15 November 2025
RMT Press Office:
Rail union RMT will demonstrate outside City Hall next Thursday calling on the Mayor and Transport for London to halt the re-tendering of the Tube cleaning contract and bring the workforce back in-house.
Hundreds of cleaners working across London Underground and the wider TfL estate are outsourced and denied the basic standards that other TfL staff receive.
Contracted out cleaners do not get company sick pay and only receive the legal minimum pension contribution, despite doing vital work that keeps the network safe and clean.
Recent surveys by the union show widespread hardship among cleaners:
-
Over 80% of outsourced rail cleaners struggle to make ends meet
-
Between 80% and 90% worry about their bills every month, fear for their retirement and feel pressure to work when sick
-
88% of ABM cleaners believe passengers would receive a better service if they were directly employed by TfL or London Underground
-
80% of LU station managers and depot staff agree passengers would benefit if cleaning was brought in-house
Despite clear evidence that insourcing would improve both standards and service, TfL is pressing ahead with a new outsourced contract.
RMT understands the bidders are ABM and Mitie who both have long records of dividend extraction and exploiting outsourced workers.
ABM, whose US parent company has revenues exceeding £6 billion, extracted £30 million in dividends from its UK operations last year.
Mitie, with a turnover of £4.5 billion, has paid £290 million in dividends since 2014 and spent £148 million on share buybacks in the last two years alone.
Both companies have multiple infringements recorded on Good Jobs First Violation Tracker in the UK.
RMT says it is unacceptable that public money continues to fund shareholder profits while cleaners are left in low-paid, insecure work.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “London Underground cleaners do a tremendous job keeping our capital's tube going every single day.
"However they are still denied sick pay, still on poverty pensions and still outsourced to companies whose priority is extracting profit.
"This is a lingering injustice that must be addressed.
"It is outrageous that millions of pounds of public money are being siphoned off in dividends while cleaners worry about paying their bills or feel pressured to work when they are sick.
"The Mayor has said he supports trade unions, and the Labour government has committed to the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.
"TfL must now be instructed by the Mayor to halt the retendering process and bring these cleaners back in house."
END
Notes:
Demonstration details
Thursday 20 November 8am
Outside City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE
Nearest stations: Canning Town (Jubilee), Custom House (Elizabeth Line), Royal Victoria (DLR)
Want to receive updates from us? Subscribe to a mailing list
Tagged with: RMT, Eddie Dempsey, Tube, Cleaning, ABM, TfL
Related News
- Rail unions warn BTP funding crisis is putting staff and passengers at risk
- RMT condemns Bilfinger job cuts and demands action against zero-hours exploitation
- RMT warns of surge in violence against rail workers while BTP presence cut
- £1.8 billion extracted by private business since 2016, RMT report reveals
- RMT members at Svitzer Terminals vote for strike action over sick pay
Latest News
- Rail unions warn BTP funding crisis is putting staff and passengers at risk
- RMT condemns Bilfinger job cuts and demands action against zero-hours exploitation
- RMT warns of surge in violence against rail workers while BTP presence cut
- £1.8 billion extracted by private business since 2016, RMT report reveals
- RMT members at Svitzer Terminals vote for strike action over sick pay
Unity House
Tel: 020 7387 4771
Email: