“The consultation process being carried out by SBFM to reduce working hours must stop.”
By the Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU)
Office cleaners represented by the Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU) have announced the resumption of strike action against Sustainable Business Facility Management (SBFM). The dispute centres on alleged unmanageable workloads and intense workplace surveillance at prestigious Argyll Club properties across central London.
CAIWU demands immediate accountability from Argyll Chief Executive Officer Emily Smith and SBFM CEO Matthew Chapman, following a damning union investigation into systemic worker exploitation across Argyll’s multi-million-pound luxury property portfolio.
The investigation has exposed a profound contradiction between the corporate image projected by these property tycoons and the reality on the ground. While Argyll leadership publicly burnish their ethical credentials with Modern Slavery Act statements, they are quietly enriching themselves on the backs of an underpaid, heavily surveilled frontline workforce. Cleaners maintaining Argyll’s premium workspaces under already demanding conditions are actively denied the London Living Wage and subjected to an intimidating regime of aggressive “time and motion” surveillance studies by subcontractor SBFM.
“Emily Smith cannot hide behind sleek corporate glossy human rights statements while allowing poverty wages and psychological intimidation to occur under their watch,” says Alberto Durango, CAIWU’s general secretary. “This is a failure of leadership at the highest level. We are calling on Argyll’s upper management to stop outsourcing their moral responsibilities, immediately terminate this exploitative arrangement with SBFM, and guarantee dignity, fair pay, and a reasonable timeframe to complete the assigned workload, for the essential workers who keep their luxury offices running.”
The demand presented by CAIWU is simple: The consultation process being carried out by SBFM to reduce working hours must stop. Otherwise, this will inevitably result in exploitation of labour with demands for work to be completed within an unreasonable timeframe. Our view is that reducing working hours without reducing the workload is an unsafe workplace practice and devalues the work done by cleaners.
“Increased workload without increased pay means extracting more labour for the same money, effectively reducing the value of workers’ labour,” says Marlene Jimenez, CAIWU spokesperson. “If Argyll is truly genuine on their stance regarding modern slavery and fair employment practices, it must immediately intervene and stop SBFM from imposing unsafe and exploitative working practices on the workers who keep its offices running.”
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- This article was originally sent via press release by the Cleaners & Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU) on 10 June 2026
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