Virgin West Coast cleaners are set to strike on Friday 28 October 2011 in a row over low pay and union recognition.

The cleaners are employed by Carlisle Cleaning and Support Services, part of the Impellam Group, which increased its profits by almost 30% last year to £16.2 million.

As part of the dispute, the RMT union said members will refuse to empty train effluent tanks or refill fresh water tanks between 18.00 on Friday 4 November and 17.59 on Sunday 6 November.

The cleaners voted 94% in favour of taking industrial action after the company planned to impose a 1% pay increase on them.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “Our members on Carlisle’s Virgin West Coast contract have made it crystal clear with a massive mandate for action that they will not accept a real-terms cut in their already low pay and will not tolerate their union being de-recognised.

“Carlisle needs to get real, and instead of futile attempts at busting the union should get around the table and negotiate a pay deal that provides fair pay and dignity for the people who do the dirty and difficult job that provides the company with its profits.”

Virgin Trains is 51% owned by Virgin and 49% by Stagecoach.

The following depots will be affected: Birmingham New Street, Carlisle, Crewe, Euston, Glasgow Central, Glasgow Polmadie, Liverpool Edge Hill, Liverpool, Manchester Longsight, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Wembley, Wolverhampton station and Wolverhampton Oxley.

The union wants minimum pay of £8.30 an hour, the current London Living Wage.

The union also wants improvements to working conditions and says the company has moved to de-recognise RMT “in an attempt to undermine the collective strength of cleaners who provide a core service around the clock for 20 million passengers”.

Impellam is part of the business empire of Lord Ashcroft who has donated millions of pounds to the Conservative party. He stood down as a deputy chairman of the party after a controversy over his tax status.

Labour MP John McDonnell and 25 other MPs have signed Early Day Motion number 2165 calling on the company to step back from its confrontational stance and pay a living wage.

The EDM reads: “This House recognises the important work carried out by cleaning staff on the national rail network; is concerned that Carlisle Cleaning and Support Services (CCSS), responsible for cleaning services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), has imposed on its staff an increase of one per cent in basic rates of pay this year, equivalent to an extra six pence per hour; is appalled at the mean spirited attitude exhibited in this meagre pay rise; opposes CCSS's decision to derecognise the National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers on the WCML cleaning contract; and calls on CCSS to step back from this confrontational approach to industrial relations and to award its hard working staff a pay increase that will deliver dignity at work and a living wage.”