Independent Workers Union of Great Britain – Universities of London Branch

PRESS RELEASE
Independent Workers of Great Britain

03/06/2014

Contact: Contact: Jasonmoyer-lee@iwgb.org.uk or 07922810798

Twitter: @3CosasCampaign

FIVE DAYS OF STRIKE ACTION OVER JOB LOSSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON GARDEN HALLS

Members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) at the University of London have voted 100% in favour of strike action over the loss of more than 80 jobs at the Garden Halls, student halls of residence near King’s Cross.

The IWGB has served notice of five days of industrial action against the two main outsourcing companies at the University – Cofely which runs cleaning, portering, security, and maintenance services, and Aramark which employs catering staff. The strike will begin on Friday 6 June and will continue from Monday 9 June to Thursday 12 June.

The University is set to refurbish its halls from the end of June. The process will last around two years and current workers are at risk of redundancy.

Many of workers under threat of redundancy have been the most active in the 3 Cosas Campaignfor Sick Pay, Holidays and Pensions. The campaign recently won improved sick pay and holiday pay after a high-profile strike in November 2013.

The IWGB is demanding:

•           a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies

•           full and meaningful consultation with the IWGB

•           the same wage levels, terms and conditions, and length of service for any workers transferred to contracts outside the UoL

The IWGB is building a strike fund to compensate workers taking strike action and is calling on support and solidarity from other trade unions, students’ unions and the wider labour movement.

In the run-up to the strike, student activists at the University of London Union (ULU) have occupied Cofely’s head offices at Angel in Islington, London, and the company’s prestigious contract providing building services at the Shard near London Bridge.

Sonia Chura, a Garden Halls (Cofely) worker and Vice-Chairof the University of London branch of the IWGB said:

“The workers who have been most active in the 3 Cosas Campaign are on the verge of losing their jobs. This is the fault of Cofely and the University of London who have consistently refused to negotiate with us or to accommodate the workers. We’re striking in order to continue working. We have been serving the University for many years and this is the thanks we get – being thrown out on the street.”

END

Contact: Jasonmoyer-lee@iwgb.org.uk or 07922810798

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Full details of the 3 Cosas Campaign can be found on the campaign website: http://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/about/

Details of student solidarity actions, including against Cofely’s contract at The Shard, can be found on the IWGB UoL branch website: https://iwgb.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/workers-and-students-occupy-cofely-hq-in-the-shard/

Dear Ms. Levin of UNISON London Region,

It has recently come to my attention that you have been meeting with Cofely management at the University of London with regard to the Garden Halls redundancy procedures.  As you know, over 50 Cofely employees- the majority of whom are cleaners- are at risk of redundancy and Cofely is required by law to consult with the independent recognized trade union, which is UNISON.  Despite the fact that the majority of Garden Halls Cofely employees have left UNISON and joined the IWGB, Cofely still consults with you and you happily rubber-stamp Cofely’s proposals.  Indeed it appears you even recently gave UNISON’s approval to Cofely’s proposed selection criteria, i.e. the criteria the company will use to decide which workers are able to continue working and which workers will lose their jobs.  These selection criteria- widely opposed by the workers themselves- include allocating points for workers’ abilities to demonstrate Cofely’s company values.  These values- which are not even known to some of the managers in charge of the recruitment- are “daring”, “drive”, “cohesion”, and “commitment”.  Putting aside my difficulty in distinguishing between a toilet cleaned in a “daring” manner and one cleaned in a “not-daring” manner, the problem with these criteria are that they are highly subjective and lend themselves to management favouratism.  However, given that the Cleaning Services Manager is also the UNISON rep, I could understand why this might not bother you.

Of course, your most recent episode of rubber stamp unionism is just one more indication of the flourishing relationship between Cofely and UNISON.  Ironically, this relationship seemed to really kick off once nearly all the Cofely UNISON members left the union for the IWGB.  This was met with a letter from your boss- UNISON London Region manager Maggi Ferncombe- to ex-UNISON members telling them that the IWGB wasn’t a union and couldn’t represent them.  Then there were the UNISON posters on official Cofely workplace noticeboards entitled “Have you been lied to” and “Beware of cheap imitations” containing slanderous accusations against the IWGB.  Cofely returned the favour by including a one page advert for UNISON in their company newsletter at UoL and by granting UNISON an unprecedented level of access to employees in working hours and on-site, and Sharon Bracey, the Cleaning Services Manager in charge of over 100 cleaners and porters, has even been appointed the workplace rep for UNISON at Cofely.  And this isn’t just any manager- it is a manager who initiates disciplinary procedures against cleaners, has put workers on 0 hours contracts, and has even been taken to an employment tribunal on allegations of discrimination.

