Jani-King cleaners 'sacked for being British', MP says

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15297160

A cleaning company has been accused by an MP of sacking two workers because they are British.

Henry Smith claimed Jani-King, based in south-west London, fired the two workers because they were from the UK.

"Can we have consideration for a debate on discrimination against British workers in this country?", the Tory MP asked in the House of Commons.

However, Jani-King said: "Two employees have been dismissed following standard employment procedures."

The firm stressed their dismissal was not related to "ethnicity".

Legal inquiry

"Jani-King has over 1,200 staff in the UK and is an equal opportunities employer," it said.

Mr Smith, who represents Crawley in West Sussex, named the firm using parliamentary privilege, which protects MPs and peers against legal action for statements made in the House of Commons or the House of Lords.

He told the Commons: "Recently, I have been dealing with a case on behalf of two constituents who were dismissed from their job with a commercial cleaning firm called Jani-King, allegedly for being British."

He did not name the pair who were fired from the Kingston-upon-Thames-based firm, or give further details.

Leader of the House Sir George Young urged Mr Smith to contact "the appropriate authorities if anything illegal has taken place".

Sir George also said he would contact Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to see "whether anything irregular has taken place".

I wonder what their names are?????

Somehow I doubt they would be Smith or Jones!

http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/workers-are-fired-for-being-british-in-britain/

Friday October 14,2011
By Giles Sheldrick

TWO workers were sacked simply for being British, an MP claimed yesterday.

The explosive allegation made during a Parliamentary debate reopened the row over the rights of British employees being undermined by migrant workers.

Now an official investigation has been launched to examine whether employment laws have been breached. Conservative MP Henry Smith stunned the Commons when he claimed UK-based cleaning company Jani-King fired two of his female constituents simply because they were from Britain.

Last night it was claimed the company labelled British workers work-shy and expensive and pursued a policy of employing people from Eastern Europe because they were cheaper and worked harder.

One of the women, grandmother Stella Judge, claims she was sacked after just two months in her £6.50- an-hour job as head housekeeper at the Travelodge in Gatwick because she refused to falsify employees’ timesheets.

Commons leader Sir George Young said he would contact Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Duncan Smith to find out “whether anything irregular has taken place”

Her neighbour, Sarah Pritchard, says she was made redundant from her £6-an-hour supervisor position at the hotel after the company said it did not have the money to keep her on – but days later her position was given to a Bulgarian.

The women say the company ruled by a culture of fear with staff too scared to complain because they risked losing their jobs.

Mr Smith, MP for Crawley, has vowed to investigate the allegations and he called for a Parliamentary debate on discrimination against British workers in the UK.

Jani-King, which employs more than 1,200 people in the UK, strenuously denies the allegations. A spokesman for the international firm said: “Two employees have been dismissed following standard employment procedures. The reasons are unrelated to ethnicity. Jani-King is an equal opportunities employer.” But Ms Judge, 57, of Crawley, West Sussex, is taking the company to an employment tribunal.

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She claims staff are paid according to the number of rooms they clean and that she refused to go along with a ruse to amend documents to reduce the numbers cleaned.

She said: “The area manager would say ‘I don’t like British workers because they are lazy’. She would rather employ Eastern European people who were quicker, work more hours for less money and don’t complain. She was constantly saying that if we didn’t watch ourselves we would lose our jobs if we didn’t do what she wanted us to do.

“No one kicked up a stink because they were afraid of losing their jobs. I have never been sacked and have worked with all nationalities and I have never had a problem.On the day Iain Duncan Smith said ‘British jobs for British people’ I got the sack.”

During her time at Jani-King, Ms Judge claims there were 25 foreign workers compared to seven British employees. In disciplinary letters, she was accused of violence, discriminating against other workers on grounds of nationality and language and was told her paperwork was a “shambles”.

Yesterday Mr Henry Smith used Parliamentary privilege to name Jani-King.

He said: “Recently I have been dealing with a case on behalf of two constituents who were dismissed from a commercial cleaning firm called Jani-King, allegedly for being British.” He slammed Jani-King’s attitude to the allegations. He said: “Most companies will say they are sorry to hear constituents have approached me with a grievance. But in this case I got a nasty letter basically saying it was none of my business.

“The allegations are quite serious but this case felt different, mainly because of the attitude of the company. This case illustrates a wider issue, that millions of jobs have been created in Britain in the last decade but a large proportion have gone to people who have come from abroad.

