support the 3 cosas's campaign on strike this week lend solidarity with ULU cleaners

Plans and information on the 3 COSAS STRIKE – come to support the strike at Senate House! We, the outsourced workers responsible for cleaning, security and maintenance at the University of London, are striking next week on the 27th, 28th and 29th January. We are striking for our union, the IWGB, to be recognised by our employers, Cofely GDZ Suez, to be entitled to the same sick pay, holidays and pensions as directly employed University staff, and also for assurances from the University that we won’t lose our jobs as a result of the student halls of residence – the Garden Halls – being closed this summer. We feel picketing is very important, and if you can spare some time to come down to support our strike, it will help immensely. Bring your solidarity, love and warmth. Here are our plans for the three day strike: DAY 1: MASS PICKETING FROM 6 AM! We want as many supporters, students and others to come down to support us! We will begin pickets at 6 am at the main Russell Square entrance to Senate House. To find you way, click here. The first day is crucial to having an impact on the University and explaining why the strike is happening to colleagues, but also for boosting confidence! Please come down! DAY 2: TOUR OF LONDON! On the second strike day, from 9.30 am, the entire picket line will board an open top bus and do a whistle-stop tour of high profile sites throughout London, including national media outlets and places of particular interest to the University of London and Cofely. This will be followed by a contingent of supporters on bikes. Bring your bike along to follow the moving bus picket! Importantly, we will still be maintaining pickets at the University! DAY 3: MASS PICKETING! SOLIDARITY WITH THE NATIONAL STUDENT MEETING! We will be continuing the strike picket lines at Senate House from 6 am. Workers from the campaign will also be going to Birmingham to link up with students and staff from across the country to protest and develop national demands for ours and similar campaigns. * On each of the strike days workers at the University of London will be producing a daily strike bulletin through 'Open Book' - this will be to share news, counter management myths and give updates on the strike. See the current bulletin in the lead up to the strike: As well as coming down to the picket lines, how can you support the strike? 1. Contribute to our strike fund: http://donate.3cosascampaign.com/ 2. Pass a motion in your trade or students’ union or community group, info here: http://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/model-motion-support-for-the-outsourced-university-of-london-workers-3-cosas-campaign/ 3. Invite us to speak at a meeting to spread word of our campaign: http://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/a-national-speaker-tour-3-cosas-the-university-of-london-struggle-and-beyond/ 3cosascampaign

Solidarity with striking outsourced workers at ULU

On Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 November, outsourced workers at the University of London will strike as part of their “3 Cosas” (“3 Things”) campaign for sick pay, holiday, and pension equality with their directly employed colleagues. The strike coincides with the University’s “Foundation Day”, due to be attended by Princess Anne. A protest is planned for 6pm on Wednesday 27 November at Senate House. A University of London worker spoke to Solidarity about the strike. ________________________________________ What are the demands of the strike? There are three demands which form the basis of the industrial dispute between our union, the Industrial Workers union of Great Britain (IWGB) and our employer, Balfour Beatty Workplace. The first issue is union recognition. We want a formal recognition agreement in order to set up a proper and formal negotiating infrastructure. Lots of the workplace issues that later turn in to formal grievances or industrial disputes could potentially be avoided if there was more dialogue between the company and the union. The second issue is terms and conditions. The current terms and conditions for Balfour Beatty workers, specifically for sick pay, holidays, and pensions, are far inferior to those of direct employees of the University of London. We want parity in these terms and conditions between directly-employed and outsourced workers. The third issue is job losses. The University of London is planning on shutting down the Garden Halls, a halls of residence where many of our members are employed as cleaners, next summer. We want the company to re-allocate these workers within the company as vacancies arise in order to prevent job losses. What can people do to support the strike? There are two important ways people can support the strike. The first is by coming to Senate House, where workers will gather, on the strikes days. We will be there from 6am to 1pm on the 27 November, and from 6am to 3pm on 28 November. The second way to help is by donating to the strike fund, so that those low paid workers going on strike won’t lose as much money. You can donate online here. What do you think about the University’s use of surveillance and police intimidation, including arrest, against activists on campus? The University of London has turned to increasingly aggressive tactics in order to silence the campaign. This includes attempting to ban protests on campus, collaborating with the police in order to arrest students, closing off spaces on campus with barricades and chains, and filming staff and students who protest peacefully. The University of London is resorting to these tactics because they simply do not have a moral argument. Furthermore, after the campaign ignored the University’s ban on peaceful protests, I believe that management felt the need to become even more aggressive in order to not lose face. Given that they are now arresting people for organising demonstrations, and the demonstrations continue to occur, I am not sure what their next move will be. Perhaps banning students from campus altogether? Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” It is comforting to know we are nearing the end. What’s the relationship between outsourced staff and directly-employed workers? Despite the fact that the bulk of IWGB members at the University of London branch are outsourced workers, we have an increasing number of members who are employed directly by the University. Some have joined out of solidarity with the outsourced workers. However, more and more workers have joined in order to be part of a union that stands for something, is willing to defend workers in disciplinaries and grievances, and puts the worker first. Together with Unite, UCU, and Unison, we balloted our direct employee members to strike in the recent pay dispute. They struck on 31 October, and mounted joint pickets with UCU and Unison members. On 27 and 28 November, the directly-employed IWGB members will also strike. Our branch meetings are open to all members, no matter who the employer. Mutual support and coordinated action will benefit both the outsourced workers and the direct employees. What else does campaign have planned? 27 and 28 November are just the first strike days. If we do not make progress we will continue with a series of rolling strikes until Balfour Beatty starts to take us seriously. The status quo, where outsourced workers are forced to work when sick or injured, do not have enough time to visit family, and don’t have a decent pension, simply cannot continue. We have offered to sit down at the negotiating table with Balfour Beatty on various occasions. We agreed to talks through ACAS, but after four and a half hours of dithering they offered nothing. We had a 97% yes vote in our ballot. We expect the picket line to be quite large. With thanks to http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2013/11/26/outsourced-workers-strike-equality

