Outsourced cleaners at the Cruciform were finally offered parity in pay and conditions, five years after it was promised by UCL… but not before its subcontractor made one last attempt to ‘squeeze profits’.
Nick Miao Co-Editor-in-Chief
The Independent Worker’s Union (IWGB), the trade union representing three-quarters of UCL’s outsourced workforce, confirmed in a statement last week (8 October) that cleaners working in the Cruciform Building under outsourcing agency Compass have ‘finally been offered improved terms and conditions’ that were equal to workers directly employed by UCL.
The belated offer came five years after the University pledged to offer equal pay and benefits to outsourced security, cleaning, and catering staff in 2019.
‘For the past five years, UCL’s cleaning and security contractor in the Cruciform Building, Compass, has kept workers there on worse terms than other UCL cleaners and security guards. They have no company sick leave, poverty wages, and the legal minimum pension.
‘Finally, last month the subcontractor offered the workers contracts with UCL pay, sick leave, and pension terms to them.
‘However, those proposed contracts also drastically reduced four cleaners’ hours.’
The Union accused the University of allowing Compass to ‘use “parity” as an excuse to cut corners and squeeze profits out of the most vulnerable workers on campus.’
It said its members responded by refusing to sign the new contracts in solidarity with the four workers who had their hours cut and successfully forced Compass to reverse its decision the next day.
The four cleaners have since been offered new parity contracts with their original hours backdated to the start of September.
The Cheese Grater has previously reported on the continual mistreatment of UCL’s outsourced workforce (CG passim). In a recent interview, a branch organiser for the IWGB said, ‘I don’t think anyone wants to take time out of their day to have to fight and protest every single issue, but we find ourselves having to do that a lot.
‘At UCL, it often has to be the case that we have to kick up a lot of fuss to get very simple things sorted.’
A UCL spokesperson responded with the following comment:
‘Our cleaning colleagues are highly valued and respected members of the UCL community, fulfilling an essential role on which we all depend.
‘We have made a commitment to ensure all our outsourced staff receive the same or equivalent pay and benefits as directly employed staff.
‘This includes establishing pay parity, on the same pay scales, holiday entitlements and sick pay for both groups of employees.’