A leading think-tank has found there is strong public support for action to improve the wages of low-paid workers, including cleaners.
It comes as the union Unison warns of the threat to pay and conditions in the industry from jobs being contracted out to private firms, while cleaners in the public sector are also facing a pay squeeze.
A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research reveals two-thirds of Brits questioned thought the Government, business and trade unions should work together to make pay fairer. According to the 2,337 members of the public who took part in the research, office cleaners - who on average earn £14,000 - should get a 19 per cent pay rise.
And 82 per cent of those polled said the Government should act to redress growing pay inequalities in both the public and private sectors. Nick Pearce, IPPR director, said: “These polling results show that pay in Britain is out of kilter with the public’s sense of just rewards.
“People want to see the benefits of success more fairly shared within organisations, instead

of a few top earners getting an ever bigger share of the pie.”
Mark Woodhead, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said: “These results chime with our own efforts to raise the status of cleaners, and show that in the public’s mind, cleaners are not being paid fairly.
“People clearly want to see cleaners who work hard and do a decent job receive more recognition and better rewards.
“Fair pay and the value we place on cleaning is one of the major challenges we face as an industry, and it will be a key component of the debate on corporate social responsibility that will take place at our October conference.”
Decline
The IPPR report says the last four decades have seen a fall in wages of people in lower occupational groups relative to those in higher occupational groups.
The scope of collective pay agreements is also in decline, with the proportion of employees whose pay is affected by collective agreements falling from 70 per cent in the late 1970s to 31 per cent by 2010.

companies was a big issue.
“Many of the private companies have been very unwilling and have dragged their heels in paying contracted out staff the rate for the job,” she told SYR XPress.
“The way the Government is going they are trying to get rid of the workforce agreements that protected the pay and conditions of people who were contracted out to private companies.