United Voices of the World (UK): Difference between revisions

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The '''United Voices of the World '''('''UVW''') is a [[Trade Union|trade union]] based in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] that mainly organises among immigrant workers, particularly from Latin America. It is notable for being highly successful despite only being around since [[Timeline of Libertarian Socialism in Northern Europe|2014]].
{{Infobox_character|name = United Voices of the World|image = UnitedVoices.jpg|imagecaption = United Voices of the World members protest in the streets.}}The '''United Voices of the World '''('''UVW''') is a [[Trade Union|trade union]] based in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] that mainly organises among immigrant workers, particularly from Latin America. It is notable for being highly successful despite only being around since [[Timeline of Libertarian Socialism in Northern Europe|2014]].


== Timeline ==
== Timeline ==
* 2016: Office cleaers in London with the UVW went on strike to demand rehiring of fired workers (their friends) and a wage increase. The strike went on for 52 days (the longest strike in Londons history) and the workers' won their demands.
* 2015: Cleaners at a London art gallery stormed an auction and sprayed buyers with water pistols in protest of low wages and a lack of sick pay.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/arts/international/luxury-automobiles-on-the-firing-line.html</ref>
* The 100 Wood Street offices in the City of London, designed by Norman Foster,
* 2016: Office cleaers in London with the UVW went on strike to demand rehiring of fired workers (their friends) and a wage increase. The strike went on for 52 days (the longest strike in Londons history) and the workers' won their demands.<ref>https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/city-of-londons-longest-ever-strike-comes-ends-after-bosses-agree-to-pay-cleaners-london-living-wage-a3312691.html</ref>
<nowiki> </nowiki>were cleaned by Latin American migrants employed by Thames Cleaning
& Support Services. Demanding a raise to the London Living Wage, and
<nowiki> </nowiki>the reinstatement of several colleagues after a heavy cost-cutting
restructure in early 2016, a group of cleaners commenced an "indefinite
strike" and daily picket. After 52 days, a record for any strike in the
City of London, a confidential agreement was reached that apparently
secured the Living Wage and a promise to "resolve other issues".<sup>[39]</sup>
* 2016: In response to the bullying and firing of female cleaners in retail for joining the UVW, hundreds of protesters marched in solidarity outside the shop, resulting in her rehiring.<ref>https://www.cloisters.com/news/cloisters-barrister-represents-topshop-cleaner-dismissed-for-campaigning-for-the-london-living-wage/</ref>
* 2016: In response to the bullying and firing of female cleaners in retail for joining the UVW, hundreds of protesters marched in solidarity outside the shop, resulting in her rehiring.<ref>https://www.cloisters.com/news/cloisters-barrister-represents-topshop-cleaner-dismissed-for-campaigning-for-the-london-living-wage/</ref>
* 2017: Hotelworkers in the UVW who were kept in the dark about a 12.5% service charge increase added to bills (reducing the amount of tips gained for workers, leading to workers losing £5,000 per year). A strike and blockade of the hotel by workers (which led to two being arrested) resulted in 100% of service charges going to workers.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/20/harrods-tips-restaurants-protests-union-service-charge</ref>
* 2017: Hotelworkers in the UVW who were kept in the dark about a 12.5% service charge increase added to bills (reducing the amount of tips gained for workers, leading to workers losing £5,000 per year). A strike and blockade of the hotel by workers (which led to two being arrested) resulted in 100% of service charges going to workers.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/20/harrods-tips-restaurants-protests-union-service-charge</ref>
Line 17: Line 10:
* 2018: The UVW joins the [[International Confederation of Labor]] as an observer
* 2018: The UVW joins the [[International Confederation of Labor]] as an observer
* 2018: Conservative newspaper office cleaners in the UVW were being illegally underpaid and threatened with unemployment if they striked. But, they went on strike anyway with sympathy protests outside the offices, leading to a wage increase beyond the living wage for the area.<ref>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/ne9ej7/the-anti-immigrant-daily-mail-just-had-to-give-its-migrant-cleaners-a-pay-rise</ref>
* 2018: Conservative newspaper office cleaners in the UVW were being illegally underpaid and threatened with unemployment if they striked. But, they went on strike anyway with sympathy protests outside the offices, leading to a wage increase beyond the living wage for the area.<ref>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/ne9ej7/the-anti-immigrant-daily-mail-just-had-to-give-its-migrant-cleaners-a-pay-rise</ref>
 
* 2019: Government building cleaners in the UVW went on strike in response to low wages and wage theft. They won all their demands.<ref>https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/uvw-claim-victory-after-rbkc-commits-to-london-living-wage-for-cleaners</ref>
=== Sotheby's ===
Cleaners and porters at Sotheby's
<nowiki> </nowiki>New Bond Street auction house were employed by Contract Cleaning and
Maintenance (London) Limited (CCML), who conceded several demands after
UVW initiated a formal dispute and 24 MPs signed an Early Day Motion
condemning a litany of "poor employment practices".<sup>[25]</sup> Sotheby's then terminated their contract with CCML and brought in Servest, taking UVW's dispute back to square one.
 
