Fashion blogs: do it yourself indigo, pages 8&9
No. 739
www.palatinate.org.uk
The ‘Workfare’ scheme examined Business, pages 10&11
Palatinate Durham’s student newspaper since 1948
Tuesday 13th March 2012 | FREE
Food: Easter recipes, Italian style
522 University staff are paid less than the ‘living wage’, something a new campaign hopes to change Photo: Quin Murray
Fair wage campaign launches Mei Leng Yew
More than one in every eight members of University staff are being paid less than the recommended living wage, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The figures taken from the November 2011 payroll shows that 522 of the 4009 people directly employed by the University earn less than £7.20 per hour. This amounts to 13% of total University employees. 83 of the 92 staff contracted out by the University earn less than £7.20. These workers are not employees at the University but provide certain services, as cleaners or security staff. Meanwhile, 39 members of University staff earned over £50 per hour last year, with one earning over £100: the Vice-Chancellor, whose annual salary package for 2011 totalled £244,000, including a £33,000 pension contribution. The living wage is annually determined by an independent body,
and calculated according to the basic cost of providing for a family and avoiding the effects of poverty, such as ill-health and lower levels of child development. The figure currently stands at £8.30 per hour in London and £7.20 outside of the capital. When questioned on the issue, Mr Jack Boyd, Director of Human Resources, responded: “The University is party to a national pay structure which is agreed with all trade unions representing staff in the Higher Education sector. Currently the minimum hourly pay rate, which is agreed at a national level, is £6.94 and is above the National Minimum Wage”. However, staff employed for shortterm casual work are only paid the minimum wage, which is £6.08 for workers over 21 years of age. As full-time staff are required to work between 35 and 37 hours a week, someone earning the University’s minimum hourly rate of £6.94 would receive between £12,630 and £13,353 per year. However, if they were paid the
living wage, this would become £13,104 and £13,853, an annual difference of £500, a significant sum for lower-income earners. However, the living wage is £14,976, as it is calculated on the assumption that an employee works a 40-hour week.
£14,976 The living wage, which 522 University employees do not receive
It is because of this discrepancy that “the DSU council has been sufficiently encouraged to pass a motion requiring the Students’ Union to campaign for the University to pay all staff the living wage” said Tobias Thomas, Durham University Labour Club’s (DULC) Secretary. This issue has led to the foundation of the Living Wage Campaign Committee, which is, stressed Oliver
Gratton, DULC Chairman, “a politically neutral effort to bring about a fair wage for Durham University employees”. It is an appropriate time for a campaign to be launched because, as Jack Boyd points out, “the national pay structure is negotiated annually and is effective from August. Negotiations […] have yet to begin for this year”. Roberta Blackman-Woods, MP for the City of Durham said: “I am particularly pleased that Durham University students have chosen to support a campaign that will have great resonance with local people”. Students at Manchester University have already been successful in winning a living wage for all full-time campus staff, while Cambridge students have recently launched a similar campaign. In Durham, the Living Wage Campaign Committee is still in its planning stages but is open to all students and interested parties. Contact campaigns@dulc.org.uk for further information.
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