"We're Not The Dirt We Clean!"

In 2015 i started documenting the struggles of The United Voices of The World a grass roots member led trade union, organising mostly workers from South America employed in the cleaning industry. Its an industry rife with low pay, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment and a race to the bottom by cleaning outsourcing companies contracted by some of the biggest names in finance, education, entertainment, retail and hospitality.....Enough!

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August 2015 ‘The Sotheby’s 2′ campaign. One of the strengths of the UVW and what attracts people to it, is its use of ‘direct action’. Sit down protests, blocking traffic on New Bond Street, marching on New Bond Street without notifying the police, which is your right. and fire eating at Sotheby’s car auction in Battersea Park. Its deadly serious about what its fighting for but there isn’t any reason why you can have a right laugh at the same time. 

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June 2016. The City of London has always had that air of paranoia about it, with every inch of it under surveillance by CCTV and high security at the entrances to buildings. This paranoia about ‘security’ was taken to its extreme when the cleaning company ‘Thames Cleaning’ took the UVW to the Royal Courts of Justice to put an injunction on it, holding any protest outside 100 Wood Street which meant an ‘exclusion zone’ of 10 metres. The whole action by the company was an attempt to destroy the union financially which it nearly did. 

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2015 .’The Sotheby’s 2′ Camapaign.This was the day i first became involved with the United Voices of The World and one of the first photographs i took. This was a dispute that initially involved four cleaners employed by cleaning company Servest at Sotheby’s the international auction house but which then became ‘The Sotheby’s Two’ Barbara and Percy. They had been sacked by Servest/Sotheby’s for taking part in a protest demanding sick pay, holiday pay and union recognition. Sotheby’s also accused them of “deliberately trying to harm Sotheby’s”

This photograph was taken at the entrance to Sotheby’s Auctioneers on New Bond Street in Mayfair London and as can been seen heavily guarded by security with as someone put it “That weird butler guy!” standing behind. I stood straight in front of the security guard and when he looked straight down my lens i knew i had my shot “thanks thats exactly what i was after” i said to him as I walked away.

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2016. This is Juan UVW member on strike at 100 Wood Street in the City of London one of the wealthiest places on the planet, His hourly rate was £7.50 yet his simple demand for ‘the London living wage’ of £9.40 was dismissed out of hand. He stands against the wall of the building owned by one of the richest men in Europe and which Thames Cleaning was the outsourcing company was contracted to clean. The placard reads ‘This is the 49th day of indefinite Strike Action’ it took Juan and his fellow workers Victor, Hector and Kelly ‘61 days’ of all out strike action, where they were subjected to verbal abuse by people entering the building and city workers passing by, to finally win their demands. But they couldn’t have done it on their own, other members of the UVW came down to show solidarity as well other trade unionists, anarchists from Class War and members of the public.  

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Taken in the Summer of 2017 this is Danzalee one of the striking cleaners at London School of Economics. Taken during a respite from the picket and out of earshot of any LSE security. This is a photograph i keep coming back to and one i’m proud of. My aim was capture something of the ‘human’ element, if thats the right word during the strike and i think i achieved it with this photograph, its such a beautiful image.