A surprise protest on the 1st of July 2015 sought to disrupt a
major auction night including contemporary art by Andy Warhol and  
Francis Bacon.<sup>[26][27]</sup>
Four of the workers involved were denied access the following morning,
and suspended indefinitely, after CCTV allegedly captured protestors
spraying water pistols at clients.<sup>[28]</sup> Two were later reinstated while the other two were dismissed.<sup>[29]</sup> Sotheby's Battersea classic car auction in September was disrupted by another UVW protest.<sup>[30]</sup>
In February 2016 it was announced that Sotheby's and Servest had
reached an agreement to pay all outsourced workers the London Living
Wage and improved sick pay.<sup>[31]</sup>
 
=== Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ===
Cleaners working for Kensington and Chelsea council, principally at the town hall, were employed by Amey via a £150m 10-year "Tri-borough" services contract.<sup>[32]</sup>
Amey paid them the minimum wage of £7.83 per hour, and provided no sick
<nowiki> </nowiki>pay beyond the statutory minimum, which paid nothing for the first
three days of absence, and only a heavily reduced wage thereafter.<sup>[33]</sup>
In May 2018 a group of cleaners represented by UVW demanded the London
Living Wage (LLW) of £10.20 per hour, and in August coordinated a joint
strike with cleaners at the Ministry of Justice, supported by the MP for
<nowiki> </nowiki>Kensington, Emma Dent-Coad.<sup>[34]</sup>
On the first of three planned strike days, RBKC issued two mixed
messages within a few hours, the first apparently committing to bringing
<nowiki> </nowiki>the cleaners in-house, and the second merely promising a review of
Amey's contract. The striking cleaners burst into a council meeting
later that afternoon, securing an agreement from council members to
engage with cleaners on the picket line the next morning.
 
A statement by the council's chief executive Barry Quirk the
following day confirmed that "all options" were being considered in
order to deliver the cleaners' wage demands, including ending Amey's
contract and bringing the cleaners in-house.<sup>[35]</sup>
In September, the council fully committed to paying the LLW as of
January 2019, with council leader Elizabeth Campbell further promising
to try and secure backdated payment of the LLW from October onwards.<sup>[36]</sup>
 
== Contact ==
== Contact ==
You can contact the UVW [https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/contact here]
You can contact the UVW [https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/contact here]
== References ==
<references />

Revision as of 14:13, 15 June 2019

<infobox> <title source="name"/> <image source="image">

</image> <group> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Relatives</label> <label>Affiliation</label> </group> <group> <header>Biographical information</header> <label>Marital status</label> <label>Date of birth</label> <label>Place of birth</label> <label>Date of death</label> <label>Place of death</label> </group> <group> <header>Physical description</header> <label>Species</label> <label>Gender</label> <label>Height</label> <label>Weight</label> <label>Eye color</label> </group> </infobox>The United Voices of the World (UVW) is a trade union based in the UK that mainly organises among immigrant workers, particularly from Latin America. It is notable for being highly successful despite only being around since 2014.

Timeline

  • 2015: Cleaners at a London art gallery stormed an auction and sprayed buyers with water pistols in protest of low wages and a lack of sick pay.[1]
  • 2016: Office cleaers in London with the UVW went on strike to demand rehiring of fired workers (their friends) and a wage increase. The strike went on for 52 days (the longest strike in Londons history) and the workers' won their demands.[2]
  • 2016: In response to the bullying and firing of female cleaners in retail for joining the UVW, hundreds of protesters marched in solidarity outside the shop, resulting in her rehiring.[3]
  • 2017: Hotelworkers in the UVW who were kept in the dark about a 12.5% service charge increase added to bills (reducing the amount of tips gained for workers, leading to workers losing £5,000 per year). A strike and blockade of the hotel by workers (which led to two being arrested) resulted in 100% of service charges going to workers.[4]
  • 2017: University cleaners who joined the UVW began weekly strikes with supports from students, resulting in the workers getting paid annual leave, sick pay, parental leave pay and greater pensions after 10 months of the strike[5]
  • 2018: Recycling workers in the UVW in East London struck in March 2018 in response to poor working condition and a lack of basic facilities. They won contractual sick pay, slower working, new face masks, soap, toilet paper, a shower room, and a decent supply of gloves, uniforms and hard hats. There was also a wage increase.[6]
  • 2018: The UVW joins the International Confederation of Labor as an observer
  • 2018: Conservative newspaper office cleaners in the UVW were being illegally underpaid and threatened with unemployment if they striked. But, they went on strike anyway with sympathy protests outside the offices, leading to a wage increase beyond the living wage for the area.[7]
  • 2019: Government building cleaners in the UVW went on strike in response to low wages and wage theft. They won all their demands.[8]

Contact

You can contact the UVW here

References

  1. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/arts/international/luxury-automobiles-on-the-firing-line.html
  2. ↑ https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/city-of-londons-longest-ever-strike-comes-ends-after-bosses-agree-to-pay-cleaners-london-living-wage-a3312691.html
  3. ↑ https://www.cloisters.com/news/cloisters-barrister-represents-topshop-cleaner-dismissed-for-campaigning-for-the-london-living-wage/
  4. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/20/harrods-tips-restaurants-protests-union-service-charge
  5. ↑ https://notesfrombelow.org/article/rebellion-lse-cleaning-sector-inquiry
  6. ↑ https://notesfrombelow.org/article/wildcat-orion
  7. ↑ https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/ne9ej7/the-anti-immigrant-daily-mail-just-had-to-give-its-migrant-cleaners-a-pay-rise
  8. ↑ https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/uvw-claim-victory-after-rbkc-commits-to-london-living-wage-for-cleaners
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