Royal College of Art workers dismissed after sexual harassment protest

TWO cleaners who protested sexual harassment and workplace abuse have been dismissed and others were issued final warnings, their union said today.

The workers at the Royal College of Art (RCA) took part in a letter hand-in over a toxic and unsafe workplace culture.

PfP Students told workers, who are members of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), that they are being dismissed for gross misconduct following an attempt on February 24 to hand in the letter.

The cleaners organised the action through their union because they felt that repeated complaints about their safety at work were being ignored.

Maria Abril, who faced a disciplinary investigation, said: “Through the union, I found the confidence to speak up.

“I believed that if we stood together, management would finally have to listen and take seriously the fear and pressure many cleaners had been living under for years.

“What still shocks me is that, instead of creating a safe environment for workers to raise concerns, the response was to investigate the cleaners who spoke up.

“To me, that sends a worrying message: that workers may feel afraid to speak openly about problems in the workplace.”

Since 2021, RCA cleaners, mostly migrant women, have submitted complaints, including 16 against one supervisor who cornered a worker in a bathroom and used misogynistic insults against others, including calling them the Spanish words for “slut,” “bitch,” and “menopausal.”

IWGB vice-president Maritza Castillo Calle said: “However often the RCA speaks about feminism and anti-racism through its teaching, exhibitions and research, it has fallen deeply short of those values when its own workers needed protection.”

The RCA and PfP were approached for comment.