PCS members who clean HMRC offices on Merseyside, outsourced to multinational company ISS, are under paid and under valued. They are fighting for a real living wage, for job security and for working conditions equal to the civil servants whose offices they clean.

The cleaners are currently paid just the minimum wage of £8.21 per hour, with only statutory sick pay of £94.25 per week and the legal minimum of 28 days’ annual leave. PCS have made representations to the company on the matter of pay. Throughout our discussions, we have made it clear that we are seeking fair pay and conditions for low-paid members doing an essential job cleaning HMRC buildings.

ISS claims to be a living wage employer, yet offers clients a choice between living wage contracts and minimum wage ones. HMRC and other government departments have invariably opted for the latter. Aside from showing up outsourcing as the scam it is, to circumvent union recognition and decent pay and conditions, it exposes the company as just another vulture employer hiding behind a mask of social responsibility.

Cleaners in HMRC offices deserve a wage they can live on, conditions in line with the civil servants whose offices they clean, and ultimately to be brought back into the public sector where they belong. They are prepared to strike to achieve that.

All money donated will go directly to the cleaners taking strike action, ensuring that no worker loses a penny whilst fighting for fair pay and conditions.