British Workers Fight Back

The British section of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) are in full force this news cycle, fighting for workers' rights at both Pizza Hut and Guildhall.

The Britain and Ireland Regional Administration of the IWW recently received its "Certificate of Independence," which gives them the same rights as other unions in Britain.

Pizza Hut workers in Sheffield are fighting for better pay and better working conditions, especially for delivery drivers. Among their demands are safer scooters and better maintenance.

“Working conditions at the company are very bad, the hourly rate is £5.83,” said one employee.

“Delivery drivers who have no license for the scooters have to use their own vehicle, but they are only reimbursed £0.6 per delivery. It’s a total rip off! We have filed a collective grievance against this situation.”

So far, the IWW has forced management to admit that commission for delivery drivers could be better. They have also won new scooters.

The union is now trying to expand to more Pizza Huts in the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, London cleaners (janitors) in the IWW Cleaners and Allied Industries Branch have won a series of victories at Guildhall, their workplace at the Corporation of London. The Corporation of London is the municipal governing body of the City of London. The cleaners are employees of Ocean Contract Cleaning, a company with a history of frequently underpaying, or not paying, its workers.

Many of the cleaners of Guildhall are immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and are subjected to abuse in the workplace because of this. They were constantly underpaid and some workers had to wait for months just to get wages that were owed to them. They are condemned to a strict attendance policy where if somebody is five minutes late, they are sent home, and they are fired if they are late again. The 34 cleaners of Guildhall organized in June, refusing to work until they were assured they would be paid properly. Despite the promises of their employer, they were left with two weeks worth of wages unpaid. The workers filed a collective grievance against the contractor via the IWW.

On July 15th, the IWW cleaners held a day of action by protesting outside of Guildhall. They were joined in solidarity by other IWW members, cleaners from other job sites in London, other labor unions from a variety of trades, and students.

This effectively forced the management of Ocean and the Corporation of London to invite the union to negotiations. In the end, the IWW secured the payment of wages owed to its members at Guildhall.

The Industrial Workers of the World, formed in the United States in 1905 by Marxists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists, is an anti-capitalist, militant labor union for all workers. It organizes both skilled and unskilled workers, as well as the unemployed.