Hands off my Workmate!
We note with concern,
1. That cleaners at SOAS university, employed by private contractor ISS, had successfully organised in UNISON and won the London Living Wage and union recognition.
2. That a brutal immigration raid took place at SOAS on Friday 12th June 2009 an hour before UNISON was due to hold a rally in protest at the sacking of a union rep. The raid organised with ISS management who assembled staff in a fake meeting and blocked exits while immigration officers dressed in riot gear rushed into the room in a loud and threatening manner. The raid terrified the cleaners and SOAS staff who witnessed it. Cleaners state they were refused water and medicine and union reps were prevented from seeing their members to offer legal assistance.
3. A similar raid was later organised at the offices of Willis in the City where cleaners employed by Mitie had been organising in UNITE and fighting for a living wage. ISS began to check papers for cleaners on the London underground within weeks of the successful strikes for a living wage on London Underground in August 2008—sacking reps for irregular documentation, including the RMT grade chair who had documentation allowing work.
We believe:
1. That the introduction of immigration checks and immigration raids in the workplace is divisive and damaging to union organisation and is designed to create pressure on migrant workers not to organise or to take part in action.
2. That companies who operate outsourced services such as cleaning, wish to operate in a non union, low wage, environment and are using immigration checks as a weapon to drive down pay and conditions. If they succeed in lowering conditions for one part of the workforce—then all are damaged.
3. An injury to one is an injury to all. Workers of all countries of origin require unity to fight for secure jobs, decent wages and safe working conditions and immigration checks at work simply divide and weaken us.
4. Fascist groups like the BNP have grown on the back of a climate of fear about migration generated by politicians seeking to lay the blame for economic crisis at the door of working people from other countries.
5. That the students and staff of SOAS who launched immediate protests, including a student occupation, to win protection for their migrant workmates/students are to be congratulated for forcing their management to request the immediate issue of papers to the cleaners held in detention, the return of those detained and to acknowledge the lecturers UCU policy of non co-operation with immigration controls as well as agreeing to reconsider the outsourcing of cleaning contracts.
6. That immigration raids in the workplace risk the health and safety of our members by bringing the potential for violence into our workplace through the entry of riot style squads hunting down workers and also create stress for all staff who witness such raids or who have colleagues & friends detained in them.
7. Employers do not need to, and should not, facilitate such raids.
We resolve
1. To support the SOAS initiative, “Hands off my workmate!” & “Hands off my student!”, to circulate its materials among members and send delegates to the launch meeting and teach in on 17th October 2009 to be held at SOAS and to encourage other groups to participate in this and to set up other similar initiatives such as “Hands off my patient!”.
2. To send a message of support to the SOAS staff and students’ union for their campaign to secure the return of their cleaners with the right to work.
3. To demand a guarantee that our management and any existing contractors will not facilitate immigration raids at any time since these breach our safety and create an atmosphere in the workplace which is not conducive to a respectful culture of diversity.
4. To fight for the going rate for the job for all workers and to stop outsourcing of services which endangers wages, conditions and union organisation. Where appropriate to fight to bring services back in house.
