University of South Wales cleaners in protest over pay

Cleaners hold placards outside Newport City Campus on Tuesday

Cleaners working at the University of South Wales have staged the first of three rallies in a protest over pay.

The cleaners are employed by KGB Cleaning Services and earn £7.20 an hour, which they say forces them to live in poverty and "constant worry."

They are calling to be paid the Living Wage Foundation rate of £8.45 an hour.

The university said they would raise the issue with management and KGB Cleaning Services has been asked to comment.

The cleaners work on campuses in Newport, Treforest, Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff.

The union Unison said they are one of the only groups of workers at the University of South Wales which do not benefit from the Living Wage, and called the university "hypocritical for boasting it is a Living Wage employer."

Unison said: "Had the university not outsourced the work, those staff would today benefit from decent wages."

The rallies take place at Newport City campus (pictured) on Tuesday, Atrium City Campus on Wednesday and Treforest on Thursday

One worker said: "I understand someone struggling to get by if they haven't got a job but if you have to get up before 5am to work hard every day, there has to be some reward."

Another said: "We are the bottom rung of the ladder but the whole thing would collapse without us."

The university said it was aware of the points raised by Unison, and although it was a dispute between the cleaners and the contractor, they would raise the issue with their management.

A spokesman said: "We have built into the contact with KGB the need to pay the National Living Wage, and have stipulated that expected increases in the Living Wage in the coming years will also be honoured by the contractor."

They added: "The university values highly the contribution that cleaners make on our campuses."