“Potentially, it appears these two women have been discriminated against.”

Commons leader Sir George Young said he would contact Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Duncan Smith to find out “whether anything irregular has taken place”.

Single mother-of-one Miss Pritchard, 30, who is now working as a cleaner for another company, said: “One person was constantly going on about how lazy British workers were. When new staff would come and ask if there were any jobs she would turn away British people and bring in her own team, which happened to be Bulgarian.”

mara thon wrote:http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/workers-are-fired-for-being-british-in-britain/

Friday October 14,2011
By Giles Sheldrick

TWO workers were sacked simply for being British, an MP claimed yesterday.

The explosive allegation made during a Parliamentary debate reopened the row over the rights of British employees being undermined by migrant workers.

Now an official investigation has been launched to examine whether employment laws have been breached. Conservative MP Henry Smith stunned the Commons when he claimed UK-based cleaning company Jani-King fired two of his female constituents simply because they were from Britain.

Last night it was claimed the company labelled British workers work-shy and expensive and pursued a policy of employing people from Eastern Europe because they were cheaper and worked harder.

One of the women, grandmother Stella Judge, claims she was sacked after just two months in her £6.50- an-hour job as head housekeeper at the Travelodge in Gatwick because she refused to falsify employees’ timesheets.

Commons leader Sir George Young said he would contact Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Duncan Smith to find out “whether anything irregular has taken place”

Her neighbour, Sarah Pritchard, says she was made redundant from her £6-an-hour supervisor position at the hotel after the company said it did not have the money to keep her on – but days later her position was given to a Bulgarian.

The women say the company ruled by a culture of fear with staff too scared to complain because they risked losing their jobs.

Mr Smith, MP for Crawley, has vowed to investigate the allegations and he called for a Parliamentary debate on discrimination against British workers in the UK.

Jani-King, which employs more than 1,200 people in the UK, strenuously denies the allegations. A spokesman for the international firm said: “Two employees have been dismissed following standard employment procedures. The reasons are unrelated to ethnicity. Jani-King is an equal opportunities employer.” But Ms Judge, 57, of Crawley, West Sussex, is taking the company to an employment tribunal.

SEARCH UK NEWS for:

She claims staff are paid according to the number of rooms they clean and that she refused to go along with a ruse to amend documents to reduce the numbers cleaned.

She said: “The area manager would say ‘I don’t like British workers because they are lazy’. She would rather employ Eastern European people who were quicker, work more hours for less money and don’t complain. She was constantly saying that if we didn’t watch ourselves we would lose our jobs if we didn’t do what she wanted us to do.

“No one kicked up a stink because they were afraid of losing their jobs. I have never been sacked and have worked with all nationalities and I have never had a problem.On the day Iain Duncan Smith said ‘British jobs for British people’ I got the sack.”

During her time at Jani-King, Ms Judge claims there were 25 foreign workers compared to seven British employees. In disciplinary letters, she was accused of violence, discriminating against other workers on grounds of nationality and language and was told her paperwork was a “shambles”.

Yesterday Mr Henry Smith used Parliamentary privilege to name Jani-King.

He said: “Recently I have been dealing with a case on behalf of two constituents who were dismissed from a commercial cleaning firm called Jani-King, allegedly for being British.” He slammed Jani-King’s attitude to the allegations. He said: “Most companies will say they are sorry to hear constituents have approached me with a grievance. But in this case I got a nasty letter basically saying it was none of my business.

“The allegations are quite serious but this case felt different, mainly because of the attitude of the company. This case illustrates a wider issue, that millions of jobs have been created in Britain in the last decade but a large proportion have gone to people who have come from abroad.

“Potentially, it appears these two women have been discriminated against.”

Commons leader Sir George Young said he would contact Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Duncan Smith to find out “whether anything irregular has taken place”.

Single mother-of-one Miss Pritchard, 30, who is now working as a cleaner for another company, said: “One person was constantly going on about how lazy British workers were. When new staff would come and ask if there were any jobs she would turn away British people and bring in her own team, which happened to be Bulgarian.”

This is just the tip of an iceberg which is happening right across the country in every industry and profession... Taxi drivers who try to take you round the houses to pump up their charges, car wash workers who sleep on the premises, bus drivers, potato pickers, fruit pickers, brickies, plumbers, electricians, nurses, doctors...... we indigenous British must be a bone idle lot for management and government to bring in cheap labour from all around the globe........