25.05.2023 / Press releases /

Threat of strike action secures pay rise for cleaners at Mercedes Benz

• Outsourced cleaners working at Mercedes Benz showroom have won a 25% pay increase.
  
• The win comes less than a week after the cleaners, United Voices of the World (UVW) union members, return a strike mandate and on the eve of the deadline for strike date announcement.
  
• The cleaners were due to carry out simultaneous and coordinated strike action in June alongside eight other workplaces across Greater London
  

Low-paid, migrant workers at Mercedes Showroom in Colindale, London, have won a 25% pay increase after returning a strike mandate alongside 150 cleaners, carers and concierge in eight workplaces across Greater London in June.

The UVW members, outsourced to commercial cleaning providers SBFM Limited, that clean the Mercedes-Benz luxury car showroom were due to announce simultaneous strike dates in coordination with eight other workplaces after their demands for a living wage were ignored. Their win comes hot on the heels of an 11% pay rise earlier this month for cleaners  at the offices of global media company Condé Nast in the Adelphi Building in Covent Garden after UVW members threatened to take strike action. And closely follows another UVW win for a Mercedes showroom cleaners in Dartford following the threat of a strike ballot.

Mercedes-Benz confirmed an astronomical net profit of €23.4 billion in 2021. The current assets for Mercedes-Benz Retail Group UK Limited (MBRE) stood at over £217,000,000, while the directors’ remuneration soared at £257,000, over 10 times the cleaners’ annual income. Synter Group, which recently bought the site, reported an 18% increase in revenue in 2021 to £5.4 billion, with a profit before tax of £178.1 million. 

SBFM informed UVW members they had managed to secure the uplift after discussions with the client on the Mercedes contract at Colindale. 

Maritza Bolívar , a UVW member and cleaner at Mercedes Benz said: 
“Receiving that letter with the news of the pay increase was truly wonderful! This is a huge achievement and without the support of the union it would not have been possible. To my colleagues in the other workplaces; continue the fight, do not give up, if we are able to achieve this win you can too. This fight is for everyone, and the achievements are for everyone”.

Petros Elia, general secretary for UVW, said: 
“UVW members have won a whopping 25% pay rise up from what they were earning when they first made their demands. That could not and would not have been achieved were it not for the unity and unwavering commitment of our members to strike for what is right. All workers out there should take inspiration from this win. We have balloted nine groups of workers for strike action this month and we hope the other eight employers now follow suit and give our members what they need and deserve – proper pay and conditions wherever they work and whatever their job and dignity and respect.”

For further information, workers quotes, images and more details on the workers’ demands contact the UVW comms team.

Cristina: 07548 759340 

Isabel: 07706 987443

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk 

Notes for editors

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect.

UVW’s migrant, precarious and low-paid members keep both public and private sectors running. Hospitals, universities, restaurants, warehouses, nursing homes – to name just a few – would grind to a standstill without UVW members working hard to keep them clean, safe and operating round the clock. But despite making up 18 percent of the employed population and contributing to the economy, migrant workers are more likely to work shifts, particularly night shifts, split shifts and weekends, to be in non-permanent jobs and to be in jobs for which they are overqualified, while on minimum pay and dismal conditions.  

Threat of strike action secures pay rise for cleaners at Mercedes Benz

• Outsourced cleaners working at Mercedes Benz showroom have won a 25% pay increase.
  
• The win comes less than a week after the cleaners, United Voices of the World (UVW) union members, return a strike mandate and on the eve of the deadline for strike date announcement.
  
• The cleaners were due to carry out simultaneous and coordinated strike action in June alongside eight other workplaces across Greater London
  

Low-paid, migrant workers at Mercedes Showroom in Colindale, London, have won a 25% pay increase after returning a strike mandate alongside 150 cleaners, carers and concierge in eight workplaces across Greater London in June.

The UVW members, outsourced to commercial cleaning providers SBFM Limited, that clean the Mercedes-Benz luxury car showroom were due to announce simultaneous strike dates in coordination with eight other workplaces after their demands for a living wage were ignored. Their win comes hot on the heels of an 11% pay rise earlier this month for cleaners  at the offices of global media company Condé Nast in the Adelphi Building in Covent Garden after UVW members threatened to take strike action. And closely follows another UVW win for a Mercedes showroom cleaners in Dartford following the threat of a strike ballot.

Mercedes-Benz confirmed an astronomical net profit of €23.4 billion in 2021. The current assets for Mercedes-Benz Retail Group UK Limited (MBRE) stood at over £217,000,000, while the directors’ remuneration soared at £257,000, over 10 times the cleaners’ annual income. Synter Group, which recently bought the site, reported an 18% increase in revenue in 2021 to £5.4 billion, with a profit before tax of £178.1 million. 

SBFM informed UVW members they had managed to secure the uplift after discussions with the client on the Mercedes contract at Colindale. 

Maritza Bolívar , a UVW member and cleaner at Mercedes Benz said: 
“Receiving that letter with the news of the pay increase was truly wonderful! This is a huge achievement and without the support of the union it would not have been possible. To my colleagues in the other workplaces; continue the fight, do not give up, if we are able to achieve this win you can too. This fight is for everyone, and the achievements are for everyone”.

Petros Elia, general secretary for UVW, said: 
“UVW members have won a whopping 25% pay rise up from what they were earning when they first made their demands. That could not and would not have been achieved were it not for the unity and unwavering commitment of our members to strike for what is right. All workers out there should take inspiration from this win. We have balloted nine groups of workers for strike action this month and we hope the other eight employers now follow suit and give our members what they need and deserve – proper pay and conditions wherever they work and whatever their job and dignity and respect.”

For further information, workers quotes, images and more details on the workers’ demands contact the UVW comms team.

Cristina: 07548 759340 

Isabel: 07706 987443

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk 

Notes for editors

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect.

UVW’s migrant, precarious and low-paid members keep both public and private sectors running. Hospitals, universities, restaurants, warehouses, nursing homes – to name just a few – would grind to a standstill without UVW members working hard to keep them clean, safe and operating round the clock. But despite making up 18 percent of the employed population and contributing to the economy, migrant workers are more likely to work shifts, particularly night shifts, split shifts and weekends, to be in non-permanent jobs and to be in jobs for which they are overqualified, while on minimum pay and dismal conditions.  

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