Cleaners at the Old Bailey escalated their fight against outsourcing plans by launching a full week of strike action today.

Members of the Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU) first walked out on March 7, in a strike supported by unions RMT and PCS, as well as the General Federation of Trade Unions.

The dispute erupted after the cleaners learnt in January that the City of London Corporation had decided to outsource their contracts.

The workers received a letter from OCS Commercial Cleaning Services informing them of the transfer, and they were given the ultimatum to either sign the contracts or walk away...

CAIWU is calling for the immediate reversal of the outsourcing plans, due to be enacted in April.

One CAIWU member said: “I’ve been working for the corporation for 27 years and we all work here as a family.

“But now what is the corporation doing to us? We’re not happy. That’s why we’re all standing here today. We have to fight for our rights.

“We all have family to look after, we’re all from different countries and we have to work hard for our families back home.”

Another member said: “Privatisation doesn’t work financially or morally...