Cleaners at a prestigious London private school have won their battle for improved pay and working conditions, as well as compensation for steep cuts in their hours, scrapping plans for industrial action that was due to have started next week.

As part of the dispute former pupils of James Allen’s girls’ school (Jags) in Dulwich, south-east London, distributed leaflets publicising the strike in the local community, and called on the school’s leaders to set a better example to pupils.

The group of cleaners belonging to United Voices of the World (UVW), a grassroots trade union for low-paid migrant workers, voted to strike after the school’s contractor wanted to slash their working time from 43 to 38 weeks a year but offered only a £1.55 hourly pay rise in return.

After the vote to strike, and appeals from teachers and former students, the school and its cleaning contractor, DB Services, reversed course and offered higher backdated pay of £13.15 an hour to the cleaners, as well as guaranteed annual increases and to meet the London living wage from next year.

The cleaners would also receive compensation for the five-week cut and the introduction of full sick pay, the union said.

The school and DB Services did not respond when contacted for comment.

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