Living wage campaign
At its AGM in March 2007, Birkbeck Unison voted to launch a Living Wage campaign for all contracted staff at Birkbeck, starting with the Ocean Cleaners. Our cleaners work for a minimum wage, which is well below the minimum amount paid to Birkbeck staff. In addition, it is below the London Living Wage set by the Greater London Authority (GLA), which recognises that the minimum wage is not enough to live in London.
Since the campaign was launched, UCU and Unite, the other staff unions at Birkbeck, have signed up, as has the Birkbeck Students' Union.
Please use the links to the left for a campaign update, our upcoming activities, and more information about how you can help us put pressure on Birkbeck management to adopt the London Living Wage for all college staff.
Si Se Puede! Yes we Can? Yes we did!
Campaign victory following Birkbeck Governors Meeting, 18th March 2009
We are pleased to announce that at this evening’s meeting, Birkbeck Governors voted unanimously to implement the GLA London Living Wage (£7.45) to cleaning and catering staff, following recommendation from the Master of the College.
We are thrilled at this decision! The Unison branch can feel extremely proud of this victory, alongside UCU, Unite and the Students Union.
We also give credit to College Management for listening and taking seriously the arguments that the campaign presented. We look forward to helping the college implement the full living wage package.
Thank you everyone for all your support and participation in achieving this tremendous victory. The struggle continues to win the same across the other Bloomsbury colleges!
Late-breaking developments in the Birkbeck Living Wage Campaign!
15th March 2009
A recommendation will be presented to the Birkbeck Governing Body this Wednesday 18th March that the College increase pay for its cleaning and catering staff to £6.50/hr, a rise of 73p from the national minimum wage of £5.73. Not only does this figure fall far short of the £7.45 GLA figure for the London Living Wage, the proposal does not include any of the benefits that go along with the living wage package, such as sick pay or holiday entitlements.
Even the current Conservative mayor, Boris Johnson, is a proponent of the London Living Wage, and explains in the GLA Economics report A Fairer London: The 2008 Living Wage in London how the £7.45 figure “is designed to provide a minimum acceptable quality of life.” A worker who is paid £6.50 per hour still lives at or just under the poverty line, and the whole point of the London Living Wage is to provide a baseline wage which includes a sufficient safety net to be sure that people do not easily fall back into poverty.
While of course we appreciate that there has finally been some movement towards improving the situation for contract workers, the Birkbeck trade unions feel that this figure is still grossly insufficient for living in London. The unions have submitted an alternative paper to College Governors, which hopefully will be accepted and debated in the meeting on Wednesday.
Birkbeck Living Wage Campaign is therefore calling for an Urgent Lobby of Birkbeck Governors Meeting this Wednesday 18th March at 5pm.
For even more developments, see:
- Letter to Birkbeck Governors from John McDonnell, MP
- March 16, 2009 article in London Student
- Comment from ippr in support of employers paying the GLA's London Living Wage
Ken Loach’s letter quoted in Camden New Journal
Camden New Journal has run a feature on our campaign in their education section: Ken Loach accuses college of ‘paying poverty wages’, 8th January 2009.
Suggestion: Print this article and post it on your door, notice board, or anywhere around the college.
Campaign Plans for Spring 2009
At our meetings in January and February, staff and students discussed several proposals for how to take our campaign forward. These included adopting the position that cleaning and catering services should be brought back in-house, strengthening our contacts within Birkbeck departments and developing a more coordinated campaign within the Bloomsbury colleges. Further details here.
Getting Involved - Next Organising Meeting and Future Events
Many of you have had suggestions for how we can take our campaign forward. If you'd like to get involved, please come to one of our upcoming campaign meetings. Further details here.
Support for our campaign from Ken Loach and China Mieville
Ken Loach has written a letter to the College's Master, David Latchman, and China Mieville has sent us a statement of support.
Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome
If you have any suggestions for how to make the campaign more effective, or can offer any assistance, please email livingwage@unions.bbk.ac.uk.
Links
You can also find us at www.birkbecklivingwage.blogspot.com and on Facebook (search groups for "Birkbeck living wage campaign").