Cleaners in protest

Mar 18 2008 Evening Gazette

SACKED cleaners at Middlesbrough’s Cineworld picketed the multiplex today in protest at losing their jobs, which, they claimed were later filled by migrant workers.

Protest leader Anthony Ganguly said the eight cleaners employed by Lincoln-based Future Cleaning Services, which holds the contract to clean two of the UK’s biggest cinema chains, were dismissed without notice. He claimed their jobs were taken the same day by eastern European workers.

Despite repeated attempts to contact the company, no one was available to comment.

Tom Brennan, North-east regional secretary for the GMB union, said there was no evidence of an underbelly of cheap migrant labour on Teesside.

As a region, it relied less than other areas on immigrant workers in low paid sectors, he said.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that local labour is being replaced by foreign workers. Having said that, it’s always a concern,” said Mr Brennan.

New legislation making its way through Parliament looks set to put casual and migrant staff on the same footing as permanent employees, erasing any financial advantage for employers.