In the last two issues of the Mole we have been reporting on the London night cleaners cam paign for union recopnition and better pay and conditions. At a time when the Tories are trying to take away ail the protctions workers have built up for themseives through seif-organisetion. we give all support to this fight for their rights by the women of a traditionally unorganised and super-exploited industry. The campaign is now in the process of becoming national as cleaners in other parts of the country hear about the London cleaners' fight and start campaigning on their own account -Here we interview May Hobbs, who has worked as a night-cleaner for 12 years and has now been blacklisted by all the cleaning contractors for her militaricy. Despite this victimissbion, May has carried on with the fight and set up the Cleaners Action Group to ensure immediate mill tant action against any further victimisation of women who stand up for themselves.
The initial difficulty of reaching the women. who are scattered all over London in different buildings, in the first place, means that help from all quarters is warmly welcomed, and various women's groups, including the London Socialist Woman Group, and student organisations etc, have consistently been giving the cleaners direct support. If you would like to help, please let us know.
-How did the campaign start?
It really started about 8 years ago, when a group of us didn't like to see the way we were treated and the conditions, so we joined the union- the T&G. The trouble started when they sacked this coloured girl-we went on strike and said we'd stay out till she was reinstated, and eventually the supervisor responsible got the sack and the girl was reinstated. It went all right for a couple of weeks and then they started picking us off and sacking us one by one. So the campaign collapsed and it all lay dormant until now. A group of us thought it was about time something was done to better our pay and conditions in the industry, especially as we had got hold of the profits of the different companies, so with the help of all these different groups of people who provided leafless and forms, etc. and Wearable ping standard. The contracto went out round the buildings at night round different areas, we got some girls into the union, and they're still coming in fantastically-we've got about 200 cleaners to date in it.
-How does the contracting system actually work?
Well, if you take a building like Shell-Mex, Instead of employing their own cleaners, they contract out to have it cleaned, to save the worry. They pay x amount of money a week to the contractors, and the contractors take on women to do the work at E12-13 a week for a 40-hour week-that's working all night from 10 to 6. -Can you tell us what sort of work the women have to do, and also what sort or women you get doing this job, and why they do it? We have to get through about 40 to 50 offices a night, with the stairs, toilets, emptying the bins, sweeping, dusting, hoovering: sometimes we have to buff up the floors and also do brass work on some buildings. We have to do all this in an 8-hour night. The women that do this are usually women with children their husbands might already be on a low income, so they go to reasonable living standard. The contractors want you to think we're going to work for little extras and holidays and that, but it's not true, we have to go to work just to live reasonably. No fool of a woman would go out 8 hours a night if they didn't have to. Take a woman with four kids, if she goes out to work during the day, she has to pay for the children to be looked after, which means paying out all her wages, if she works at night, her husband can look after the children so they can keep the couple of shillings she earns. -What are you fighting for in this campaign? First of all, to get the women unionised; then our demands are for E16 a week minimum; holiday money, adequate staffing on all buildings, cover money-if a girl is off sick and someone has to cover for her, they're antitled to a whole night's money they only get about half at present) the contractors are getting paid long hard struggle, but I'm almost positive we the same amount for the job and we're entitled to the money for the work we do. -What particular difficulties do you have? Well, the conditions of isolation these women are in, it's hard to get hold of them; you can only do it between certain hours of night. -What sort of help have you had from the T&G? people helping us, that we have now. All sorts Well, at the moment they're trying to negotiate for recognition, but the employers are refusing have always wanted a union, but we never had to meet them, so 1 think that the pressure the women themselves can bring to bear as they get organised is very important, to back up the union. -Has there been any reaction from other workers-what about the women's husbands, for example?
Well, they're right behind them, especially the coloured men (there are a lot of coloured girls doing night-cleaning, and the coloured and white women have been coming out on strike together), in fighting for better conditions and wages. Of course, they don't like their wives having to work nights they get the backlash of thair wives being so tired and so on, and often the only real time you can see each other is Friday or Saturday night, but very often that's the only work the women can do and there's no choice, so their husbands are supporting them. —What about the people who've been helping from outside, do the cleaners resent this at all? No, not at all, unless they just come once and never come back. The people who ve been helping regularly, leafletting and giving support on pickets and so on, the women are beginning to know and talk to them, and beginning to trust them-including students, which they never used to. They think, if they're going to put their time into it like this, they must be interested in people like cleaners, at last some one's taking an interest because people tend to look down on cleaners-and also it encourages them; they think, if people are going to come be worthwhile, otherwise they wouldn't waste their time. The cleaners are changing their image May Hobbs, Cleaners Action Group, about these people, they think they can't be just the "troublemakers" they thought they were. -How have the employers reacted so far? Well, they're not very enthusiastic, to say the least. I think you can draw your own conclus ions from the fact they've been sacking girls whi joined the union-though we've got them reinstated again by now. -What do you think will happen in future, how do you see the campaign developing? We want every cleaner in the union. It will be a are going to win in the and, and eventually the contractors will have to see it our way and rocognise us. -Why do you think the campaign's suddenly got off the ground after so long?
Eight years ago we never had the help, and the of people have been helping from all different areas even influential people. The cleaners the chance to really organise that we've got now. Also with all the other strikes there have been-the more struggles there are, the more militant they get -What about the Tory Bill -how would it affect this campaign? What do the cleaners generally think of it?
We wouldn't be able to organise in the way we're doing-the people going out leafletting would be liable to prosecution, if we think we're getting a raw deal we couldn't take any indus trial action, which is the only way were going to get our pay and conditions righted. We as cleaners will defy the Bill. Cleaners are the same as housewives, they're too tired and they haven't got time to read right through the Bill, they only know what they've got time for; all we know is that if we come out on strike to better our pay and conditions, we'll get fined and all the rest of it. In our eyes it amounts to blackmail. We've never been blackmailed in our lives and we don't intend to be blackmailed by a load of strangers we don't even know. -Finally, how can papers like The Red Mole, and its readers, help?
By giving us publicity, and also by helping us with the leafletting and generally helping, which you are already doing. And of course we need money very urgently, so that when we take action we've got something behind us. We really do need this sort of help.
and talk to us and picket with us, it really must Money and offers of help should be sent to:
13 Middle Lane, London N.8 (348 2817) or contact London Socialist Woman Group, 40 Inverness Road, Southall, Middx. (574 7407). (Interviewed by Felicity Trodd)