The fingerprint machine on its way out of the building.

Outsourced cleaners and porters at UCL’s Institute of Education (IoE), many of whom are IWGB members, have won a collective victory against discriminatory workplace monitoring. Their employer, outsourcing giant Sodexo, will no longer be introducing a new Time Management System, which would have required the workers to clock in and out using biometric fingerprint technology.

It was in March that the workers first complained about the proposed system and Sodexo’s failure to consult them on it. The IWGB and UCL UCU soon wrote a joint letter to Sodexo and UCL criticising it as ill-considered, discriminatory, and likely to violate privacy guidelines. The workers also wrote to Sodexo and UCL demanding an “immediate stop to the implementation of this system“. After the IWGB disrupted a meeting in which a manager was attempting to encourage compliance with the new system, Sodexo indefinitely suspended its plans. Now, the fingerprint machines have finally been removed from the premises.

This is a tangible result of workplace organising and solidarity at UCL, where much still remains to be done. If you’d like to learn more about the struggle at UCL or to get involved, you can contact UCL Justice for Workers.