Loading ...UCLU rejects living wage for its employees
The UCL Union will not be paying their staff the London Living Wage (LLW), despite pledging their support for the campaign in the October Welcome General Meeting.
The LLW initiative recommends that the national minimum wage be raised in London to £7.45 an hour to reflect the higher cost of living in the city.
In a UCLU council meeting on November 24th, members voted 24 to 9 against a motion to introduce LLW.
At the start of the debate the Clinical President Mandy Smith proposed a move to closed session – which would have excluded observers – on the grounds that it “could put the privacy of the union at risk”. This was rejected.
The LLW motion was proposed by the Environment and Ethics officer Craig Griffiths and council member Michael Chessum, who argued that wages should be increased to reflect the Union’s support for the wider London campaign.
Chessum said: “The London Living Wage is endorsed by that radical firebrand Boris Johnson. Until we pay our own staff the acceptable wage for living in London we cannot hope to successfully lobby the University as a whole.”
He cited ethical reasons for an increased wage, but also argued that evidence from Queen Mary’s experience provided a strong business case as well: “Well-paid staff are more motivated and efficient, take less sick-days, and perform better in the workplace.”
Finance and Democracy officer Andrew Caddy lead the opposition on the basis that the LLW would incur an extra £100,000 unbudgeted expenditure. Saying that the debate had been “emotionally hijacked” he argued that the recommended wage was unaffordable.
UCL union is one of the richest in the country, with £5 million in the bank, of which £1.89 is thought to be available for commercial services. It receives the biggest grant of any SU in the country – but some Council members expressed fears that with the university making cuts, the union’s grant would also be slashed.
UCL’s bars run at a significant loss and Caddy raised concerns that a bar closure might result from an increase in wages. would affect the core membership services the Union offers. James Hodgson, Student Activities Officer, also said the he believed “the union’s core values, the things we do best for our members, clubs and societies, would be seriously damaged by this.”
Josh Blacker, Education Officer, said he would like to pay staff more, but the Union’s financial position would not allow it, while Chessum accused the sabbaticals of having “only a skin-deep commitment” to the LLW.
Following Council’s rejection of the motion, Griffiths said the issue would be taken to the AGM in Februrary 2010.
