Former Labour Cabinet Minister Frank Dobson has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons in support of RMT cleaners working on the Eurostar contract at St Pancras International and their fight for pay and workplace justice.

The Commons motion has been placed on the order paper on the eve of the first of four more 24 hour strikes by the Eurostar cleaners employed by the Carlisle Group which will start at 5.30am tomorrow morning (Friday 23rd October). There will be a noisy protest in support of the Eursostar cleaners, which will include solidarity visits from striking postal workers, between 8am and 10am Friday morning (23rd October) outside St Pancras International.

In the EDM, Frank Dobson, whose Holborn and St Pancras constituency includes the Eurostar terminal, says:

“That this House is appalled that workers employed by Carlisle Group on the Eurostar trains contract are on poverty wages which are less than the London Living Wage; is dismayed that these cleaners are denied sick pay and pensions and there are constant complaints of bullying and harassment of staff and victimisation of trade union representatives; is deeply concerned that the Eurostar cleaners have complained that there is a racial undertone to the haranguing of the mainly black and ethnic minority workforce [and] believes these employment abuses are more akin to the Victorian age……”

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said:

“The RMT Eurostar cleaners, alongside our brothers and sisters in the postal service, are a rock solid example of the determination of working people to fight back against attacks on their pay and working conditions and against the bullying culture that is rife in workplaces up and down the country.

“If Eurostar and the Carlisle Group thought that this group of low paid workers could be ground into the dirt then they have seriously misread the courage and determination of the RMT Eurostar cleaners.”