5 August
The University of London has told unions that despite a large budget surplus this year, there will be a significant drop over the next few years due to commitments and investments in the estates, so they do not believe that they will be able to meet our claim in full. They have promised more details and a breakdown of costs as well as a concrete offer in September.
It’s clear that unless we can maintain the pressure on the University, they are going to try and get away with offering us the minimum possible – we’ll be submitting your signatures this week, and the next thing to do may well be to try and organise an all-staff meeting to start to show the strength of feeling on this issue.
Any thoughts, just drop us a line at uol@iwgb.org.uk.
22 July 2014
London Weighting is a matter for each individual organisation, so an effective local campaign can win us an immediate salary increase.
The University of London has been given til the end of July to respond to the various claims –depending on their response the next steps may be demonstrations or even strike action!
We’re starting by organising a petition for all UoL workers to sign – so come find us at our stall on Tuesday 29 July outside the Russell Square gates, get in touch directly at uol@iwgb.org.uk
What’s the problem?
• London Weighting at the University of London has been £2,134 since 1992 – no HE institution pays less!
• Had it risen by RPI it would have been £3,968 in 2014!
• Cumulatively we’ve lost out on around £18k.
• Meanwhile average London house prices have gone up 700%. Travel costs are up 250%
How do we compare?
• LMU London Weighting is £4,437. At the University of Westminster it’s £4,220!
• Maximum NHS London Weighting is £6,279!
• At British Gas it’s £5,461
• The Metropolitan Police get £6,615
What are we asking for?
• All 3 unions at the University of London have put in London Weighting Claims.
• The IWGB is asking for an immediate increase to £4,000
• We also want a commitment that this will be tied to RPI in future.
• The estimated initial cost of this would be in the region of £2m
Can they afford it? YES!
The University of London’s operating surplus 2012-13 was £4.9m.
Its cash reserves 2012-13 were £50.2m.
Its net assets were £240.2m
11 senior managers in UoL and the Deanery are on 100k+
24 June 2014
In 1992, the University of London London Weighting allowance was £2,134 per annum.
Guess what it is now? Unbelievably the same, over 20 years later! Had it risen by RPI, it would have been £3,745 by 2012.
Any member of staff working at the UoL throughout this period will have lost out on around £15k.
Police LW is over £6.5k. In the NHS it’s 20% of salary.
In the post-92 Universities it’s a minimum of £3,773 .
Meanwhile housing and transport costs in London have continued to vastly outstrip the rest of the country … and at the same time the University is able to announce surpluses of £4.5m for the last financial year.
If we’re not going to be priced out of our own jobs, we need a new LW settlement – and the University knows it can afford it.
The IWGB struck over London Weighting in November, and again in February this year. A co-ordinated local strike, or even the threat of it, would quickly bring about an improved offer from the University – but we’ll only get this long-overdue increase if we can put pressure en masse on the employer.
Get in touch at uol@iwgb.org.uk now to join the IWGB, and to campaign for a fair London Weighting deal.
Independent Workers Union of Great Britain - Universities of London Branch 