Cleaning services is a booming industry. It also has some major problems with human rights violations. Like many industries, cleaning services struggle with labour abuse, and it's often difficult to identify violations. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority want to provide labour abuse prevention techniques in the industry.
FLEX is a programme that offers training across the whole of the UK, and you can find details on their website of upcoming sessions. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority are teaching cleaners about their rights recognizing risks and indicators of exploitation at these sessions. The presentations will also let workers know how they can get advice and support.
During the training, audience members will have the opportunity to share their questions or concerns. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority also talk more about GLAA's role in fighting abusers in the community. Participants will receive some extra materials with their course. This joint project seeks to foster solidarity between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
LAWRS and EERC will launch an information campaign; The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority are currently running an outreach programme that reaches cleaners via both digital platforms and through physical activity. They are targeting Eastern Europeans and Latin Americans, who make up a large proportion of the UK cleaning workforce.
The two specialist organizations will do an awareness-raising campaign to teach and reach out to these workers. This campaign will include information about their rights, resources, and ways to access support. It will be available in multiple languages.
In a recent FLEX report, among 134 respondents of cleaners, 61% had problems with your payment, and that's not all. The other common working conditions are in dangerous environments (60%) and 86 per cent of cleaners also reported health-related issues for the job.
A GLAA spokesperson said: "We're excited to be working on this project with FLEX. It's always good to have new partners who are looking for out of the box solutions." We hope that this research will help us to improve our understanding of the cleaners’ working conditions and be more effective in preventing labour abuse.