But it doesn’t stop there- Cofely and UNISON responded to the IWGB strike in November of 2013 by agreeing a deal on terms and conditions without any consultation of the workforce.  And then there was that dreadful Guardian article (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/24/cost-private-contracts-universities-documents-services-workers) which showed that UNISON was colluding with the University of London in order to “counter” the 3 Cosas Campaign, and UNISON even went as far as to suggest that if the University of London were to offer up just one additional day’s annual leave that it could suffice to undercut the campaign.

Given that I find it hard to believe there remain many substantive differences in politics or values between your two organisations, I wonder if it might not be more efficient and politically expedient for UNISON Senate House/London Region and Cofely to engage in a merger and form a new entity?  You could call it COFLISON.  This could save you time and money in terms of having to coordinate communications strategies, press releases, facilities time, etc.  And if you were one entity there would be less public pressure on UNISON to actually have to consult or pretend to represent those cleaners who never seem to be satisfied with UNISON’s indefatigable efforts to sell them out.  Of course if you did merge, you might be left with the unenviable task of having to make some managers redundant.  Surely it wouldn’t make sense to have two regional managers, two contract managers, etc.?  It would be more efficient to have managers double up- as is already being done in the case of Sharon Bracey, the Cleaning Services Manager and workplace rep.  In order to comply with employment law you would have to come up with selection criteria for this redundancy procedure.  I’ve given this a bit of thought and can suggest the following rigorous and objective criteria:

1. Managers who can demonstrate that their favourite colour is, always has been, and always will be orange- 10 points;
2. Managers who can simultaneously tap their heads and rub their bellies for 67 seconds on demand- 10 points;
3. Managers who can demonstrate (in their selection interviews) commitment to COFLISON company values – 50 points.

COFLISON would have to identify new company values, but I would propose the following: arrogance, dishonesty, incompetence, and willingness to sell out workers.

If you do not decide to merge with Cofely, please consider the following.  The IWGB is not going anywhere and indeed this union’s membership density only continues to increase, especially among Cofely workers.  Even with three regional employees present at UoL, UNISON has been unable to repair the damage they have done.  Your rubber stamp unionism, blatant collusion with management, appointment of a manager as rep, and disdainful disregard for workers has made your presence at the University of London one of the biggest embarrassments to the UK trade union movement today.  Until you pull out of your recognition agreement with Cofely and thereby enable the workers to represent themselves through the union they have chosen, we will continue to call you out on your appalling behaviour.

Kind regards,

Jason Moyer-Lee

President, IWGB

Yesterday morning over 50 students, trade unionists and community residents occupied the tallest building in Europe, the Shard, in central London. They were protesting plans to make 80 cleaners and support staff redundant – mostly migrant women.

The main target of the occupation was the French firm COFELY, one of the outsourcing companies at the University of London, which also runs the technical and estates services at the Shard.

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

Campaigners fear that the halls are set to be sold off and privatised.

Many of those facing redundancy will be low-paid and long-serving cleaners, porters, catering and security staff. Many of the workers have also been at the forefront of campaigns for the London Living Wage, as well as the high-profile 3 Cosas campaign which has successfully fought for improved terms and conditions for outsourced workers at the prestigious institution.

The workers’ trade union, the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB), along with the University of London Union (ULU), has launched a campaign against the job losses, and a calendar of protests and other actions. These included the occupation of the COFELY HQ in Islington last week, and of the Shard today.

Workers are currently being balloted for strike action, which will potentially see industrial action begin at the University of London halls of residence at the beginning of June.

Sonia Chura, a cleaner in the student halls of residence and Vice President of the IWGB branch, said: “We workers will fight united until we are all transferred to new positions with the same pay, terms and conditions, and with our length of service respected.”

Daniel Lemberger Cooper, Vice President of the University of London Union, said: “The occupation is a sign of things to come for COFELY and the University of London. It is only the start of a programme of protests and occupations. Students fully support the staff that havecleaned and taken care of them for countless years. They take out the rubbish and now they are being thrown out themselves. They deserve better than COFELY and the University of London throwing them onto the streets”

The IWGB trade union – which represents workers at the University of London – is demanding:

• a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies

• full and meaningful consultation

• the same wage levels for any workers transferred to contracts outside the UoL

• the same terms and conditions for any transferred workers