British transport cleaning staff to strike over pay

LONDON – Cleaners will become the latest set of transport workers to strike over pay in Britain, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union said on Saturday, adding to a wave of industrial action sweeping the country.

The RMT said its members, working as cleaners throughout the transport network, had voted to hold their first national strike action.

It said over 1,000 contracted out cleaners working for the likes of Churchill, Atalian Servest and Mitie were eligible to strike.

The announcement came as drivers working for 11 British train operators went on strike on Saturday in an ongoing dispute over pay, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) union said.

The RMT wants the cleaners to be paid 15 pounds ($18.14) an hour, with sick pay, holiday entitlement and better pensions.

It will announce the strike days next week.

Britain is facing widespread industrial unrest in the run-up to the holiday period and into January as workers struggling with double-digit inflation resort to strike action to demand better pay and working conditions.

Railway workers, nurses, doctors and teachers, as well as emergency services, postal services and telecoms workers have either been on strike or plan action.

($1 = 0.8269 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Mike Harrison)