Last night workers from across Reading schools spoke about their experiences working with Chartwells in Reading schools. In the audience were a wide range of Labour Party members including the leader of the Labour Group on Reading Borough Council and former leader Cllr Jo Lovelock along with Cllr Jon Hartley, Labour Group Education spokesman and many more. One of our workers spoke for the first time in front of such a large audience but the message she made was clear and robust. Exciting times ahead.

Key leaders from Chartwells workers' in Reading met on Saturday 11th September for talks on the next steps of their campaign to win better terms and conditions from Chartwells.

"These meetings are essential to working together for all workers now and those that will be employed by Chartwells in the future," said one of our new stewards.

On a related school's catering contract with Chartwells main competitor, Sodexo, school catering workers just like those in Reading have received the backing from Ed Miliband, one of the front runners in the Labour Party leadership campaign. Speaking at an event in London on Sunday, in the London Borough of Richmond, Ed Miliband said,

“I have no hesitation in backing the Richmond dinner ladies’ demands for fair treatment from their employers. School children rely on the hard work these women do, and the very least they deserve is fair treatment on the most basic of issues, like sick pay and safety at work.”

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