21 January 2026
RMT Press Office:
RMT will stage a protest outside Transport for London’s Board meeting at City Hall on Wednesday 4 February as the union steps up pressure on Mayor Sadiq Khan to reclaim democratic control of TfL and bring cleaners back in-house.
The demonstration, beginning at 9.30am at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London E16 1ZE, follows TfL’s decision earlier this month to award a new five-year cleaning contract covering more than 2,000 workers to outsourcing giant Mitie, despite the Mayor previously telling the union that he supports insourcing.
RMT says the decision shows that the Mayor has effectively relinquished control of TfL to private outsourcing interests, allowing corporate priorities to override both his democratic mandate and the interests of workers and passengers.
At the same time, outsourced cleaners on the Docklands Light Railway have been taking strike action after their employer told them that sick pay would only be available to workers who are terminally ill - an example of the appalling immoral behaviour of outsourcing companies.
The union is calling on the Mayor to terminate the Mitie contract, publish an urgent plan for the early insourcing of all TfL cleaners, and immediately mandate decent sick pay for DLR cleaners.
RMT says the outsourcing of cleaning is part of a broader pattern of corporate capture at TfL, pointing to the recent re-privatisation of London Overground through an eight-year contract awarded to FirstGroup.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “The Mayor was elected with a democratic mandate to run London’s transport system in the public interest.
"However, instead he is allowing TfL to be captured by private corporations operating beyond democratic control.
“Handing thousands of cleaners to Mitie for another five years, while claiming to support insourcing, exposes how hollow that commitment is at the moment.
“TfL executives who work hand-in-glove with outsourcing and transport company bosses are shaping policy to suit corporate interests, at the expense of Londoners.
“This protest is a part of RMT's campaign to see the mass insourcing of thousands of workers into the transport industry which is a Labour government commitment.
"Cleaners should be directly employed, paid properly and treated with dignity, and TfL must be wrestled back from the privateers who clearly now dominate decision-making."
RMT is also calling on the London Assembly to launch a formal inquiry into the extent of corporate influence over TfL, including its relationships with outsourcing firms and private transport operators.
END
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Tagged with: RMT, Eddie Dempsey, End Rail Outsourcing, TfL, Cleaners
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