The 12th of June marks the anniversary of the traumatic immigration raid that took place at SOAS in 2006. A commemoration of that event has been organised by Justice for Workers (J4W), established that year by the SOAS cleaning team. J4W is a collaboration between cleaners, student activists and staff fighting for dignity and better conditions for cleaning staff.
As written in a recent SOAS Spirit article:
‘Many on the cleaning team still remember being called into work under the pretence of an emergency meeting in the early morning hours of June 12th, 2006, only to be forcefully detained by over 40 UK border patrol agents in riot gear. As per Freedom News “every year, 12th June is commemorated by Justice for Workers (J4W) – a campaign started in 2006 by majority Latin American cleaning staff at School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) to fight for the fair working conditions of all workers at the university. The cleaning team were called into SOAS under the pretence of a 6AM emergency meeting, an immigration raid was then carried out with full knowledge and complicity of the university’s management, resulting in the deportation of nine staff members”.’
Join us on the 12th of June, 12PM-4PM outside of the main building to continue to support the J4W campaign.
Read the SOAS Spirit Article: ‘SOAS Cleaners Still Cry For Justice’ here
Stay up-to-date via the J4W Instagram
