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Company denies it sacked cleaners

Thursday, 09 October 2008

A COMPANY contracted to run cleaning services for an EU funded foundation has vehemently denied claims by six Southside women that they were sacked for complaining about their working conditions.
The women worked at the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). They allege they were fired after they complained about their working conditions.
The foundation, which is based in Loughlinstown, is an EU-funded organisation that monitors working and living conditions across the European Union.
Having worked for between 16 and 20 years at the foundation, the women were not directly employed by Eurofound itself but by a series of different contractors over the years.
The cleaners, who are all from Ballybrack, claimed that their working conditions had deteriorated significantly since a Dublin 11 based company called AFM Ireland took over the contract 18 months ago.
While some of their grievances were wage related, tensions came to a head after the workers expressed concerns about new cleaning products supplied by the company.
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Brigid Tresson, the cleaners’ supervisor, said she had asked the company to address their complaints. However, she claims that when they met with company management on September 12 they were handed their P45s.

Local People Before Profit Alliance activist, Richard Boyd Barrett, has come out in support of the six women.
He said his group intends to launch a major campaign to ensure that they get their jobs back.
The director of AFM Ireland, Paul Higgins, has strongly rejected the women’s allegations and insisted that they resigned at the beginning of September.
“We did not force them out,” he said. “We are horrified this is going on. They indicated for about a month before they left that they were leaving and then they gave my contracts manager a week's notice.
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“One lady on that site said she had a problem with a toilet cleaner. We told her that she could use another product. She was then taken away from the toilets altogether.
“We offer a high quality service,” he added. “Anyone who is employed with us receives a full statutory wage and in many cases we pay above the statutory minimum wage.”
In a statement, Eurofound said it applies the strictest standards in all areas of its procurement and contract management procedures.
“A services contract for provision of a range of services, including cleaning facilities, is in operation between Eurofound and Vector Workplace and Facility Management Ltd,” the statement reads. “Under the terms of this contract, the provision of cleaning services is subcontracted by Vector to the company AFM Ireland.
“AFM is thus the direct employer and responsible for the terms and conditions of its employees.”

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