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LONDON Hundreds of outsourced cleaners, porters and security officers working at UCL have launched a campaign demanding to be brought in house

Industrial reporter @TrinderMatt

OUTSOURCED workers at a central London university launched a campaign to be brought in-house and to receive equal rights and fair pay today.

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain accused bosses at University College London of attempting to intimidate and scare away staff who “deserve dignity, justice and an end to structural discrimination.”

A petition demanding direct employment and wage equality for cleaners, porters and security officers — signed by more than 150 workers — was sent to management yesterday, the union confirmed, ahead of a protest at the university on May 26. 

The staff won improved sick pay, annual leave, parental leave entitlements and pensions in 2019, according to the union, but their anti-outsourcing campaign was suspended when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in spring 2020.  

The union accused security subcontractor Bidvest Noonan of repeatedly failing to handle payroll correctly for staff for six months during the crisis, resulting in “repeated deductions in wages.”

The company also threatened redundancies and cuts to staff working hours, while fellow subcontractor Sodexo slashed jobs and reintroduced zero-hour and insecure contracts for new staff, the union charged.

It said university management is refusing to engage with the workers, despite 135 security officers signing a joint letter to bosses outlining the grievances in December last year.

The union’s Universities of London branch chairman, Martin Johnson Wogido, said: “I have been a security guard at UCL for almost five years now, and in that time have developed relationships with students and staff alike.

“We are launching this campaign to end the use of middleman subcontractors who profit off the backs of key workers such as myself.

“It is clear UCL does not want to engage with outsourced staff and our union as they attempt to intimidate us and scare us away from fighting for in-housing.

“The subcontractors are failing to uphold terms and conditions we have won in the past, including failing to remit pensions, losing personal data, issuing zero-hour contracts, as well as wage deductions and a denial of adequate break times.

“We key workers deserve dignity and justice and demand an end to this structural discrimination.”

A UCL spokesperson said: “Our colleagues in cleaning, security, portering and catering do vital jobs for UCL and we are committed to ensuring that they are rewarded fairly in line with all other staff.

"Following positive and productive negotiations with our recognised trade union, Unison, we recently invested over £10 million per year to harmonise pay and benefits for our outsourced colleagues and we now pay some of the best rates for these roles in the sector.

"These staff are employed under the same terms and key conditions as in-house staff and UCL contributes the same percentage to their pensions. In 2021, we were officially recognised as a London living wage employer and have incorporated a minimum London living wage requirement into standard terms and conditions for all our external suppliers.

"Our accreditation now guarantees that we and our suppliers will continue to pay at or above the London living wage for anyone who is in scope.”

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