4 Spring 2017 The Cheese Grater
Jurassic Arth: Dinosaur Provost backpedals on fossil fuel divestment Ollie Dunn
With the Fossil Free UCL divestment campaign seemingly gaining momentum, Provost Michael Arthur and co. are deliberately dragging their feet. Despite promises to Fossil Free UCL that UCL council would “give its Investment Committee an explicit remit to monitor its approach to responsible investment”, comments made by Arthur at the Academic Board meeting on 25th January indicate that, to the contrary, UCL has no intention of halting its investment in the Fossil Fuel industry, which accounts for approximately 8% of UCL’s £142 million endowment. When asked at the Academic Board meeting what assurances there were that UCL would not seek future funding from the fossil fuel industry, Ar-
thur replied that there were “no assurances whatsoever,” before going on to say that “I don’t think we should run a policy that prevents us from applying to [fossil fuel companies] for appropriate funding or appropriate research contracts.” Arthur argued that UCL’s engineering department, in particular, is heavily reliant on funding from fossil fuel companies. Furthermore, Arthur argued that divestment from an entire industry “would be unusual, but not unheard of ”. Arthur pointed out that UCL had only ever divested from one entire industry; claiming that it was a ‘pragmatic’ decision, UCL had only divested from tobacco as they would have been excluded from all medical charitable funding otherwise. It would certainly seem to be the case, then, that Slick Mick and his chums in management have been
caught red-handed in trying to appease Fossil Free UCL, whilst pursuing an active policy of non-divestment. The Sustainability, Engagement and Operations Officer, Zakariya Mohran told The Cheese Grater that: “UCL was built on founding principles of academic excellence and research aimed at addressing real-world problems. The realist and biggest problem we have right now – affecting every single member of humanity - is Climate Change, and UCL should acknowledge that in both its research and its dealings.” Justine Canady from Fossil Free UCL said: “Divestment is a separate issue from accepting funding from these companies; and divestment at the other 43 UK universities has not adversely affected their engineering departments.”
Zero hours, agency workers and rodents: investigation reveals Sodexo staff concerns Jason Murugesu
An anonymous letter criticising Sodexo’s management staff, seen by The Cheese Grater, purportedly sent from a Sodexo employee, has raised alarm amongst Sodexo and UCL Facilities. Addressed to the Provost, and initially sent to Michael Arthur, Rex Knight and UCLU BME Officer Sayeeda Ali, the letter makes several damning claims regarding the treatment of Sodexo employees. Whilst some of the claims have been unverified, several issues have been highlighted by the letter and the subsequent investigation. An investigation was conducted internally by the company, overseen by UCL facilities, but several UCLU sab-
batical officers were unhappy with this arrangement. Leslie May, Head of Facilities and Workplace Services, asserted that all Sodexo staff interviewed “refute all of the allegations made in the letter”. However, at an open meeting, two staff members voiced their dissatisfaction with their zero hour contracts. Sodexo pay their staff the London living wage, but staff receive irregular hours and many can expect no more than 20 hours a week. Yet, when catering for larger events, Sodexo bring in extra agency staff who are paid below London living wage. Staff are also provided with a unisex changing room, which they share with the UCL shop. Despite this arrangement being in place for around a year,
Sodexo claim that this is a temporary measure due to delays in renovating the UCL refectory. Whilst there are other changing rooms available, no efforts have been made by either Sodexo or UCL to provide more appropriate facilities for staff. The letter also raises concerns over food hygiene, claiming that rats are habitual visitors to Sodexo cafes. Although a Sodexo representative dismissed the idea that there was a rodent infestation, he did admit that a dead rat had recently been found in Sodexo’s engineering café. UNISON are currently conducting their own investigation.
