RMT launches campaign to end outsourcing on Southeastern Rail

RMT launched a campaign at London Bridge station this Thursday demanding that Southeastern train cleaners are brought in-house, arguing that Labour must use public ownership to end outsourcing and create a single directly employed railway workforce under GBR.

The union says cleaners across the publicly owned Southeastern network continue to face lower pay, fewer rights and less job security than directly employed railway staff despite carrying out essential frontline work. RMT is now calling on Southeastern and the government to begin the process of ending outsourced cleaning contracts and bringing workers directly into the railway.

RMT Regional Organiser John Parsons said: “Southeastern cleaners are an integral part of the railway across our region. They keep trains clean, safe and fit for service every day, yet many are still treated as second-class workers because their jobs remain outsourced.

Public ownership should mean higher standards for passengers and fair treatment for railway workers. It cannot be right that workers doing essential frontline jobs are paid less, have fewer rights and less job security simply because they are employed through a contractor.

 

Southeastern is already publicly owned and the government now has the opportunity to show what public ownership should look like in practice by ending outsourcing and creating one railway workforce directly employed under Great British Railways.

 

Passengers across South East London, Kent and East Sussex depend on these workers every day. Bringing cleaners in-house would improve the quality of cleaning services on trains and ensure those who do this vital work receive the respect, pay and conditions they deserve.