Strikers’ petition for Labour to realise insourcing pledge
Strikers call on secretary of state Ed Miliband to end outsourced race-discriminatory pay for security guards and cleaners at Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Cleaners, security guards and other workers working at DESNZ but employed by outsourcing firm ISS have addressed a petition to Ed Miliband ahead of their strike this month (22 to 26 July). Addressing the secretary of state, the members say:
“Outsourcing has created a two-tier workforce in your department and the civil service as a whole. Workers on outsourced contracts are disproportionately likely to be from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds and suffer from even poorer pay and terms and conditions.”
Labour has pledged to undertake massive insourcing across the civil service. In the meantime, these ISS workers have gone on strike almost annually for the last six years. Their pay and conditions are well below those of civil servants in the buildings they service.
The petition letter concludes: “Given the shared Labour party and PCS Union commitment to insource, we believe now is the time to turn that commitment into a reality and take this small step towards reversing the scourge of outsourcing.”
Let’s make this the first of many reforms. Sign the petition now and share it with members and colleagues in your workplace.
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