Solidarity with the 3 Cosas Campaign

’ One of the most fantastic militant and brave even campaigns I’m following and giving support to right now is the 3 Cosas Campaign which is made up of mainly low paid immigrant workers who speak little English but have organised themselves from the bottom up and deserve our support. Cleaners, porters, security guards, catering staff, and other support staff at the University of London administrative offices (in Senate House and central academic buildings) and student resident halls are employed by private contractors. In September 2011 many of these workers earned just above the national minimum wage, hardly enough to live on in London. After months of campaigning led by activist workers they managed to secure the London Living Wage (£8.55) as a basic minimum hourly rate. Inspired by this success the same group of activist workers went on to launch the “3Cosas Campaign” (Spanish for “three things”) in November 2012; the demands: the same sick pay, holiday pay, and pensions that other University employees enjoy. According to a number of the stewards the leadership said that they tacitly support the demands but that the campaign would need to be led by the outsourced workers themselves as the branch leadership was “too busy”. The workers duly did this, set up weekly meetings, and begun planning, recruiting and publicising the campaign. The campaign plan and budget was brought to a union branch meeting for endorsement on 4 November 2012. It was at this point that smouldering tensions between the union branch leadership and activist workers erupted. According to a number of members present the meeting became heated with Ms Grahl declaring her opposition with a petulant “I’m the secretary and I don’t support this” and vice-chair Simon Meredith refusing to bring the issue to a vote. When the allotted meeting time was up, with the debate in full swing and a majority of committee members seemingly in favor of endorsing the campaign, Mr. Meredith declared that time was up, called the meeting closed and, together with Ms Grahl and local area organiser Tony Mabbott, walked out. In an online UNISON article six weeks later, Ms Grahl seemed to endorse the campaign. (Reference cited: http://www.unison.org.uk/activists/pages_view.asp?did=15102) Sonia Chura, a cleaner at Hughes Parry Resident Hall and a union steward, guesses that the schism emerged because the branch leadership felt out of control of what was clearly becoming the most dynamic branch activity. Quite possibly there were other contributing factors (the union leadership named have not responded to requests for an interview or comments) but Ms Chura’s conjecture seems to be borne out by the fact that the branch leadership then called a meeting on 22 November to discuss launching an official branch campaign with the same objectives (with the addition of maternity leave). One of the only five workers to attend explained that none of the existing campaign leaders were asked to participate in planning and running the meeting and that it was scheduled for a time when many workers were already on their way to their second jobs. As a result many of the workers have left Unison and their stifling bureaucratic ways and have joined the IWGB union who are keen on organising for them being run from the bottom up and crucially are not linked to supporting the labour party which does hamper Unison more often than not. The 3 Cosas Campaign’s aims are simple – to ensure equality of terms and conditions between the University of London’s direct employees, and its outsourced workers. There are three areas (‘tres cosas’) where the disparity between University and contract workers is greatest – SICK PAY, HOLIDAYS and PENSIONS. The campaign aims to persuade the University to ensure that all workers have the same rights in these three areas. It is eminently affordable, and it is the only right thing to do. Sick pay For a number of reasons, many of the outsourced workers have different terms and conditions. However, the vast majority of the outsourced workers are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), as anyone who earns over £107 per week is entitled to this by law. SSP entails that during the first three days of absence due to illness the worker receives nothing in compensation. Starting on the fourth consecutive day of absence the worker is entitled to £86.70 per week (paid by the government). Given that most people do not know how long they will be sick for when they fall ill, and given that it is extremely difficult to survive on £86.70 per week in London, the reality is that many of the workers come in to work when sick or injured as