Posts Tagged ‘Alberto’

Cleaners protests, UK father in Israeli Jail – 2016

Saturday, November 18th, 2023

Cleaners protests, UK father in Israeli Jail – On Friday 18th November 2016 I went with members of the Independent Workers Union CAIWU to protests at three companies over their treatment of cleaners before a protest over the abduction by Israel, torture amd imprisonment of a British national father of five.


Cleaners In Lloyds Against Racist Sacking

Cleaners protests, UK father in Israeli Jail

CAIWU, the Cleaners & Allied Independent Workers Union is an independent grass roots workers union helping to improve the lives of cleaners across the UK. Many of the workers who clean the offices of London’s many prestigious offices are employed by cleaning companies who pay minimum wage and treat their workers abdominally with bullying and arbitrary management and lousy conditions of service, often failing to provide safe working conditions.

Cleaners protests, UK father in Israeli Jail

Respectable and prestigious companies who would never employ people on such terms nevertheless contract out their cleaning to companies who do so on their behalf. Many cleaners who tried joining our major unions found that these were more concerned with taking their union dues than fighting for their rights and set up several grass roots unions to represent them more actively in the workplace.

CAIWU is one of these and has had considerable success in getting workers a living wage and improving their conditions, as well as defending them against discrimination.

Cleaners protests, UK father in Israeli Jail

Following the sacking of two members who cleaned Lloyd’s but were employed by Principle Cleaning Services, a company which Lloyd’s outsources its cleaning to, members of CAIWU went with posters, vuvuzelas and a powerful megaphone to protest noisily inside the foyer of the Lloyd’s building at lunchtime.

Cleaners protests, UK father in Israeli Jail
The security officer who was pushing Alberto suddenly dives to the floor, pretending he has been hit

Two black workers were disciplined and dismissed from the site by Principle Cleaning Services following a window cleaning accident. CAIWU say that white workers involved in a similar accident were left off without even a warning and that this is a clear case of racist discrimination. They also say that another African worker, a CAIWU member, was also recently dismissed for trivial reasons because of his trade union activities.

After a brief protest inside the building in which a security guard began to assault some of them and then dived to the floor claiming falsely he had been hit they left and continued their noisy protest outside.

More at Cleaners in Lloyds against racist sacking


Cleaners at Mace protest Dall nepotism

Next the CAIWU group made its way to Mace in Moorgate, where they again rushed into the lobby for a protest against the cleaning contractor there, Dall Cleaning Services.

Here they complained about nepotism with a cleaning supervisor roster made up of five members of the same family. The also say that after Dall had promised cleaners the London Living Wage they promptly reduced the working conditions and also dismissed two cleaners without notice or proper procedures. They had come to demand the reinstatement of the two workers dismissed and also proper conditions of service and working conditions.

Again after a brief protest inside the lobby they left and continued the protest outside for a few minutes before catching a bus to Holborn.

More at Cleaners at Mace protest Dall nepotism.


Cleaners at Claranet for Living Wage – Holborn

Again at Claranet’s offices CAIWU briefly occupied the lobby for a brief protest leaving when security began pushing them around to continue their protest on the pavement outside.

The cleaners here are employed by NJC under a contract by Claranet, and both NJC and Claranet have ignored the union’s attempts to negotiate for the London Living Wage and have confirmed they have no intention of considering to pay this.

The union has called on Claranet which claims to be an ethical company to insist the cleaners are paid the London Living wage now.

More at Cleaners at Claranet for Living Wage.


Release British father from Israeli Jail – G4S HQ, Westminster

Protesters pose for a selfie with Laila Sharary, wife of the British father held by the Israeli military

Human rights group Inminds were protesting outside the headquarters of British security company G4S over the abduction by Israel and subsequent torture of British national and father of five, Fayez Sharary.

The protest took place at G4S because the company trains Israel’s police forces and was at the time responsible for the security of Israel’s prison. Protests like this and pressure by the BDS movement led to G4S ending its contracts with the prisons in December 2016 and in June 2023 the world’s largest private security company Allied Universal, which owns G4S, announce it was selling all its remaining business in apartheid Israel.

