Posts Tagged ‘ULU’

The University of London Union (ULU) has agreed to let Birkbeck College top up the wages of staff employed in Birkbeck Students’ Union bar so the latter can live up to its commitment to the London Living Wage (LLW).

The contract to run the Birkbeck SU bar is held by ULU which currently pays staff there the same basic wage as on the ULU site, £6.10 an hour. Since Birkbeck SU and UCU passed policy on becoming a Living Wage employer, and Birkbeck governors recognised this, the issue has been a point of contention with ULU.

Sean Rillo Raczka, Birkbeck SU Chair, said that Birkbeck had threatened to break off the contract and bring its employees in house.

He said: “We first raised this with management about six months ago because we weren’t implementing in practice our policy commitment to the Living Wage. The ULU Trustees felt it wasn’t fair to pay different rates but technically and legally the Birkbeck bar is separate to the ULU bar. Although the contract is run by ULU, it’s a different site and so different wages can be paid.”

The Trustees say that ULU can’t afford to pay the full London Living Wage, £7.60 an hour, to all its staff, but ULU will not be financially affected by the new deal. Birkbeck will cover the cost of making up the difference from August 1st, when the higher rate will be paid to staff working at Birkbeck bar.

Rillo Raczka said the details of where the money would come from were yet to be decided, but he believes the college and not the SU should foot the bill.

ULU is also likely to increase staff pay on August 1^st, but it maintains that it cannot afford to pay all bar staff the full LLW. In April ULU announced that it would be able to pay cleaners the LLW after signing a contract with LPM Ltd; the new deal also saved the union £30,000.

The University of London Union (ULU) building on Malet Street was officially re-opened on September 1^st after its ground floor refurbishment.

The Mayor of Camden Omar Faruque Ansari attended the opening, along with several heads of University of London colleges.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, Sir Graeme Davies declared the newly refurbished building officially open. He said “I’m pleased to say that any doubts about the future of the federal university have been dispelled.  ULU’s status has been secured by the Union’s healthy turnover last financial year”.

“I’m happy to say that although Head of Colleges had some concerns in previous years, we have had a change in management and restructuring which has put ULU on the right track.”

ULU General Manager, Julie Adams, said “The fact that the Heads of Colleges, and the University of London Board of Trustees ratified the decision made by the Estates Committee in July 2008 gives ULU the confidence to move forward.”

“The refurbishment of the ground floor gives the building a more modern feel, and the increased comfortable seating and Wi-Fi availability should all help to increase footfall into the building – we hope more students will use it as a central meeting point” she added.

The ground floor refurbishment includes a new open-plan layout for the Lunchbox cafe and shop. As part of the transformation murals based on photographs of many college buildings were also created.

The refurbishment cost £300,000 of which the University of London contributed £100,000. This amount had been promised two years ago after the Union sustained huge losses when the 4th floor was made into a University Careers and Housing service.

London Student asked students enjoying the new facilities what they thought of the project.

Parham Bahadoran, from UCL, said “I like it, it feels clean and spacious, I think it will attract more students.”

Hana Joyce, a SOAS history of Art student said “It’s an improvement, there will be more places to sit now – it used to get very crowded.”

Boris Johnson met UL students and staff this morning at the official launch of a new careers website designed to help graduates find work in London, despite the recession. Read the rest of this entry »