From 1 July, all London Underground cleaners will be paid the London Living Wage, as ISS finally agreed to pay £7.85 per hour. Cleaning Supervisors will get £9.51 per hour.
This comes nearly two years after RMT-organised cleaners went on strike for a living wage. That strike was settled unsatisfactorily: cleaners on contracts under Metronet won the living wage, but Tube Lines - and ISS beneath them - dodged their promise.
So this pay rise is really two years overdue. But it is still a victory for the cleaners. Without the strike and the public campaign, multinational giant ISS would have continued squeezing the cleaners for the poverty-pay minimum wage.
This is an encouraging story of how when workers get organised, we have power. There is still a long way to go. The companies are looking into putting money towards Oyster cards for the cleaners. And we still have outstanding demands for a decent pension, 28 days holiday, and more ...
Too right
And it's not like the London Living Wage is a fortune either. It's a step in the right direction, but we need to keep on taking further steps.