Government cleaners vote to strike over pay and working conditions

By Henry Moore

Cleaners and porters in several Government departments have voted to strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

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Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will walk out for 14 days from October 28.

The workers, employed by ISS and G4S, voted overwhelmingly for strike action.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: "This escalation reflects the anger of our G4S and ISS members. They are particularly incensed by the insulting pay offers and the unacceptable fact that many receive no company sick pay.

"Ministers must settle these disputes and work towards the insourcing of these contracts to end this perpetual race to the bottom on pay and conditions.

"Our members deliver vital services that keep the civil service functioning and deserve to be treated as civil servants, not second class citizens in their own workplaces."

The action will affect the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Cabinet Office, all based in London.

This comes after cleaning staff at the Department of Education won a pay rise after a dispute over working conditions that rumbled on for over a year.

Speaking earlier this month, Petros Elia, general secretary for UVW, said: “These brave workers have closed the gap between themselves and the civil servants they serve food to and clean up after by standing up for themselves.

“The only way we will end the structural inequality created by outsourcing is through strike action.

“Wealthy multinationals like ISS make billions off the backs of workers like our members and it takes strikes to get them to get them to cough up.

“Every time DfE workers took strike action their numbers grew and we are organising outsourced workers across government offices now.”