Antoneta works as a cleaner in London Heathrow’s airport’s newest and shiniest wing, Terminal 5. Despite working the night shift, she doesn’t receive any extra allowance for these tiring hours. The airport boasts of its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and reducing CO2 emissions, and it even claims to be a Living Wage employer. And yet Antoneta is not paid the stipulated £13.85/hour rate but only the legal minimum of £12.21. Meanwhile, Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, whose headquarters she cleans, took home a £2 million bonus in 2024. To make matters worse, there is no company sick pay scheme to fall back on. She’s only eligible for government Statutory Sick Pay — a meager £118.75 per week.

This is because client companies such as Heathrow and British Airways award public contracts to the lowest bidder — usually highly financialized yet penny-pinching conglomerates. Thus, Antoneta is neither employed by the airport where she works nor by British Airways but by a contractor, facilities management giant OCS. Such an arrangement results in low pay for the overwhelmingly black and ethnic minority workers — but is whitewashed by official certifications and accreditations that unduly praise employers while taking bargaining out of unions’ hands.

These findings are confirmed by Stephen Mustchin and his fellow British industrial relations scholars in their recent PROCURFAIR report. It finds that low pay, discrimination, irregular and long working hours, and health and safety issues are routine problems for cleaners and security guards on public contracts in Britain. Women and migrant workers especially bear the brunt.