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Train cleaners to strike

Workers who clean trains on one of the country's busiest rail routes - East Coast which runs through Yorkshire - are to stage a 24-hour strike over pay.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) employed by contractors ISS on London Midland and East Coast will walk out on Monday September 10. The cleaners voted massively in favour of industrial action after the union said no pay rise was being offered for three years.

The scandal of low pay on two of the country's busiest and most prestigious rail routes continues with ISS assuming that they can get away with exploiting workers who are key to delivering high-quality services.

The rail companies East Coast and London Midland also have a moral responsibility to ensure that the people who work on their contracts are treated decently, and it is no good hiding behind the shabby excuse that cleaners' pay is a matter for the contracting companies.

– RMT General Secretary Bob Crow

This dispute is between ISS and a group of its employees who started working on the railway before East Coast took over the running of the franchise in 2009.

Employees within this group are currently paid between 42p and £1.42 above the minimum wage. Their terms and conditions are a matter for these individuals and ISS, although we are discussing this issue with ISS.

ISS has assured East Coast that the proposed industrial action by members of the RMT is not likely to have any impact on our customers.

– East Coast Spokesperson