Cleaners at the University of London (UoL) have extended an olive branch to the university’s incoming vice-chancellor asking her to meet with them. Welcoming Professor Wendy Thomson to her new role, their letter (published below in English and Spanish) also expressed the hope that this presages a new approach to resolving the issue of outsourcing which has dogged the university under her predecessors.

Dear Professor Thomson,

We are writing on behalf of University of London’s outsourced workers to welcome you to your new job.

We wish to express our frustrations regarding our treatment at the hands of the institution you now represent, but we want to take this opportunity to invite you to change this situation and get rid of the shameful legacy left by your predecessors.

Most of us have had to migrate to London due to the crisis or lack of opportunities in our countries of origin. In many ways we were lucky to find work here. However, at the same time we are deeply disappointed by how little value is given to the work that we provide every day to the university.

The University of London, hiding behind outsourced contracts, has refused to recognize us as part of its community and to value our work, which makes this institution possible. Despite strikes, protests, multiple petitions and public campaigns, your predecessors refused to recognize us as a legitimate party and to negotiate with us and our union. This expresses the discrimination and prejudice that permeates an institution that has decided to systematically ignore migrant workers who have fought with for their rights with determination.

We would like to take this moment of your arrival as new Vice Chancellor to extend an invitation to:

• have dialogue with us in order that we can express our wishes as to why we want and deserve to be part of the University of London

• negotiate with us in order to terminate outsourcing so that the university takes direct responsibility for our employment.

If we do not have the opportunity to meet with you, do not doubt that we will continue fighting for our rights to be treated with equality and enjoy the same terms and conditions as the rest of the workers of this university.

Our struggle will continue in the form of protests, boycotts, strikes, and publicity campaigns and you can be sure that we will not stop until your institution ensures equality for all workers.

Our warmest regards,

The IWGB In-House Committee (on behalf of the outsourced workers of the University of London)

Liliana Almanza, Margarita Cunalata, Alex Gonzaga, Olga Alvarez Perez, Elisabeth Cárdenas and Onaily Carreno

Spanish translation

Estimada Wendy Thomson,

Deseamos darle la Bienvenida a su nuevo puesto de trabajo, aprovechando su llegada a su cargo como Vicerrectora de la UoL queremos manifestarle nuestras frustraciones con respecto al trato recibido por parte de la institución que representa. No obstante, también queremos aprovechar este momento para invitarle a cambiar esta situación y desembarazarse del vergonzoso legado de sus predecesores en el cargo.

La mayor parte de nosotros hemos tenido que inmigrar a este país por debido a la crisis o falta de oportunidades en nuestros países de origen. Tuvimos la suerte de poder encontrar trabajo en esta institución. No obstante, al mismo tiempo nos sentimos profundamente decepcionados por el poco valor que se da al trabajo que cada día prestamos a la universidad.

La Universidad, escondiéndose detrás de la subcontratación, ha rehusado a reconocernos como parte de su comunidad y valorar el trabajo que hace posible esta Institución. Pese a las huelgas, protestas, múltiples peticiones y campanas públicas, sus predecesores se negaron a reconocernos como una parte legítima y a negociar con nosotros. Esto expresa la discriminación y perjuicio que permea una institución que ha decidido ignorar sistemáticamente a trabajadores migrantes que han luchado con determinación por sus derechos.

Aprovechando la oportunidad de su nuevo desempeño laboral como Vicerrectora de la UoL, como trabajadores que somos parte también de la Universidad de Londres, nos gustaría extenderle una invitación:

• a dialogar con n el fin de manifestarle nuestros deseos de porque queremos y merecemos se parte de la Universidad de Londres

• a negociar con el fin de poner fin subcontratación de manera que la universidad asuma la responsabilidad de nuestro empleo.

Si no tenemos la oportunidad de reunirnos con usted, no dude en que continuaremos luchando por nuestros derechos a ser tratados con igualdad y disfrutar de los mismos términos y condiciones que el resto de trabajadores de esta universidad. Nuestra lucha seguirá en la forma de protestas, boycotts, huelgas, campanas de comunicación….no dude que nuestra determinación no cesará hasta que su institución asegure igualdad para todos los trabajadores.

Un cordial saludo,

Los trabajadores subcontratados de la universidad de Londres, a través de sus representantes:

Liliana Almanza, Margarita Cunalata, Alex Gonzaga, Olga Alvarez Perez, Elisabeth Cárdenas and Onaily Carreno

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.

Soon after University of London management hired private security to evict student protesters from Senate House’s Chancellor’s Hall – which they were occupying in solidarity with outsourced workers – the Guardian reveals that the institution spent over £1.3 million on extra security measures between March and November last year.

