REMOVING RUBBISH BAGS FROM THE office in Finsbury Circus - a towering ring of neoclassical buildings that sits at the heart of London's financial district-formed a key part of Gabriela Rodriguez's daily duties. So did wiping surfaces, scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, restocking basic supplies and all the other quietly essential activities that enable a busy workplace to function. "I'm proud of my job... and I take it very seriously," she says. Which is why, when the call from. her manager flashed up unexpectedly on her mobile last November, nothing about it seemed to make any sense.
"He ordered me to come back inside and hand over my security pass immediately," she says. Rodriguez was at a loss, until the words "theft of property" were mentioned - an act of gross misconduct, and a criminal offence under English law. "That's when it began to dawn on me," she says, shaking her head. "This was about a leftover piece of bread. And I was going to be dismissed for it."
The call was the beginning of a journey that would rearrange her life completely: plunging her family into financial uncertainty, but also casting her as a hero for lowpaid workers across the country who are being forced out of their jobs for the tiniest, most trivial of misdemeanours.
"There are so many stories like mine that most people never get to hear," Rodriguez says. "And in most cases, the people involved are staying silent because of their vulnerability, and their fear." That omertà, however, could finally be about to break. Because Rodriguez - who earlier this year led a protest rally at Finsbury Circus that involved the tongue-in-cheek delivery of 100 cans of tuna and 300 sandwiches to the foyer of the prestigious law firm from which she'd been barred - has decided not to remain silent. Alongside a small army of cleaners, caterers, security guards and other outsourced workers toiling in the underbelly of Britain, this 39-year-old single mother is fighting back.
Denne historien er fra August 09, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra August 09, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain
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With tyrant Assad ousted, Syrians deserve support and hope
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TV
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Albums
Murky love stories, nostalgic pop and an in-your-face masterpiece captured our critics' ears in 2024
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Visual language, sound, light and rhythm are to the fore in the best movies of the year
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Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year
From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024
Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
