University of London workers deliver special message to Princess Anne

On the fourth day of their five-day strike over the loss of more than 80 jobs at the University of London, cleaners and other workers marched this morning to Senate House to deliver a letter to the Chancellor of the University, Princess Anne.

Along with students and other union members, the workers marched from the picket lines at the Garden Halls of residence near King’s Cross to Senate House, the administrative centre of the University. One of the striking workers delivered a letter to University management and Princess Anne calling them to intervene to resolve the dispute, slipping the letter under the closed front doors of the building.

A contingent of workers then visited the picket lines at Lambeth College, where they were received by members of Unison and the University College Union (UCU), currently on all-out strike to defend the working conditions and benefits of staff.

The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) began its strike on Friday 6 June and will continue until Thursday 12 June. It has warned the University that its summer conference season will face prolonged disruption if the institution and its outsourcing companies Cofely and Aramark, do not sit around the negotiating table.

The University is set to refurbish its halls from the end of June. The process will last around two years and current workers are at risk of redundancy.

Many of workers under threat of redundancy have been the most active in the 3 Cosas Campaignfor Sick Pay, Holidays and Pensions. The campaign recently won improved sick pay and holiday pay after a high-profile strike in November 2013.

The IWGB is demanding:

• a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies
• full and meaningful consultation with the IWGB
• the same wage levels, terms and conditions, and length of service for any workers transferred to contracts outside the UoL

The IWGB is building a strike fund to compensate workers taking strike action and is calling on support and solidarity from other trade unions, students’ unions and the wider labour movement.