Workers who clean and cater for a Government department building have won a pay rise and full sick pay following a lengthy dispute that has lasted more than a year.

The facilities workers at the Department for Education (DfE) Sanctuary Buildings in Great Smith Street, Westminster, have won a pay rise, a one-off bonus of up to £2,500 per worker, full sick pay and more holiday after several rounds of strike action which began in the summer of 2023.

Elizete Ferreira, a DfE cleaner, said: “I’m very, very happy myself because it was a long, hard fight that we, the cleaners, started over a year ago.”

The DfE outsources its cleaning to a private contractor, ISS UK. The contracts are owned by the Government Property Agency (GPA).

The workers are mainly ethnic minority and migrant cleaners, represented by United Voices of the World (UVW), a trade union for low-paid migrant workers…

A spokesman for ISS said: “We are pleased to confirm this successful resolution which benefits employees at the site. We look forward to continuing to deliver our vital services to the Department’s staff and visitors.”