Campaign against Tube cleaning cuts steps up

Cleaners responsible for cleaning the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee tube lines have stepped up their campaign to defend the cleaning service against swingeing cuts planned by Tube Lines, the multi-million pound private company responsible for operating the three lines, with a further demonstration at the busy Tottenham Court road tube station recently. The station is one of the busiest Northern line interchanges and one that will be hit heavily by a diminished cleaning service.

The cleaners, who work for contract cleaner ISS, are angry at Tube Lines' plans to axe 200 jobs from the contract. This is in addition to 100 cleaning jobs slashed last year and would mean that one third of all cleaning posts on those lines would be lost. Yet in 2005, Tube Lines announced a post-tax profit of £50 million.

The cleaners' union, the T&G, the leading union on the underground, has also warned that it will not hesitate to ballot members on strike action should Tube Lines and ISS fail to abandon plans to push the cuts through.

Said Kevin Pass, T&G lead organiser:   "These cuts will make the cleaning service unsustainable - and will make passengers miserable as carriages and stations become dirty, unhealthy places to be.

"Stations like Tottenham Court Road and Piccadilly Circus are what the public and the millions of visitors to the capital think of when they think of London.   But instead of experiencing an efficient public transport system, passengers' lasting memories of the service will be of dirt and litter.

"Once again we see a private company, Tube Lines, putting its profits before passenger safety and public service. It is unacceptable that those in charge of London's public services can allow this to happen. London Underground and the mayor must act now before standards are slashed across the network."