UCL under increasing pressure to pay staff living wage

The trade unions at the university - UCU, Unison and Unite - have written to Grant and accused him of using contractors to avoid confronting 'the moral issue of the poverty and hardship suffered by these low paid workers'.
 
The unions say that Grant would not need to meet any extra costs if he brought all the staff under UCL's direct employment. They question the treatment of staff by the contractors and warn of the cost to UCL's reputation because of the shabby treatment of its cleaning, catering and security.
 
Holly Smith, UCLUCU vice-president, said: 'As one of the country's leading universities UCL should be leading the way when it comes to treating its staff fairly. There is no excuse to deny the hard-working cleaning, catering and security staff at the university a living wage. Rectifying the situation would cost less than Provost Malcolm Grant pockets in a year.'