facilities service providers, bringing in over £1.5 billion in a year. While OCS continues to rake in its profits, it has continuously failed to pay its workers what they are owed. The illegal deduction of wages and failure to provide statutory sick pay are issues workers are continually having to fight against.

OCS and Southwark Council are now attempting to reduce hours by more than 50% across multiple sites, including public buildings such as libraries. These reductions are officially meant to take place on the 1st of October, 2024.

This means:
● Hour reductions of 50% or more across multiple Southwark Council sites
● Redundancies of up to 70% of cleaning staff in one Southwark library
● An unjust increase of workload for remaining staff - expected to be done in
reduced hours

Some workers have been at these sites for 16 years. These reductions are the latest in OCS’s dismissal and mistreatment of workers.

We therefore demand that OCS and Southwark Council:

● Stop the unjust reduction of hours
● Stop the proposed redundancies
● Provide adequate and thorough information on the reason for these reductions, as well as specifics about the proposed reductions, including, but not limited to, the names of all affected buildings and staff, the total number of proposed reduced hours by building, as well as the total across all sites, and transparency around the proposed changes and the rationale behind redundancy decisions
● Hold a collective consultation process - organised through our trade union
representatives

I look forward to your urgent response to these shocking attacks on workers.