Clean Up the Houses

That the Parliament offers its wholehearted support to up to 170 cleaners at the Houses of Parliament who, as members of the TGWU, have voted to strike for 24 hours on Wednesday 20 July 2005 in support of their demand for an hourly rate of £6.70, 20 days holiday plus eight public days per annum and a company pension; notes that these workers, employed by contractors, currently have no sick pay or pension and receive just 12 days holiday per year whilst workers employed directly by the Westminster Parliament enjoy better wages and conditions; condemns poverty pay in the supposed home of democracy and calls on the MPs and members of the House of Lords not to cross the first picket line in the history of the Westminster Parliament; notes that Scottish Parliament cleaning staff are also employed by private contractors and endure wages and conditions comparable with those of the striking House of Commons cleaners, and calls on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to end the use of outside contractors as employers of cleaning staff and to ensure that the wages of Scottish Parliament cleaners are immediately raised to at least the Scottish Low Pay Unit’s low pay threshold.