... “Low pay, no way!” chanted over 30 cleaners and supporters outside the offices of British Airways’ contractor OCS, near Heathrow Airport March 19. The workers, members of the Unite union, were on the third day of a weeklong strike for higher pay.

The union says the workers, who mostly come from the Indian subcontinent, get the minimum wage of 11.44 pounds an hour ($14.75), and “are amongst the lowest paid at Heathrow.” They get no shift premiums for working 12-hour nights and no sick pay.

The strikers clean offices at the main British Airways terminal at Heathrow. OCS is a large outsourced facilities management company. Passing motorists honked in support, including drivers for the OCS laundry located at the same site.

Unite organizer Jeff Fernandes had tried to speak to the laundry workers as they came off shift. “Like many immigrant workers they think they’ll be punished for talking to or joining the union,” he told the Militant. “That’s why the cleaners are such a shining example. We’re going to fight for what’s decent and what is right.”