Peter Lazenby
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UNIVERSITY guards whose wages were slashed after their jobs were handed to private profiteers have unanimously voted to strike over pay and union recognition.
The guards at University College London, who are members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), are mainly from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.
The university “outsourced” their jobs to contractors 20 years ago, and since then their wages have been attacked with below-inflation pay rises, the union said today.
They want their wages restored to the equivalent of the guards’ hourly pay before outsourcing by the university, which is £15 an hour.
The rate is the same as that for which the TUC is campaigning.
They also want recognition of their union by the contractor and the university, an end to outsourcing, and to be taken back into direct employment by the university.
IWGB said the workers had been given a wage increase of 5 to 6 per cent this year, but inflation is hovering at about 10 per cent.
The workers are employed by contractor Bidvest Noonan.
One of the security officers, Farhana Uddin, said: “I have worked at UCL for six years in this job and I’ve seen subcontractor after subcontractor trying to cut hours and cut corners wherever they can.
“I had to get two payday loans just to support my family after the most recent subcontractor failed month after month to pay me my legal entitlement on time.
“We deserve better than this. We deserve to be treated like the vital workforce that we are and we deserve a dignified wage that we can support ourselves on.”
The dates for strike action are to be announced.
UCL and Bidvest Noonan have been approached for comment.
