Outsourced cleaning staff at Streatham and Clapham High School have been on strike to ask for a fair pay rise and the same sick pay and annual leave entitlements as other school employees. During the strikes, local newspaper South London Press reported that some cleaners are struggling to afford the basics on their current salaries. Ahead of the first walkouts, I wrote to the school urging them to negotiate and meet what are entirely modest demands. When the GDST Trust that owns the school turned a £27 million profit last year, there’s no excuse for them to be outsourcing cleaning staff and not paying them a fair wage. I was pleased to join a rainy picket line with cleaners from Streatham and Clapham High School during their third day of strike action. Solidarity is waterproof!