MIGRANT workers employed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are demanding an end to pay discrimination, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has revealed.

About 30 cleaners, porters and security staff were set for a “lively march” outside the prestigious public research university in central London this evening, after the Morning Star went to press.

The workers, who are currently outsourced and paid less than their directly employed colleagues, are due to be brought in-house and benefit from improved terms and conditions such as sick pay, holidays and parental leave.

But the union accused university bosses of failing to give the workers full equality and even denying them access to the lowest rung of the institution’s pay structure.

Management has also refused to commit to account for length of service in pay calculations, as it does with directly employed staff, the union charged.

IWGB general secretary Henry Chango Lopez said that employees who have worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic are being denied “many of the rights their directly employed colleagues take for granted.”

He highlighted last year’s independent review into structural racism at the university, which found its colonial legacy continues to have a negative impact on black and minority ethnic (BME) staff and students.

Bosses promised action after the probe, commissioned by the university’s council, said BME staff are under-represented at senior levels, have less success at promotions and are more likely to be on short-term contracts than their white peers.

Mr Chango Lopez said: “Until the university ends discriminatory treatment, we must not take seriously any claims that the institution is addressing the problems of racial inequality.”

A university spokesperson claimed staff being brought in-house will “not suffer a detriment and will benefit from enhancements to many terms and conditions.”

Industrial reporter @TrinderMatt