CLEANERS at the Department for Education have launched a strike ballot, their union United Voices of the World (UVW) said today.

The cleaners receive inferior entitlements to annual leave and sick pay than the civil servants they clean up after, according to UVW, and also report a considerable increase in workload over recent years due to staff cuts.

The union says their contractor ISS UK Limited has refused to negotiate on demands for a living wage, equal sick pay and annual leave with Civil Service workers, and appropriate staffing levels.

Gloria Mancera, who has worked at DFE for 18 years, said: “We are treated with disdain and we are fed up and stressed but united in our resolve. We can’t wait for our ballot papers.”

A UVW official said:“It is unconscionable that in 2024 a government department is being run by a two-tier workforce where the mainly black, brown and migrant cleaners are treated like second-class citizens.”

The Government Property Agency and ISS UK were approached for comment.