Letter from IWGB branch secretary Danny Millum, to Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, director of property and facilities management at the University of London

 

Dear Ghaz,

I note with regret that the university has announced the postponement of the decision on bringing its outsourced workers in-house until May.

This will be extremely frustrating for the hundreds of workers who not only have to endure the current discriminatory two-tier employment situation, but were promised a decision in March.

Furthermore, it is likely to add to the already massive reputational damage the university has suffered as a consequence of failing to resolve this issue – particularly embarrassing in a year when the university is celebrating 150 years of women in higher education (#LeadingWomen) and yet continues to treat its predominantly female and Latino cleaning workforce so poorly (#HypocrisyandDiscrimination).

As I am sure you have seen, the university now faces the biggest outsourced worker strike in HE (higher education) history, which is scheduled for 25 and 26 April, and which is already attracting national press attention (Outsourced University of London workers to strike over pay and conditions).

The in-house campaign, led by the workers themselves, continues to have three simple and fair demands:

  1. End outsourcing and bring in-house all outsourced workers on the same terms and conditions as other directly employed staff immediately

  2. End zero-hours contracts

  3. Implement pay rises that it has promised but failed to deliver

The campaign will continue to escalate until these demands are met.

Best wishes,

Danny

Danny Millum

Branch Secretary

University of London IWGB

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Media stories on 25-26 April strike action