25 March 2022
‘I can’t afford to use Avanti trains. The only time I get to go on them is when I clean them’: Striking Atalian Servest cleaners in their own words Introduction Cleaners employed by Atalian Servest to clean trains on the West Coast services are engaged in an industrial dispute with their employer over pay, sick pay and travel facilities. These cleaners are twice-outsourced. They are employed by Atalian Servest, a subsidiary of a French multinational, to clean trains in depots run by another French multinational, Alstom, on behalf of First-Trenitalia’s Avanti West Coast. In 2020, these three companies paid out dividends worth in excess of £32 million. Atalian has already paid out a further £5.8 million in the last year. Table 1: Dividend payments by West Coast companies 2020 and 20211 Atalian Servest Holdings Ltd Alstom Transport UK Ltd First-Trenitalia West Coast Ltd
2020 £10.8 million
2021 £5.8 million
£10.0 million £11.5 million
The cleaners employed by Atalian Servest worked through the pandemic when others could stay at home. They are paid £9.68 per hour and they don’t get occupational sick pay. They are fighting for a fair pay rise and for sick pay that means they don’t have to come into work when ill. We think it’s important that you hear directly from those people.
1 Source: Companies house accounts for Atalian Servest Holdings Ltd, Alstom Transport UK Ltd, First-Trenitalia West Coast Ltd
RMT conducted a survey of Atalian’s cleaners between 24 and 25 March this year. This showed that: •
91% of Atalian Servest cleaners said they were struggling to make ends meet, with 68% saying they were regularly struggling;
•
94% of Atalian cleaners said they had had to come into work while sick because they couldn’t afford not to.
In the rest of this briefing, we publish the testimony of these cleaners.
The crushing effects of low pay Atalian pay their cleaners on Avanti West Coast’s trains £9.68 per hour. Even before the recent sharp rise in inflation, these cleaners were struggling to put food on the table and heat their rooms. The recent rise in inflation rates has sharply cut the value of this already-low pay. With inflation now at 8.2% RMT calculates that a cleaner would need a pay rise of £1,400 just to restore their earning power from 12 months ago. In a survey conducted this month, a staggering 91% of Atalian Servest cleaners said they were struggling to make ends meet, with 68% saying they were regularly struggling. •
“Going to food banks when needed is embarrassing when you work full time but we have needed to be in that situation sometimes and there is never any spare when we need to get new shoes etc if there is holes in them or my family's clothes. Now with the energy price hike it’s a worry on my shoulders to what we can now do without to make sure I can light and heat my house.”
•
“At the end of every month I have nothing left to spend with my kids, I have to skip things that are important for my family...I really struggle with my current salary.”
•
“I had to claim Universal Credit for a support from the Government.”
•
“I have to borrow money to buy food and a ticket to come to work and pay bills”.
•
“I buy the cheapest nappies for my child and sometimes those nappies give her rashes”.
•
“I am constantly having to juggle between paying with my pay and using my credit card to pay basic bills. A never ending cycle of stress.”
•
“Trying to keep the electricity meter topped up is a struggle”.
•
“I’m having to work rest days just to pay for heating or food.”
•
“In all the years I have worked here I have never been able to take the family on holiday. This company does not care for any of its employees.”
•
“I have to borrow money till the next pay day so I’m constantly in debt”.
2
•
“Get paid end of the month then all money goes to the bill rent and other expenses. Last seven I am not available to get a holiday abroad because of no savings at all.”
•
“I can't afford to use Avanti trains. The only time I get to go on them is when I clean them.”
Covid heroes reduced to working while sick Atalian Servest do not pay their cleaners occupational sick pay, leaving them dependent on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Cleaners regularly face the choice between calling in sick and not being paid or going into work while ill. In our survey, conducted this month, a shocking 94% of Atalian cleaners said they had had to come into work while sick because they couldn’t afford not to. •
“I went in with really bad back problems and was in constant agony because there is no way I could be without that wage and now because I didn't let it heal I have ongoing issues through this”.
•
“Countless times I have worked while feeling bad I can't afford losing a day. The last time was during Covid 19 restrictions, I face the danger of catching it on top of everything.”
•
“I have worked while sick lots of time because i can’t afford to stay off and I know people in my depot that have worked with Covid when the government stopped paying 80%.”
•
“I never took a lateral flow test as 80% off my pay would have financially have finished me.”
•
“I had to come in after having a broken shoulder. I was on sick for 5 months and nearly lost my home...”
•
“The option of staying at home to recover from any illness is just not available to me. My bills won't simply go away so I have to go to work, even if I'm throwing up.”
•
“I came back after having Covid and was experiencing long Covid symptoms. I was actually vomiting on the train and dizzy, but could not afford to take any extra time off.”
•
“One of the times, I was feeling very bad at work, and they want me do a double shift, I was struggling already just with my hours, but I finished my shift. When I went home I done a Covid test, and was positive. I lost a few days. It was very bad for me, because I don’t get enough.”
•
“I used some holidays to cover my time off work with a fractured wrist
•
“I had to return to work sooner than I should have, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer and having surgery, now having to work with a secondary cancer
3
as I can't afford to live on SSP.”
Cleaners are angry and have no other option but strikes Atalian’s cleaners are angry. They feel exploited by their employers and ignored by the train companies and many politicians. There are three companies involved in determining the conditions on these contracts, all of which are washing their hands of the problem while paying themselves dividends with millions of pounds. In addition, the government now has a major hand in these contracts, demanding that employers on the railways seek a mandate from the Secretary of State. These cleaners have tried the route of negotiation and found it blocked by well-paid directors who shrug their shoulders and offload the blame and a government that does nothing to help. •
“It makes me laugh as it’s the wrong ones who get praised and who get bonuses”.
•
“I feel sick, betrayed, to call us key workers and heroes during the whole pandemic was just lies”.
•
“They are not rewarding the correct people, the work regularly gets done with no involvement of management but only when something goes wrong do management rear their heads.”
•
“I think it’s disgusting that bosses get rewards and bonuses and people who work hard at the bottom got nothing”
•
“During the pandemic we were frontline, we were asked to clean coaches where Covid passengers travelled and taken off the train, we cleaned vomit, blood etc. We put everything into this job not getting pay we supposed to get and clients praising directors and management. I feel really let down and used.”
•
“Cleaners are just put in the same bag as our extraordinarily dedicated health workers. Worth nothing more than words to the privileged elites.”
•
“Our management are unknown entities to us. You may see an area manager once a year but upper management have nothing to do with us at all. Nothing surprises me about them anymore. And I will never forgive or forget that our management withheld the masks provided to us by Avanti for six weeks. That's a measure of the contempt our management have for us. We have worked throughout the pandemic and our management all worked from the safety of home.”
•
“Directors was able to work from home over the pandemic while the cleaners risked the live and the lives of their loved ones, just to struggle with bills month after month.”
•
“They need to come and give our job a go and see for themselves. It’s all well and good politicians praising but words don’t put food on the table or pay the bills.”
•
“No matter how much they praise us unless it’s reflected in a wage rise or extra perks this means nothing.” 4