Cleaners at Parliament keep up pay campaign

Cleaners' pay at the Houses of Parliament is among the lowest in western Europe, according to the T&G general union and UNI global union federation.

The figures were revealed last month as part of the campaign to keep up the pressure on the Parliamentary Authorities. The dispute over cleaners' pay has already resulted in two one-day strikes.

At £5.20 per hour, the cleaners in the UK Parliament are worse paid than their counterparts in Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Holland and Denmark. They get just 15p over the national minimum wage and their holiday entitlement is the lowest legally possible.

Jack Dromey, T&G deputy general secretary, said: "Parliamentarians who believe we must fight against poverty yet stand in the way of the cleaners' decent claim must take responsibility."

UNI general secretary Philip Jennings linked the action by the cleaners to a growing European campaign for a decent wage: "Cleaners are no longer prepared to be 'invisible workers'."