Workers want a living wage
The people who clean, cook, provide security and work on reception at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy went on strike and protested outside their workplaces today.
About 50 people marched through Central London to the Ministry of Justice, waving flags, playing music and dancing. Outside the ministry, a group of Bulgarian electric violinist buskers entertained the crowd.
The strikers are campaigning for a London living wage of £10.55 an hour. This is the rate that the Living Wage Foundation considers enough to live on in London.
Marline Chambers, who works in catering, and security guard Miguel Lopes have both been working at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for about ten years. Both are employed by an outsourcing company called Aramark.
Marline, who has two children to look after, is paid the minimum wage of £7.83 while Miguel is paid £8.76.
On top of this, neither are paid when they are off sick, forcing them to come in and work even when they are ill.
If they have to attend a hospital appointment, again they said they do not get paid.
Unlike some outsourced workers, they do get paid holiday, the legal minimum of 20 days a year.
However, they say they are not allowed to take these four weeks consecutively, making it harder to spend time with families in other countries. Many of the striking workers are migrants and so have loved-ones abroad.
The 20 days of holiday is also less than the civil servants who also work at the ministry. The campaign is asking for equality in this regard.
Also at the protest today was barista Ama Joaquin who said she was there to support her colleagues.
She said that someone she worked with had to have a shoulder operation and was not paid for the time she spent recuperating.
As she needed money, she had to quit the job and claim Job Seekers Allowance. Her landlord is threatening to evict her.
The strikers were supported by Labour and Green Party politicians. A similar strike by workers at the business department happened on the same day.
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