they cannot afford not to. For more information on SSP click here. The lack of proper sick pay is especially reprehensible in that people who clean toilets and are exposed to strong chemicals, security guards who walk around in the cold for hours on end and catering staff who clean dirty dishes, among others, are particularly exposed to illness. What the 3 Cosas Campaign is calling for is the same sick pay policy for outsourced workers as that received by direct employees of the University of London’s central administration. The table below details the University of London occupational sick pay scheme and has been taken directly from the University of London’s website. As one can see, the amount of sick pay entitlement increases in proportion to the employee’s length of service. Length of Service Level and Length Allowance* Level and Length Allowance* During the first 3 months’ service 2 weeks full pay 2 weeks half pay Three months to one year’s service 2 months full pay 2 months half pay Second and third year of service 3 months full pay 3 months half pay Fourth and fifth year of service 5 months full pay 5 months half pay After five years of service 6 months full pay 6 months half pay Holiday Entitlement There is some variety in holiday entitlement among outsourced workers. For example, there are caterers at the University of London on zero hour’s contracts who receive no paid holidays, despite the fact that their contracts allow for this. However, many of the outsourced workers are entitled to 28 paid holidays (as required by law) per year. Out of these 28, 8 are bank holidays. A significant number of the outsourced workers are then required to take the days that the University of London is closed (roughly 6 per year), out of their remaining 20 days. The workers can then (in theory) decide when to take the remaining days each year. However, in reality, many of the workers are restricted on when they can take these days. For example, during the Olympics many of the intercollegiate halls of residence were rented out to commercial guests (rather than students) and the cleaners at these halls were not allowed to take any vacation days during the summer months. The lack of flexibility on holidays is particularly burdensome in that many of the outsourced workers, particularly cleaners; have to work 3-4 jobs per day to make ends meet. This means that if they want to go back to their countries on vacation that they have to coordinate their vacation days with 3-4 employers. The lack of a fair amount of total paid holidays per year is also especially burdensome in that most of the outsourced workers are immigrants, many of whom have a desire to return home to visit their friends and families. When one is earning £8.55 per hour, and a plane ticket to South America or Africa costs over a £1000, it is difficult to justify going for only two weeks. University of London direct employees, on the other hand, are entitled to between 25 and 30 paid holidays, plus the 8 bank holidays, plus school closure days, totaling as many as 44 paid holidays per year. The 3 Cosas Campaign is calling for all outsourced workers to be entitled to 30 paid holidays, plus bank holidays, plus school closure days, and for more freedom on when these days are taken. For more information on University of London employee annual leave, please see the University of London’s website. Pensions The outsourced workers are eligible for a BBW pension scheme but the terms are so unfavourable that the reality is that almost none of the outsourced workers have bought into the schemes on offer. The mandatory government scheme recently introduced is so small as to be almost negligible. The 3 Cosas Campaign is calling for the ability of all outsourced workers at the University of London to buy into a pension scheme as good as or better than SAUL. The benefits associated with this pension scheme (below) have been taken from the University of London website: • Cost to member is 6% of gross salary and 13% to employer; • A pension for life when you retire; • A tax-free lump sum; • A pension for your spouse when you die; • Allowances for your children when you die; • Full tax relief on all your contributions; • Your benefits protected and preserved should you change employer; • Increases made to your pension after you retire; • The opportunity to pay Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) to improve your benefits. You can find out more about the campaign and find out how to donate to the strike fund as I have done now at http://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/iwgb-strike-fund-please-help/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog