Three arrested on suspicion of assaulting police at London Living Wage protest inside John Lewis' flagship Oxford Street store

 
Arrests: Protesters unfurl banners in the demonstration inside John Lewis Picture: @HJ_Gibbs
Asher McShane14 December 2014
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Three people were arrested yesterday at a protest inside John Lewis' flagship store on Oxford Street.

Police were called yesterday afternoon when chanting protesters entered the store on one of the busiest shopping days of the year in a demonstration about paying cleaners the London Living Wage.

The protest was part of a campaign by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB). They want cleaners at the John Lewis partnership, who are employed by an external contractor, to be paid the the living wage of £9.15 per hour.

A spokeswoman for the John Lewis Partnership told the MailOnline: "In relation to cleaning, with a few historical exceptions, the majority of cleaners who work in our branches are, as with almost every organisation, contractors.

A man is restrained by police inside the shop Picture: @Hubes_M

"Most work for more than one employer, often on the same day. Like all retailers, we work with many different contractors of various kinds throughout our supply chain. We could not operate effectively if all our contractors were partners.

'We take our responsibilities to all our suppliers and contractors very seriously. We expect them to uphold good employment standards. However, we don’t believe it’s right for us to insist our suppliers or managing agents adopt pay policies that are different to our own."

One witness posted online: "Very loud #livingwage protest at John Lewis Oxford Street at the moment."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Chaos at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/johnlewisretail" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2934621-https://twitter.com/johnlewisretail" data-vars-event-id="c23">@johnlewisretail</a> on Oxford Street with a living wage march taking place inside the main hall. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/livingwage?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2934621-https://twitter.com/hashtag/livingwage?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#livingwage</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/MRJTMbj6hL" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2934621-http://t.co/MRJTMbj6hL" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/MRJTMbj6hL</a>— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TobyonTV/status/543781757888503809" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2934621-https://twitter.com/TobyonTV/status/543781757888503809" data-vars-event-id="c23">December 13, 2014</a>

Another wrote: "John Lewis today. Complete with protest on the top floor!"

Campaigners were witnessed unfurling banners inside the store which read "Justice for the cleaners." They were also going up and down the escalators blowing on horns, said witnesses.

A Met police spokeswoman said: "We were called to John Lewis Oxford street at 2.33pm to reports of a protest inside the store.

"We arrested three people on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and they have been bailed pending further enquiries.

"The protest ended at around 3.15pm."

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