Life At The Sharp End

"These attacks have no place in our workplaces - immigration raids should not be accepted by anyone, particularly because of the fear that raids cause among workers, frightening them, terrorising them," says RMT union activist Clara Osagiede.

She is referring to the increasing trend of bosses colluding with the UK Border Agency and calling in immigration agents on their own workers.

Osagiede points out that "migration is not a crime when companies want to exploit workers, but it becomes a crime when workers start to organise and demand a union."

"This exploitation is based on the fact that people will keep quiet. But despite my employers' threats of calling the police, it was important not to be afraid"

Jose Stalin Bermudez is a UNISON rep who was victimised and sacked by bosses at the School of Oriental and African Studies after leading a campaign to end poverty wages among cleaners. He confirms that companies are stepping up deportation threats against "foreign workers who stand up for their rights.

"When I first came to Britain I worked as a kitchen porter and in other such jobs in restaurants that migrant workers do. I didn't speak English and no-one cared who I was because migrant workers are invisible workers," he says.

But Bermudez insists that "more and more migrant workers are refusing to remain invisible."

Unite shop steward Edwin Pazmino, who was sacked by Mitie after organising his colleagues as part of the union's Justice for Cleaners campaign, emphasises that, as migrant workers fight back, "the bosses are retaliating more and more.

"After we won the London living wage, the company changed our shifts to make us work at night, but workers with children couldn't do that, so the bosses used this as a reason to sack us," he explains.

The company's management then called in an immigration raid against the remaining workers soon after, shattering what remained of union organisation among the cleaners.

Osagiede insists that the testimonies of migrant workers on this page highlight how crucial it is for unions to develop a strategy "to resist this racist offensive.

"Unions must fight back against the companies that collude with immigration agents to systematically arrest and deport black workers, Asians and Latin Americans," she says.

The names of the three migrant workers who have given their stories to the Morning Star have been changed to protect their identities.

Rocio

Last month, Mitie managers in Willis sent a letter of invitation to the two shifts of workers for a chemical training course, and some had to go in at 5am.

Workers from the night shift were receiving the training when immigration officers raided the room and detained the undocumented workers.

At 8.30, other police detained more cleaners as they arrived at the building from Liverpool Street station.

I had had an ominous feeling about the timing of these meetings. When we went in, everyone was looking around at each other, some asking each other what was happening.

Not even 15 minutes had passed when police started to enter from doors on either side of the room, saying they were from immigration. No-one moved.

One of the police had a file, which only had the names of the illegal workers and photocopies of their documents, but not the names of the legal workers.

They called the workers' names one by one and interrogated them, asking where they had got the documents and where they lived.

Many workers were scared and some were crying. Some were told to sign papers that they hadn't even read, but they didn't know what they were signing.

The legal workers were allowed to leave, but the others were left behind until they were taken away and put in two vans.

As a result of this raid one Ecuadorian, five Bolivians and one Brazilian were arrested, taken to a detention centre and deported on July 15.

Cristina

I had lived in London for two years, working as a cleaner in a hotel and as a factory worker - usually several shifts a day.

But my visa expired so I became 'illegal.'

In the hotel I was paid in cash and the supervisor took a cut of the wages, so I left and I took a new cleaning job where the company deliberately took on staff without papers.

I worked for three months, but received no wages.

The supervisor was Latin American too, so he talked with the workers in Spanish and told us: 'You have no right to work, so no right to be paid,' but I complained and was sacked.

The company threatened to call immigration, but I said to them that I wasn't going to walk away and would get my wages. They were surprised because they thought they were big and they thought I was nothing.

I became involved with the union and the Latin American Workers Association and won this fight for the wages I was owed. Then I found out that other workers were experiencing the same problem as me and I tried to tell them about the union.

But those who I spoke to were afraid to speak out and told me they'd rather keep quiet. This exploitation is based on the fact that people will keep quiet. But despite my employers' threats of calling the police, it was important not to be afraid.

But the management of this company did tell the police about me and I was arrested.

The only certainty from all this is that we should not be afraid to denounce those who exploit immigrants.

Having courage is essential and we must unite and defend our rights, even if sometimes we are scared.

Cristina was deported to Chile at the beginning of August.

Joana

School of Oriental and African Studies managers carried out a raid on the very day that people were protesting about the sacking of union rep Jose Stalin Bermudez.

Not long before, the ISS cleaning company had signed a union recognition agreement for the cleaners at SOAS.

At 6.30am on June 12, ISS called a meeting for all cleaners. After we arrived, a manager was calling out names and checking certain people and within minutes the meeting was raided by 50 immigration agents, even wearing riot gear, who entered through the fire doors and detained everyone.

The police surrounded us - the ones on the list - with two or three to each person. I knew what was happening, but it was a big shock.

Following the raid, the cleaners were locked in the room and one by one they were led into another room, where their immigration status was checked.

No-one was allowed representation or a translator. A union representative was also refused access to the room.

ISS requested this police action. I know because two SOAS managers were present during the raid and talking and laughing with the police.

Those detained had been working at SOAS for many years - they had settled in London. Deportation will be devastating not only for them but also for their families.

They wanted to show that they are more powerful than the union because the union had been pushing very strongly for our rights.

The union has been making noise and they want to silence this.

If you have no papers you are always afraid, but the union had been organising anyway and we had won the living wage when this happened.

Three Colombians, two Bolivians, a six-months pregnant Brazilian, a Nicaraguan and a Venezuelan were deported on June 13.