London Underground station staff work alongside station cleaners. They are vital to our stations, yet there are not enough of them, and the contractors employ them on low pay and unpleasant, unsafe conditions. Station staff can help cleaners to win better treatment - and cleaner, nicer stations for all of us.

Here, Becky Crocker and Adrian Finney give some ideas about how you can support the cleaners. Becky and Adrian are both station staff who have taken on responsibility within their RMT branches for helping organise and support cleaners.

• Cleaning staff have been cut back. Be understanding about the unclean state of the stations. It is not the cleaners' fault for being lazy! If you are unhappy about the state of the station, get your health and safety rep to do an audit, so that station staff can put together a case for more cleaners.
• Cleaners may be bullied by their supervisors. Tell your station supervisor if you see a cleaner being shouted at. The station supervisor can tell the cleaning supervisor that behaviour like that is not acceptable on the stations, particularly in public places.
• Station supervisors should not pass on visitors' logs to cleaning company management to check cleaners' attendance.
• Ask cleaners whether they are in the union. Encourage them to join by telling them what RMT can do: fighting for a living wage and dignity at work; winning better conditions, such as decent mess facilities; supporting cleaners unfairly treated by the cleaning companies. Invite them to your branch meetings to raise their problems.
• Talk to cleaners, invite them to use your - probably nicer - mess facilities. Find out what mess facilities they have and get your local rep to take it up if they are inadequate.
• Cleaners are building towards a dispute to win the London Living Wage of £7.20, holiday and sick pay and free travel. If cleaners take strike action, it will have much more impact if other grades in the RMT support them. On health and safety grounds, station staff could refuse to open a station where no cleaners were working. One of the major causes of the Kings Cross fire was the build-up of litter.
• By being in the same union as the cleaners, we can help them fight their low pay and terrible conditions.