FACEBOOK’S owner has reneged on its apparent commitment to labour rights over the firing of a trade union rep from its own central London offices, Amnesty International has charged.

The human rights organisation demanded the US-owned tech giant Meta investigates the case of Guillermo Camacho, an outsourced cleaner who was dismissed last year after organising protests against poor working conditions at the firm.

Amnesty’s new report comes ahead of Mr Camacho’s appearance at an employment tribunal next Wednesday, where the worker, who is a member of the Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU), will claim that he was targeted because of his union activities.

The father of two from Bolivia had cleaned Meta’s offices on Brock Street for almost seven years prior to his dismissal and had an “unblemished record,” according to Amnesty.

Mr Camacho, who was employed by contractor the Churchill Group, was first suspended in August 2021 after spearheading demonstrations against what his colleagues said was an “excessive workload” due to a reduction in staff and an increase in cleaning needs. 

The suspension came after Meta and Jones Lang LaSalle, the global real estate services firm which has a contract with Churchill to manage the offices, requested his removal from the building, the human rights body said.

He was then fired two months later “under the pretext of inadequate performance,” said Amnesty, which stressed that Mr Camacho feels his ill-treatment is the result of “third party pressure,” or when a customer or client pushes for a worker to be dismissed.

It warned that his sacking had created a “chilling effect on the ability and confidence of his fellow workers to collectively bargain for better working conditions.”

Senior campaigner Catrinel Motoc accused Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, of being keen to distance itself from the “David and Goliath story,” while CAIWU general secretary Alberto Durango slammed the “blatant and classic tactic to intimidate other workers.”

A Meta spokesperson told the Morning Star: “The wellbeing of anyone working in our offices is of the utmost importance.

“Any Meta supplier has to adhere to our corporate human rights policy, which includes our commitment to internationally recognised charters from the [United Nations] and the International Labour Organisation.

“Suppliers must also ensure that anyone contracted is paid the London living wage and that our contracts are appropriately resourced.”