Cleaners are not dirt, they clean, but unfortunately the cleaning sector is dirty through and through and it is no different in our universities.

The LSE cleaning staff supported by United Voices of the World are moving towards strike action in order to fight for fair sick pay, annual leave, pensions, maternity pay, paternity pay, adoption pay, reasonable workloads and to put an end to arbitrary disciplinary procedures and unfair dismissals.To give you an idea LSE cleaning staff are only entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, which is £35.38 for the first week and £88.45 then on in. How do you survive in London on this? It is time to stop treating cleaning staff as second class citizens.

What does a two days cleaner's strike in a university that I don't go to have anything to do with you? The answer is everything. In the past decade we have seen working conditions getting worse and worse. The working hours have increased, the work loads have increased, the pressure has increased and so too have the stress related mental illnesses and relationship breakdowns. As the conditions get worse for the low-paid jobs, so too do the mid-paid jobs. So we need to make a stand and say STOP lowering the bar and raise it to at least the point where everybody is entitled to terms of employment that can guarantee them a secure and dignified standard of living. Not just because we believe it is fair and what is right for the LSE cleaners, but because it is what we believe is fair and what is right for everyone. A society where we don't have time or for our friends family and the people around us, is not a society that works. Profit means nothing unless it is invested in people, and we are the people and we demand more!

On Sunday 12th March I will be puffing and panting and trying to complete the Bath half marathon in a bright yellow LSE Justice for Cleaners T-shirt. If you can spare a few bob then please help raise strike funds and support LSE cleaning staff in their struggles.