An image projected on the neighbouring building shows Fayez Sharary with his daughter

Sharary had gone to the West Bank for a family visit and was arrested by Israeli forces when leaving on 15th September and tortured for 3 weeks by Israeli secret police Shin Bet to force a confession.

Laila Sharary and their 3 year old daughter were also arrested but released after 5 hours

At a military trail an Israeli judge declared this confession worthless and pointed out that several of the charges against him were for activities which were not illegal, ordering his release. But he was instead held in a G4S secured prison and a few days later the military returned him to court and got the judge’s order set aside.

Torture is not a crime in Israel and the insist the UN Conventions Against Torture which they have signed do not apply to Palestinians. The UN treatment centre for victims of torture in the occupied Palestine territories treated 845 Palestinians in 2014, including 317 women and 135 children.

Laila Shahary reads out a statement

Sharary is a British citizen who has lived in this country for over 23 years but he has received no support from the British Embassy and had no legal support at either of his military trials.

More at Release British father from Israeli Jail.


St George’s, Camberwell, Absolutely Board & Alberto

Sunday, October 23rd, 2022

This post completes my walk on 8th January 1989 which began in at he Elephant and took me through Walworth to end in neighbouring Camberwell – the first post on this walk was Elephant, Faraday, Spurgeon & Walworth Road.

It was almost two weeks before I was able to come out and take pictures again and my next walk began at Camberwell on Friday 27th January 1989. I’d been teaching all morning but had managed to arrange my college timetable so I was free from around noon and could rush out to catch a train into London. In return for this I was teaching an evening class on Tuesdays.

St George's Church, Wells Way, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-56
St George’s Church, Wells Way, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-56

One of the ‘Waterloo’ churches, built 1824, architect Francis Octavius Bedford with seating for 1,734, enlarged in 1893 with an apse by Basil Champneys. Bedford, a distinguished church architect was the father of the notable photographer Francis Bedford (the two are sometimes confused.) It was Grade II listed in 1954 but in1972 was declared redundant, closed for worship and was deconsecrated.

A new St George’s Church was built as a part of the Trinity College Centre, a community centre in nearby Coleman Road which was dedicated in 1982. The old church was sold in very poor condition to the Celestial Church of Christ in 1977 and was broken into and vandalised on several occasions, before large parts were destroyed by fire in 1980 leaving an empty shell behind its fine portico. In 1993-4 the church was restored by St George’s Housing Co-operative as 30 one-bed flats.

Christ, Arild Rosenkrantz, St George's Church, Wells Way, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-41
Christ, Arild Rosenkrantz, St George’s Church, Wells Way, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-41

This war memorial statue by Danish artist Rosenkrantz was stolen in August 1991, but after a newspaper appeal by a local curate was discovered in a Brixton scrapyard two weeks later and returned to the site.

Camberwell Rd, Bullace Row, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-43
Camberwell Rd, Bullace Row, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-43

This block at 305-315 Camberwell Rd on the corner of Bullace Row looks very similar now except in better condition, though possibly significantly different behind the facade. Even some of the old shop fronts have survived though not with the same businesses. Bullace Row was at some time before 1912 known as Little Orchard Row, and almost certainly the name comes from the Bullace plum, similar to a damson. The shops with flats above are I think late-Victorian.

My walk on 8th January ended here on Camberwell Road from where I caught a bus to Waterloo.


Camberwell Green, Camberwell Church St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-44
Camberwell Green, Camberwell Church St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-44

I jumped on my bike shortly after my morning’s teaching ended on Friday 27th January, pedalled the two miles home as fast as I could, dropped my bike, grabbed my camera bag and rushed to the station for a train to Vauxhall, where thanks to a 36 bus was in Camberwell by around 1.30pm. Days in January are short but I still had a couple of hours to take pictures before the light went. I got down to business straight away with this picture taken more or less from the bus stop, look east along Church Street.

Gate, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-45
Gate, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-45

I walked west, cross the junction with Camberwell Road and into Camberwell New Road along which my bus had come. This gate, with its wrought iron work matching the spirals at the top of both gate posts is still there immediately to the west of The Old Dispensary, the pub almost at the end of this road at Camberwell Green. The rather attractive building with the curved side is still present, as well as the pair of gate posts, only one of which is in my picture.

