HUNDREDS of outsourced cleaners on the rail network are set to return to picket lines across the country for another 48-hour strike from tomorrow. 

The workers, represented by transport union RMT and employed by profitable contractors Churchill, Bidvest Noonan and Atalian Servest, are demanding £15 an hour, company sick pay, decent holidays and good pensions.

Avanti West Coast, GWR, Northern, GTR, South East Trains and Network Rail’s High Speed contract will all be affected by the latest walkout in the long-running dispute, the union said.

RMT stressed its “determination to see justice done for contracted out cleaners, who are some of the most exploited railway workers in the country.”

General secretary Mick Lynch blasted the sector’s “poverty wages and appalling terms and conditions.

“RMT is calling time on these multimillion-pound contractors — they need to pay up and use their generous dividends and profits to invest in the workforce,” he said. 

“Ultimately the train companies and the government must step in to end outsourcing and bring train cleaners in-house.”

Tory ministers have repeatedly defended the outsourcing model, despite warnings from workers that it enables their exploitation.