Berkay Kartav, London Socialist Students
Circuit Laundry is known for overcharging university students living in halls, and for providing poor service to students.
These are students who already face a cost-of-living crisis and struggle to make ends meet. At one University of Arts in London (UAL) accommodation, students are charged £4.10 per wash and £2.60 to use the dryer. You don’t even get detergent included for that!
London Socialist Students organised a lobby outside the headquarters of Cinven – the private equity firm that owns Circuit Laundry. It has contracts with over 90% of universities in Britain.
We heard speeches from Socialist Students organisers and we chanted. Students demanded an end to rip-off charges, and an immediate reduction of laundry fees to £1 per wash.
A lot of passers-by expressed their support. One security staff said he supports the protest, as it would affect his children when they go to university.
Students also used the lobby to launch a national petition too, which links the need to oppose laundry fees to the need to fight for fully funded free education.
The petition calls for kicking out private profiteers from universities, bringing these privatised services back in-house. Socialist Students is now stepping up the campaign.
Socialist Students 