Three Cleaners Arrested By Immigration Office

August 21, 2008 Posted by Administrator in : News , 2 comments

The workers’ RMT union called a strike against the cleaners’ pitiful wages and poor conditions on Thursday 3rd July.

But for three cleaners who reported to the offices of their GBM Services employer it was to be a day of humiliation, rather than protest. As they found a squad of immigration officers laying in wait for them.

The three cleaners from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Congo, did vital cleaning to keep the London’s Underground running smoothly, but all have been treated like criminals.

Each was interviewed then taken into custody.

Two of them have already been removed from Britain and the other is waiting to be deported.

Now Campaigners have found out that all three cleaners have been cautioned, questioned, fingerprinted, searched, handcuffed and then detained.

Union reps say they are shocked and concerned by the operation which follows the suspensions of a number of workers.

The chair of the RMT cleaners’ grade, Phillip Mambuliya, said: ‘These arrests have humiliated those who were arrested. The government and the company must be shamed for this.’

This particular case also raises questions about Britain’s policy of sending “illegal workers” back to unsafe countries.

But a UK Border Agency spokesperson said: ‘UKBA will not tolerate illegal working. Newcomers who do not play by the rules break the deal they made with the UK when they entered the country.’

‘We work with employers where they express concerns about the immigration status of their workforce.’

Do you think these cleaners were treated badly?

Office Cleaning in Hospitals Reduced to Help Fight Superbugs!

August 11, 2008 Posted by Administrator in : News, Office Cleaning , add a comment

Doctors’ offices in hospitals battling superbugs will be cleaned less to try and save money.

Staff worry managers will expect them to become unpaid cleaners, taking them away from their actual jobs, and that dirt from offices will be spread to wards.

Staff have been told offices will be vacuumed and dusted less frequently, rubbish bins will have to be taken to a central collection point and confidential waste will have to be taken to another point to be destroyed. 

A spokeswoman said the trust was concentrating on the need to reduce cases of infections but needed to make savings wherever it could.

She said: ‘The trust is facing a very difficult year financially and is having to look closely at all areas of expenditure. We are committed to reducing hospital-acquired infection and have recently increased the number of cleaning staff working in clinical areas. We are committed to maintaining this level of service despite the financial difficulties.’

‘Offices are still being cleaned but hoovering and dusting is at a reduced level. The trust has an inhouse team of cleaning staff and is looking to make savings on the cleaning budget. No jobs will be lost.’

The trust had seven cases of MRSA in April and May, compared with a target of two. It is aiming to have no more than 12 cases from April to the end of next March

Government Fail to Keep Their Promise of Deep Cleaning Hospitals

August 7, 2008 Posted by Administrator in : News , add a comment

The Press Association is suggesting that dirty hospitals have led to the spread of superbugs and other infections and that government cleaning initiatives have been unable to resolve the problem completely.

In October 2005 a survey showed that the number of NHS cleaners had been reduced by almost half over 10 years – while the number of cases of infection by hospital superbugs had soared.

Gordon Brown ordered all NHS hospitals to conduct a ‘deep clean’ in September 2007 to tackle the spread of infections.

Medical experts were quick to put down Mr Brown’s plans saying that person-to-person transfers were the main source of superbug infection.

Dr Ronald Cutler, at the University of East London, said: ‘Although deep-cleaning contaminated areas of hospitals could temporarily benefit the overall hygiene of the selected area, it would be a mistake to think that this alone would remove the threat of MRSA. The main source of the organism remains other patients and staff in the wards and transfer is mainly due to insufficient or improper hand-washing.’

The NHS deep clean programme was labelled a “shambles” by the Tories earlier this year. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that only about a quarter of the cash allocated by the Government had reached hospitals.

Andrew Lansley, Shadow Health Secretary said: ‘It is appalling that Gordon Brown has broken his promise to fund it and now the local NHS has ended up footing the bill. Every penny spent on this programme is a penny taken away from their local health priorities.’