Tube cleaners will go on a 48-hour strike and stage a demonstration outside Transport for London’s headquarters today.

The cleaners will take part in the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union’s protest in central London at 12noon.

The protest is part of the union’s national campaign for pay justice.

The cleaners will be demanding that TfL adopt a policy for providing them with a living wage, free travel and a bigger pension.

Cleaning staff who work for ISS London Underground and Initial on London Underground have also gone on a 48-hour strike from 5.30am this morning.

RMT general secretary, Bob Crow, said: “RMT is kicking off an unprecedented, co-ordinated national campaign for pay justice for cleaners and security staff across the transport industry.

“This campaign will involve industrial, political and public campaigning that will drag the exploitation of cleaners out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

“As well as naming and shaming the companies involved in this low-pay scandal we are also turning the screw on the train operators and transport bodies responsible for awarding these contracts, and that includes London Mayor Boris Johnson and Transport for London.

“These are all long-running disputes in which the train operators and the authorities have sought to wash their hands of the issue and have refused to take any responsibility for the gross and brutal exploitation of cleaners that is taking place on their watch.

“RMT is engaged in a national campaign that will expose the bullies who exploit our cleaners as part of a co-ordinated strategy aimed at securing living wages that keep pace with the true cost of living.

“The rock-solid solidarity shown by RMT cleaners on previous strike days sends out a message that the union is geared up for an all-out fight for cleaners’ pay justice.

“The train operators and public bodies who give a green light to exploitation by these parasites should be using their clout to force them back to the negotiating table.”