Campaigners for a 'Living Wage' at SOAS have hailed a decision by the School's governing board to raise its cleaners' wages as a victory - but have criticised a decision to continue outsourcing the service.
After three hours of deliberation, SOAS governing board voted to increase its cleaners' wages from the current national minimum of £5.52 to the London Living Wage rate of £7.20.
The long-running campaign for fairer wages for SOAS cleaners has generated popular support amongst the School's staff and students. Protestors interrupted a committee meeting last month, and in a recent ballot 458 staff and students voted in favour of bringing the cleaning staff in-house and increasing their wages to the London Living Wage.
During the governing board's meeting a group of protestors gathered in front of SOAS' main building, chanting: "What do we want? Justice for cleaners! When do we want it? Now!" and "What's disgusting? Union busting! What's outrageous? Poverty wages!".
After the meeting, a spokesperson for SOAS said: "(The) Governing Body took the decision to continue to outsource the School's cleaning services, but with wages guaranteed at the London Living Wage rate. The decision went to vote and was passed with a significant majority".
She added that the School has "involved its unions, students and staff members in discussions leading up to this decision".
But Sandy Nicoll, from the SOAS branch of trade union UNISON, said he was "disappointed" with the result. He said: "We think the argument for in-house is irrefutable" and the decision was "not justifiable as far as we are concerned".
Although Nicoll said that the rise in wage was "a step forward", he criticised the School for not "having the guts" to bring the cleaning staff in-house.
He added that he intended to continue the campaign after consultation with cleaners, saying: "Cleaners should be treated the same as everyone else."
Clare Solomon, co-president of SOAS Students Union told London Student: "In our opinion 'ethical outsourcing' is an oxymoron. Either our cleaners are part of the SOAS community or not. At present our cleaners (and also Sodexho staff) do not feel part of the SOAS community.
"They are unable to use school facilities such as the library or common rooms, are not included in the mail-outs, are not invited to the schools events (although the Students' Union does make an effort to ensure they feel welcome, as honorary members, at our events) and do not have access to any of the privileges that other members enjoy such as pensions, London Weighting, childcare and such like.
"We believe that the School should ensure that all those employed on campus are treated with the same respect and dignity as the most senior of our colleagues.
"The Justice for Cleaners campaign are very pleased that all our hard work has paid off and that the cleaners will now be paid the higher rate of LLW and enjoy greatly improved terms & conditions and we claim this as a victory. However, we will continue with the campaign to ensure that all the promises are upheld and also for all outsourced services to be brought back in house."
When asked by London Student about the School's decision to continue outsourcing its cleaning staff, Sharon Page, the School's Registrar and Secretary, said: "It is possible to outsource services and still ensure that ethical issues such as hourly pay rates are addressed".
She added that "the School had an obligation to consider important ethical issues" as well as "issues of service delivery and value for money".
"The School's decision...addresses important moral and ethical issues in a way that is most appropriate for a University which has no historical expertise in running cleaning services".
She stated that that SOAS is "to finalise a timetable for the summer to complete the contract negotiations", which is "being negotiated...by the London Universities Purchasing Consortium".
A spokesperson for SOAS said: "SOAS will be looking at all aspects of the cleaning operatives' terms and conditions of employment in conjunction with the successful bidder."
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