Sadiq Khan Mayor of London City Hall, The Queen’s Walk London SE1 2AA 22 June 2022 Dear Sadiq, ABM cleaning contract I am writing to express my shock and disgust at the revelation today that the Chair of TfL’s Finance Committee took the decision to extend the outsourced cleaning contract with ABM on March 24th on ‘Chair’s Authority’, in secret, between meetings and with no published paperwork. This took place just 10 days after TfL Commissioner Andy Byford explicitly publicly stated, in front of the GLA Transport Committee, that any decision would have to come back before the TfL Board. This is deeply shocking and raises serious questions about TfL officials and the functioning of the Board. It also raises serious questions about your role. In your Manifesto, you said “I will instruct TfL to review its cleaning contract with ABM, including an assessment of extending the free travel cleaners receive whilst at work to their journeys to and from work.” In February, your Deputy Mayor said there was political support for insourcing. It was also suggested that you had not signed off any contract and that the Deputy Mayor and I would reconvene as soon as more clarity had been sought. Deputy Mayor Dance then cancelled two meetings in May where this was to be discussed. An Evening Standard article published two days ago refers to your office expressing ‘frustration’ with TfL officials for not making more progress on the insourcing of the cleaning contract. Yet you are the Chair of TfL. At any point from February onwards you could have taken action to rectify this situation. But nothing has happened. On your watch some people in TfL have conducted a shocking review that has all the marks of a stitch up behind closed doors. In the process they have handed a contract worth in the region of £450 million to a company whose profits increased by 30% last year, in large part thanks to this contract. Your cleaners, loyal and essential keyworkers who worked heroically throughout the pandemic, have been thrown back to the wolves, without even the travel facilities enjoyed by other TfL staff.
Who is running TfL? The democratically elected Mayor who is chair of TfL or the Commissioner of TFL who the Mayor appoints? It appears to us that unelected officers are now in charge of the capital’s transport system. The cleaners who you are responsible for deserve better than this and I give notice that the RMT will be declaring a dispute and balloting our cleaning members for industrial action. Yours sincerely
Michael Lynch General Secretary, RMT
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