Cleaning up

A mini-rant to end the working week. Cleaning staff on parts of London Underground staged a two-day strike last week. I have a lot of sympathy for their cause. If the claims of the RMT are true, these workers are paid £8.30 per hour , less than the estimated London living wage. In the words of the striking workers: "We will not tolerate low pay in this day and age, nor being treated like second-rate people. We clean your trains, your stations and your depots. We mop up all the nasty stuff that no one else wants to deal with..."

Contrast their demands with those of the Tube drivers, who striked on Boxing Day. This group of workers, reportedly paid £50K a year, were outraged that their demands for triple pay plus a lieu day for working this bank holiday were rejected.