UK: Outsourced BEIS support staff strike for London living wage and adequate sick pay as low pay leaves them relying on food banks
“Whitehall department strike grows as workers demand living wage”, 05 September 2019
Receptionists, security guards, porters and postroom staff at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in London have joined cleaners and caterers in striking for better pay and conditions…
The workers are employed by the contractors ISS and Aramark, who run security, catering, cleaning and support services at BEIS.
The strikers are demanding the London living wage and sick pay. Some have been left in such a precarious financial situation that their union, the PCS, set up food bank donations inside the BEIS offices on Victoria Street.
The PCS is calling for all contracted workers at government departments to be brought back in-house and to be paid a civil service wage.
A spokesperson for ISS said: “This is a long-running dispute that predates ISS taking over the contract at BEIS, with employee terms and conditions remaining unchanged from those offered by the previous contractor. We offer pay levels at the median rate for each profession, as identified in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.”
A spokesperson for Aramark said: “We are disappointed that workers continue to strike as, throughout this dispute, we have made concessions and offered improvements to both salary levels and terms and conditions and have ensured staff are paid in line with the median rates for those professions as outlined in the Annual Survey of Earnings. Increased rates were paid to staff from 1 March with the lowest paid team members receiving a 15% increase in pay. Aramark employees are paid statutory sick pay in accordance with their terms of employment.”