Schools will not be cleaned until cleaners are paid, union says
General Workers Union says General Cleaners has not paid its employees
Updated March 23 with company statement
Cleaners who work in schools that use the contractor General Cleaners have been directed not to do essential cleaning until they get paid.
The General Workers Union issued the directive on Friday and said the issue has been going on since January.
Initially the contractor stopped paying his employees on time or providing them with a pay slip, the GWU said in a statement.
By February, there was an attempt to resolve the matter between the contractor, the Department of Education and the GWU but the situation "worsened" with more workers saying they have not been paid.
The hospitality and food section within the GWU registered an industrial action and have issued directives to the cleaners who work in schools not to do essential cleaning until they are paid.
"Despite efforts to find a solution the contractor has shown no desire to settle the situation," the GWU said.
General Cleaners has several large cleaning contracts including cleaning government buildings, schools, factories, airport, banks and other financial institutions, hotels and offices, according to its website.
Company insists all workers are paid
An Education Ministry spokesperson welcomed the GWU directives and said General Cleaners was in breach of its contractual obligations and facing penalties.
“Meanwhile, to maintain the cleanliness and safety of our educational environments, the contractor is providing relievers at no extra charge until the original cleaning staff are duly compensated,” the spokesperson said.
But the company insists it is not in the wrong and that any delays were caused by schools not filing timesheets on time, or personal banking issues attributable to individual cleaners.
All the roughly 800 cleaners involved have always received their salaries “in a timely manner and in accordance with the contract,” the company said, even though a “small subset” of staff had faced problems because the educational institutions where they worked had failed to submit timesheets for January and February in time.
“General Cleaners firmly refutes any suggestions that payslips have not been provided to its employees. It is a standard practice to furnish payslips to all employees, ensuring transparency and adherence to legal requirements.
Any perceived delays in payments are attributable to factors beyond General Cleaners’ control, including the late submission of timesheets and personal banking transaction issues experienced by individual employees.
"General Cleaners has been and continues to be committed to addressing any administrative obstacles promptly and ensuring the smooth processing of issuance of salaries,” it said in a statement on Saturday.