Absolutely Board Ltd, Timber Merchant, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-46
Absolutely Board Ltd, Timber Merchant, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-46

The timber merchant with the signs that caught my attention, particularly the bored looking man sitting on a branch next to a bird’s nest and projecting out from the building has gone long ago.

Absolutely Board Ltd, Timber Merchant, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-31
Absolutely Board Ltd, Timber Merchant, Camberwell New Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-31

This business at 348A Camberwell New Road (street numbers here seem a little random) was replaced by a modern infill which for some years was the home of Southwark Reach. The property immediately to its west, a Tripe Dresser has the number 344 on the shopfront and has since had various identities including a property business and Merric Barbers, but now appears to be selling bikes ans scooters.

Alberto, Ladies & Gents Hair Stylist, Camberwell Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-32
Alberto, Ladies & Gents Hair Stylist, Camberwell Green, Camberwell Rd, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1d-32

I decided to leave Camberwell New Road for later and returned to the crossroads, going north up Camberwell Road, (here called Camberwell Green), where Alberto is still offering Gents and Ladies Hairdressing just few yards up the road at 14 Camberwell Green. The hairdressers is now only in the right hand part of the shop, with a money transfer business in the left part. There is still a single-storey small café next door, though now under a different name. At the left you can see the rather odd lighthouse of the The Old Dispensary public house. The sign on the front of the building above the hairdresser’s shop has gone and that on its side is now illegible.

More on this walk in a later post.


John Lewis Cleaners Protest

Monday, January 3rd, 2022

A protester holds a message from John Lewis customer Una Kroll: ‘Outsourcing is a way of avoiding responsibility’

John Lewis Cleaners Protest
On Saturday 3rd January 2015 I met cleaners from the Cleaners And Facilities Branch of the IWGB (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) outside John Lewis’s flagship Oxford Street store. They were there to hold a protest rally demanding the company lived up to its ethical reputation and paid the workers who keep the shop clean a living wage.

When John Spedan Lewis set up his small drapers shop on Oxford Street in 1864 he had the revolutionary idea of involving those who worked for him in the running and progress of the business, setting up a constitution that made all of them partners.

The ultimate purpose was expressed in Principle 1 of this consitution:

The happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business.
Because the Partnership is owned in trust for its members, they share the responsibilities of ownership as well as its rewards – profit, knowledge and power.

John Lewis Partnership

Green Party London Assembly member Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, speaking at the protest

But although staff on the counters and running other aspects of the business remain partners – and almost every year get an extra bonus payment as a share of the profits, the cleaners who work in the store who are not included in the scheme and say that in this and other respects they are being treated as second-class citizens.

Although the cleaners work in the store next to the John Lewis partners they are not employed by John Lewis. John Lewis pays a cleaning contractor to employ its cleaners, who get lower rates of pay and far inferior conditions of service than staff who are directly employed.

This lets John Lewis maintain the pretence of being an ethical employer while these people who work there get bullied, work under poor and often unsafe conditions, are paid less than a living wage and get only statutory minimum holidays and sick pay.

Mick Dooley of London TUSC

Neither John Lewis nor the cleaning contractor recognise the IWGB although a large majority of the cleaners belong to it, and neither had been willing to engage in talks about the dispute. John Lewis attempts to disclaim any responsibility for the cleaners, but the trade unionists and others who came to speak dismissed this as a a shallow attempt at deception. The work done by the cleaners takes place in the store and is essential to its running and should be properly recognised and paid.

In a protest before Christmas I had met with members of the IWGB in the restuarant at the top of the store and photographed an unannounced protest by them inside the store. This time was very different, with the protest being held on the wide pavement outside and given as much advance publicity as possible.

The union had received considerable support from John Lewis customers, with over 125,00 signing a petition calling on the company to live up to its ethical reputation and ensure that the cleaners are paid a living wage. Some of them came to protest with the union.

After speeches in front of the store on Oxford St, the protesters marched around the block containing the store which has entrances for shoppers on three sides. Although they arrived at some of these before the police and security they made no attempt to go inside, determined to avoid any trespass, though there were some arguments with police over a thin metal line in the pavement which marked the edge of the property.

Many shoppers on the street stopped briefly to find what the protest was about and most expressed support for the workers. The main doors to the store were closed by John Lewis security staff for much of the roughly an hour and a half protest.

