Cleaner & Union Rep Involved in Protests at Facebook London's Offices May Face Dismissal, Media Says
18:30 GMT 12.09.2021 (Updated: 18:21 GMT 03.11.2022)
© REUTERS / Dado Ruvic
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An email from JLL @ Facebook reportedly requests to have Camacho "removed from the [Facebook] account" for an alleged "lack of proactiveness in managing the team and maintaining a high cleaning standard".
Churchill Group, an enterprise that employs the cleaners who work at Facebook's offices in London, has been asked by the company that manages the social media giant’s facilities in the British capital to remove a union activist named Guillermo Camacho who earlier helped organise protests against the doubling of cleaning duties, The Guardian reports.
According to the newspaper, while Camacho has a "seven-year unblemished disciplinary record in the building", an email from JLL @ Facebook requests that "Camacho... be removed from the [Facebook] account" for an alleged "lack of proactiveness in managing the team and maintaining a high cleaning standard".
The said email was reportedly sent on the same day that Camacho led the aforementioned protests in July.
"The number of floors we have to clean has gone up from five to 12 [at Facebook's offices on Brock Street]. But they haven't brought in more staff. It's impossible – I was having to come before my shift and leave late to get it done", Camacho said as quoted by the newspaper. "It's making us all really stressed and sick. That's why we had to protest".
Suspended after the removal request and facing a "crunch meeting", Camacho reportedly expressed concerns about his employment as he might end up being dismissed.
"I have two young children and a wife to support – as well as my extended family in Bolivia. My kids keep asking me why I'm not at work. I don't know what to say. I'm worried about losing my job", he said. "It makes me feel depressed. I won't be able to pay the rent".
The newspaper also notes the Churchill Group said that, while it couldn't comment on individual cases, "any employee relations matters are unrelated to any protest activity or union involvement".
The company also claimed that the additional floor space did not result in an increased workload due to the realignment of the cleaners' tasks.
"Each task has been timed and undertaken by our own management to ensure they are realistic and achievable; this has been backed up by time-and-motion reviews specifically designed to each site”, a spokesperson reportedly said.