IWGB University of London Branch Secretary Danny Millum comments: “We unequivocally condemn these violent acts against peaceful protesters by private security under the orders of university management. It is completely unacceptable that management would rather waste millions of pounds repressing peaceful protest than addressing the legitimate concerns of students, workers and the academic community. It is past due for the university to sit and negotiate with its outsourced workers and end this dispute that has dragged on for almost two years”.

See below for letter from our branch secretary re serious issues affecting Cordant security staff at the University of London:

Dear Ghaz,

I am writing as promised in yesterday’s ICE Forum to flag up a number of extremely serious issues affecting Cordant bench officers following the TUPE transfer of front of house staff.

Since the transfer, Cordant have drastically cut down on the hours of many of their bench team, and have transferred responsibility for allocating shifts to a national call centre and away from the University of London site. In addition, staff are in many cases being advised of shifts on a daily basis, rather than rotas being provided a week ahead.

This of course amounts to breach of contract, as Cordant have either given staff less than their contracted hours OR less than than the hours which they had been customarily working for months or even years.

Furthermore, it is causing enormous amounts of misery and distress – long-standing staff with many dependents have suddenly had their incomes slashed, and have the added uncertainty of not even knowing from week to week what shifts they will be working and when.

Ridiculously there are plenty of shifts to go round – but for some reason Cordant are assigning them to new temporary staff who are completely untrained on site. 

I am also attaching a contract received by one of these officers in September 2018 which (in contravention of the University’s declared policy of ending zero-hours contracts) is for just 336 hours a year – a zero hours contract in all but name. In addition I am attaching a recent message from a Cordant security manager to a guard stating that ‘we are obliged to allocate Bench officers a total of 336 hours annually’. 

This practice by Cordant was meant to have been banned by the University – were you aware that it is still continuing?

These problems have undoubtedly been triggered by splitting the security contract in two, which has meant that staff who previously covered reception duties are no longer allowed to do so. But it has been exacerbated by Cordant’s introduction of temporary staff and removal of rota responsibility from this site.

We have already raised half-a-dozen individual grievances over this matter, and will continue to raise more. However, in order to resolve the situation collective action is needed – namely that the University recognise that Cordant is unfit and unwilling to run the security contract for a moment longer, and bring these officers in-house immediately, with a guarantee that their shifts and hours be respected.

Best wishes
Danny

The IWGB’s boycott of Senate House, the University of London’s (UoL) central administrative headquarters in Bloomsbury, has been given a boost.

Last week (25–29 May), the University and College Union (UCU) Congress overwhelmingly passed a boycott motion. This means that it is now official UCU policy to NOT attend nor organise any events in UoL’s central administrative buildings until all its outsourced workers have been brought in-house.

The UCU’s support has empowered the mainly BAME cleaners to release a short video asking higher education staff and academics to help their case by supporting the boycott – please check it out here. They have been fighting for some two years for equality of employment.

This level of national solidarity is unprecedented. At the Congress speaker after speaker pledged their support for our workers and Jo Grady, UCU’s new general secretary, also confirmed her commitment to the campaign.

The boycott motion was brought to the UCU Congress because, while the in-house campaign has forced the university to commit to the principle of in-housing, there are still many outstanding issues:

• only 10% of workers have been brought in-house
• current plans are so vague that the 90% of workers who are not in-house have only been promised ‘reviews’, some of which will not take place until 2021
• there are no guarantees that any of these 90%, which includes all the cleaners, catering staff and the majority of security staff will ever be brought in
• these workers are still being massively discriminated against in terms of sick pay, holidays, pensions and more

In addition, as outlined below, UoL has launched a crackdown on the workers and their union, the IWGB.

University of London crackdown

The university and the outsourced companies have not only refused all offers of talks with the workers and their union – the IWGB – its management has responded by attacking trade union rights. Moreover, it has increased discrimination against the outsourced workers.

First the IWGB’s branch secretary was threatened with disciplinary action for accepting an invitation to attend a seminar to talk about the boycott.

Second, cleaning company Cordant Services introduced a draconian new sickness phone-in policy solely for the cleaners. Rather than reporting to managers or supervisors they must now call a centralised number to report all absences. Failure to do so will result in instant disciplinary action. 

There was just one catch. Many of the cleaners speak little or no English while no-one in the call centre speaks anything but. Listen here as an Ecuadorian cleaner tries to call in sick.

Third, Cordant Security has refused to allow trade union representation for migrant security staff at the university. The company has gone so far as to hire EXTRA security to physically block the IWGB representative from attending a meeting to which he was invited by the worker.

This is all happening at OUR university and is in response to pleas by the lowest-paid and most vulnerable workers in the building to be treated equally.