OUTSOURCED cleaners at a south London school have voted to take “40 days and 40 nights” of industrial action against precarious wages and withheld pay, the United Voices of the World (UVW) said today. 

The strike, which UVW says will be the longest school cleaners’ strike in British history, will see staff at La Retraite Roman Catholic girls’ school walk out from March 16 over a lack of parity in terms and conditions with teachers, including sick pay.

The workers, all of whom are Latin American migrants, are also seeking repayment of withheld wages via an urgent application for an injunction against contractor Ecocleen.