ISS members demonstrate the power of solidarity

Striking ISS workers in Whitehall departments joined forces with ISS colleagues at the Cabinet Office to express solidarity with each other.

Around 100 low-paid PCS members employed as cleaners, security guards and support staff in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are striking from November 27 to December 15 after their employer ISS failed to improve on a 2% pay offer. 

These members are demanding an increased pay offer, a commitment to better terms and conditions, and recognition of PCS as their trade union.   

Down the road in Whitehall, ISS catering and cleaners are campaigning against unagreed changes to their contractual pay frequency which will cause significant financial hardship and disrupt their regular Universal Credit payments. 

Both sets of members came together today (28) to mount a static protest sending a clear message to Cabinet Office decision-makers that they refuse to be treated like second-class citizens. 

The lively protest was supported by directly employed civil servants, outsourced workers, other trade unions and campaign group, as well as the TUC. 

Duncan, a PCS rep who attended the protest, said that the initial picket was “well supported and lively”.  

Then, he said, “strikers joined the protest outside the Cabinet Office, adding their voices to those ISS workers there who are facing such a devastating loss of income in the run up to Christmas.  

“It is clear that groups of workers with common cause joining together will present a more powerful opposition to the outsourced model and two-tier workforce so beloved by this government.” 

Outsourcing model is broken 

A similar protest was held outside the civil service hub in Canary Wharf. Over three weeks ago, branches wrote to the Government Property Agency (GPA) to highlight the results of a PCS survey.  

The survey found that 99% of the respondents said they would face severe hardship as a result of the pay changes and disrupt payments to members who receive Universal Credit.  

To date, the branches have not even had the courtesy of a reply.

PCS believes that it is time for the Government Property Agency, the department responsible for the ISS contracts, to stop looking the other way when their outsourced suppliers break the law by ripping up staff’s employment contracts.  

The government’s outsourcing model is clearly broken. It is time to bring these workers back in house and put an end to inequality in employment terms. 

Show your support for ISS members
  • Visit the next ISS picket lines outside the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, 3-8 Whitehall Place, SW1A 2AW on 4, 7, 14 and 15 December from 8-10am. 
  • Donate to the ISS strike fund using account number 20331490 sort code: 60-83-01, account name PCS Fighting Fund Levy (please use ISS as the reference).    
  • Sign the petition to the chief executive of the Government Property Agency.   
  • Send messages of support to editor@pcs.org.uk    

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