Tyne and Wear Metro cleaners end two-week strike

The strike is over a long-running dispute over pay

Cleaners working on the Tyne and Wear Metro have ended a two-week strike over a long-running "low" pay dispute.

The staff, employed by Churchill, will end their walk-out later with a rally outside Newcastle Civic Centre.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said the strike action was "rock solid" and against "low pay".

Metro operator DB Regio said travellers were not "inconvenienced". Churchill was unavailable for comment.

It follows 19 days of industrial action in the past 18 months by the cleaning staff over the dispute.

The RMT claimed Metro owner Nexus could "force its contractors DB Regio to instruct their subcontractors, Churchill, to pay a living wage if it chose to take the issue on".

Nexus said cleaning services were contracted out "to ensure the local taxpayer gets the best value for money".

Mr Crow said transport workers were living on "poverty pay".

The cleaners and union members are ending their strike action with the rally to coincide with a meeting of the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority at the civic centre.