A PRIVATE contractor was accused today of suspending four ethnic minority cleaners after they took part in a peaceful protest against pay discrimination at a prestigious London medical school.

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has accused the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) of pay discrimination and is preparing legal action against Coventry-based Regent Samsic, which provides cleaners, porters and security guards at the university.

Their jobs are to be taken back into direct employment, but they will be paid £500 a year less than the lowest wage in the university’s pay structure, the IWGB said.

Most of the workers are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

On Friday, about 30 of the workers, most of whom are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds, protested peacefully outside the university.

When they entered the building to deliver their grievance, managers called the police.

One of the suspended cleaners, named as Rene, said: “I worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic for my university  and was still refused a dignified salary after all my hard work.

“When we came together to peacefully ask for management to listen to us, to hear our needs and concerns, they responded by suspending me from work. 

“The disrespect LSHTM has for people like me cuts deeply. I am treated as a second-class citizen and when I try to raise my voice, I am punished.”

IWGB universities of London branch chairman Martin Johnson Wogido said: “I am deeply shocked that a university would suspend its own staff for peacefully protesting, especially after putting our lives at risk for poverty pay throughout the pandemic. 

“This is an attack on our right to be heard and to be viewed as human beings and we will not sit idly by and let LSHTM use intimidation tactics like this to stop us from fighting for what we deserve.”

IWGB said that the university had a “documented history” of racial inequality.

The union contrasted its treatment of the cleaners with its response to University and College Union members in dispute, whom managers agreed to meet.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said: “LSHTM wholeheartedly supports the right to peaceful demonstration.

"Unfortunately, at a recent demonstration outside our Keppel Street building organised by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, our security staff were threatened and pushed aside as demonstrators forced entry into the building.

“As a research-intensive university, LSHTM is home to high-risk areas including secure research facilities and microbiological laboratories, and we therefore have rigorous security restrictions for entering our buildings.

"These security measures were breached by the protesters, including four cleaners and porters who are subcontracted to work at LSHTM via Samsic UK.

"Samsic subsequently suspended these members of staff while their actions are investigated.

“The safety of our staff and students is our top priority."