Low Pay, Lousy Conditions. 3rd Aug 2013

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021

IWGB are harassed by Westfield security after their protest in John Lewis

The two events I covered on Saturday 3rd August 2013 both concerned the fight to get decent wages and conditions for low paid workers in London, something which has largely been left to the left wing and grass roots unions to fight for rather than the big trade unions or the Labour Party.

Outside Sports Direct in Oxford St

The two major ways that low paid workers are cruelly exploited in modern Britain are through zero-hours contracts and outsourcing, and these were at the heart of the two protests.

Security stop protesters from going down the escalator in Sports Direct

The first, at Sports Direct in Oxford St called on the company to abandon the use of zero-hour contracts which deprive all their 20,000 part-time workforce (over 85% of staff) sick pay, holiday pay and other employment rights.

The protest continues inside Sports Direct

Zero hours contracts, as I explained on My London Diary “are a peculiar legal casuistry that in essence denies the whole concept of a contract as normally understood, agreements without substance which gravely disadvantage workers … Although they give no guarantee of any income, they oblige the workers to be available for work at the employer’s whim, making it impossible for them to take on other work.”

IWGB get out flags, placards and banners on the top floor of John Lewis

All the advantages are for the employer who has a contract which imposes great constraints on workers while denying them the employment rights which are a part of normal employment and leaving them open to the whims of managers as to whether they work or not. A limited reform in 2015 prohibited terms in them which prevented people working for other employers, but if that leads to them being unable to work when the employer demands them to, they may still find their hours very much reduced in future or their contracts terminated.

And begin their protest in John Lewis in Stratford Westfield

The protest was a noisy one and after around 50 minutes handing out leaflets and speaking to shoppers on the street outside, they surged into the small street level area of the shop, where they made no attempt to push post security men who stopped them at the entry to the escalator leading down to the main store. They continued the protest inside the store being careful not to cause any damage. After around five minutes one of the police officers who were watching came to talk to one of the leading protesters and was told they would leave shortly, and after a few more minutes they did, ending the protest on the pavement a few minutes later.

They take the escalator to continue the protest on the floor below

I made my way to Stratford to join the IWGB union who were making a surprise visit to protest inside the John Lewis store in Stratford Westfield. The cleaners there are outsourced to sub-contractor ICM of the Compass Group, who had recently announced pre-tax profits for the year of £575 million. They pay the cleaners £6.72 per hour, considerably less than the London Living Wage of £8.55 an hour set by the GLA and backed by the London Mayor.

Everyone in John Lewis could hear the protest and stopped to look and listen

Outsourcing enables John Lewis to distance itself from the low pay and poor conditions of service of these workers who share the workplace with the much-lauded John Lewis ‘partners’, who as well as higher pay and better benefits, also get a share in the company’s profits, enabling John Lewis to claim it is a ‘different sort of company’ with a strong ethical basis, but still leave its cleaners – a vital part of its workforce – on poverty wages.

I met the cleaners outside Westfield and walked with them through the shopping centre to John Lewis at its far end, trying with them to look inconspicuous. In the store we went up to the cafe area on the top floor where they got out banners, placards and a large megaphone from their bags and then proceeded to walk around in a noisy protest.

They then took the escalator to the floor below and walked around that making the case for a fair deal for the cleaners to management and customers. Among those protesting (centre, above) was a man who had been a ‘partner’ in the Westfield store and was dismissed after he gave an interview to The Guardian supporting the cleaners’ case for equal treatment, and he was greeted by many of his former colleagues on the shop floor.

I get told I can’t take photographs

After protesting on each floor of the store, there were a numbber of final speeches, including one by the dismissed ‘partner’, on the ground floor before the group left, going out into the Westfield Centre in front of John Lewis. Here they were met by the centre manager and security staff who tried to stop the protest, with some pushing them (and me) around. Here I was told I was not allowed to take pictures, but took little notice. Very slowly we all made our way out of the centre by the nearest exit, still followed by Westfield security, and were met by two police officers who were told the protest was finishing.

Many more pictures at:

Cleaners in John Lewis Westfield
End Zero Hours Contracts – Sports Direct


All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.