The University of London has announced the closure of three of its intercollegiate Halls of Residence, with over 80 redundancies threatened, effective from 30 June 2014

Many of those facing redundancy will be workers who have been at the forefront of the London Living Wage campaign, as well as the ongoing 3 Cosas campaign which has successfully fought for improved terms and conditions for outsourced workers at the UoL.

The IWGB is demanding:

• a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies
• full and meaningful consultation with the IWGB
• the same wage levels for any workers transferred to contracts outside the UoL
• the same terms and conditions for any transferred workers

These workers are among the most vulnerable at the University, and have been a national example through their successful campaigns for the living wage and 3 Cosas.

Please email Vice-Chancellor Adrian Smith in support of these demands – full details are at  https://iwgb.wordpress.com/, and please come to the demonstration tomorrow!

As you know, workers at the Garden halls are facing redundancy, and need all the help they can get in their battle to protect their jobs.

If you could send the email below (or your own version) to vice-chancellor@london.ac.uk that would be great.

Dear Professor Sir Adrian Smith

As you know, the University of London has announced the closure of three of its intercollegiate Halls of Residence, with over 80 redundancies threatened, effective from 30 June 2014

Those facing redundancy include caterers, porters, cleaners and security guards – some of the most vulnerable workers at the University.

I am writing to you to support the demands of the workers’ union, the IWGB, which are:

• a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies
• length of service be respected
• full and meaningful consultation with the IWGB
  
• the same wage levels for any workers transferred to contracts outside the UoL
• the same terms and conditions for any transferred workers

I believe that the University bears responsibility for the treatment of these workers, regardless of the fact that their roles are contracted to private companies.

Many of these workers have been at the University for decades, and all of them deserve treating with respect and dignity.

Many thanks for your help

The latest 3 Cosas video is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXXd0RKZK4s

In it workers call for their union, the IWGB, to be recognised, and also talk about the impending closure of the Garden Halls, where many of them work, with the threat of mass redundancies.

A series of protests are being held, with the following demands:

1. No redundancies
2. Cofely negotiates with the IWGB
3. All workers are transferred without losing their length of service
4. All workers are transferred without losing the London Living Wage or the improved sick pay, holidays, and pensions

The next one will take place this Friday, 9 May 2014 at 1pm at Senate House – please come if you can!

Thanks to everyone who came on Saturday – we had a full house, and it was great to see all manner of people from different parts of the University showing up. There were speeches, most notably from Robinson (who stretched a five minute spot to half an hour, but still left the crowd wanting more), and Natalie Bennett (leader of the Green Party). We also conducted our branch elections, and the new University of London officers are as follows:

Branch Chair: Henry Chango Lopez

Vice-Chair: Sonia Chura

Secretary: Catherine Morrissey

Treasurer 1: Yvette Bailey

Treasurer 2: Alison Hunter

Recruitment Officer: Hannah Thompson

Education Officer: Helle Abelvik-Lawson

The AGM was followed by the IWGB national AGM, and then by the traditional fiesta – fantastic Ecuadorian food, music from SOAS’s Luis Armando, and dancing until late.

A great end to a full-on first year, and now: la lucha continua!

Higher education employers have made a “full and final” pay offer of 2%, with a minimum pay point equal to the living wage, following pay talks with the unions.

The details of the offer are:

Pay rates for all staff covered by the higher education national agreement would be increased from 1 August 2014 by 2%.

Point 1 of the pay spine would also be increased by a further £30. This would bring point 1 to the current rate of the living wage (£7.65) in those higher education institutions that have a 35-hour working week, which equates to an increase of 2.2%.

London weighting – Post 92 higher education institutions that pay London weighting in line with the national agreement are recommended to increase these by 2%.

Pre 92 higher education institutions are not subject to national negotiations on London weighting.

The final offer is based on the following understandings:

• that it would settle the pay negotiations for 2014/15;
• that it would draw a line under the 2013/14 negotiating round and dispute.

The University of London has announced the closure of three of its intercollegiate Halls of Residence, with over 50 redundancies threatened, effective from 30 June 2014

Many of those facing redundancy will be workers who have been at the forefront of the 3 Cosas Campaign which has successfully fought for improved terms and conditions for outsourced workers at the UoL

Cleaners, porters, and catering and security staff (many of whom have worked at the University for years, and are among its lowest-paid staff) are among the affected workers

The majority of these workers are IWGB members, yet the University and its contractors Cofely and Aramark are refusing to deal directly with our union

The IWGB is demanding:

• a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies
• full and meaningful consultation
• a fair and transparent selection process for posts elsewhere in the UoL
• maintenance of terms and conditions for any workers transferred to contracts outside the UoL

These workers are among the most vulnerable at the University, and have been a national example through their successful campaigns for the living wage and 3 Cosas.

Contact us at uol@iwgb.org.uk or on 07771783094 to find out how you can help – or if you are affected yourself come to our meeting on Friday afternoon in the union office at ULU, 2nd floor.

The University of London IWGB branch Annual General Meeting will be held this Saturday at 3pm on the 3rd floor of ULU (Malet St, London WC1E 7HY)

At the AGM there will be:

• elections for branch officer positions for the next year
• guest speakers including Green Party leader Natalie Bennett
• free food and drink
• a Latino fiesta with music and dancing till late.

If you could get in touch to confirm your attendance that would be great – call 07771783094, or email uol@iwgb.org.uk.

We will also be electing our national officers, and nominations for General Secretary, President, Vice-President, and Treasurer will be accepted up to and including the day of the AGM.

If you wish to nominate or be nominated for any of the positions, please just email uol@iwgb.org.uk for more details.

See you there!

The nomination period for officer posts for the University of London IWGB branch has now closed.

The following nominations have now been received:

• Chair: Henry Chango Lopez
• Vice-Chair: Sonia Chura
• Secretary: Catherine Morrissey
• Treasurer (Position 1): Yvette Bailey
• Treasurer (Position 2): Alison Hunter
• Education Officer: Helle Abelvik-Lawson
• Recruitment Officer: Hannah Thompson

Although there are no contested positions, the prospective officers still need to be approved by the branch.

There will be a secret ballot at the AGM on the 26 April, where everyone will get a ballot paper and a chance to vote YES or NO for each of the candidates.

If you cannot attend the AGM, please ask your rep, or email uol@iwgb.org.uk, or call 07783719479, and you can collect a ballot paper, complete it, and return it. It will then be opened with the others at the AGM.

Hope that makes sense! Get in touch as well if you have any other questions…