At 6 AM today in Central London cleaners with the United Voices of the World (UVW) union began day two of their indefinite, one-day-a-week strike at the London School of Economics (LSE). At the same time, security officers (SOs) with the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) began day four of theirs at the University of London (UoL), only five minutes from the LSE.

With their largely worker of color, migrant memberships, all working in low-pay sectors, these militant unions have begun coordinating their offensive strikes. And, with marches between pickets shutting down major roads today, they’re together showing the wider labor movement how we might better organize, strike, and protest. What are they fighting for?

There are superficial differences between the struggles. The cleaners are fighting for paid paternity/maternity leave, holiday pay, and sick pay on parity with other LSE workers. They’re employed by subcontractor Noonan Services Group, whose latest accounts show a pre-tax profit of €11 million. (The firm had “a truly outstanding year.”)