UNISON today accused the leadership of two colleges in Glasgow and the Glasgow Regional Board of condemning predominantly women workers to poverty pay on International Women’s Day.
UNISON has highlighted that Kelvin College and Clyde College in Glasgow are two of only four colleges in Scotland (from 20) where workers are paid less than the Living Wage of £9.00 per hour.
UNISON campaigning on this issue has ensured that all twenty N.R.P.A. Colleges are Living Wage accredited and that all directly employed workers in Scotland’s colleges are paid the Living Wage. In 16 out of 20 Colleges, workers in outsourced services are also paid the Living Wage thanks to UNISON’s campaign.
All 20 Colleges are accredited but Clyde, Kelvin, Borders and North East Scotland College (NESCOL) still have outsourced workers who are paid at a rate less than the Living Wage. The Colleges have failed to follow others by using their own funds to ensure low paid workers are paid immediately following accreditation. City of Glasgow, New College Lanarkshire and Ayrshire College recently did so.
Living Wage Accreditation can be granted as long as employers have a plan in place with contractors to ensure workers are paid the Living Wage within an agreed timescale. UNISON understands that both colleges cannot supply any date.
Mary Dawson, UNISON Glasgow Chair, said: “For two of Glasgow’s colleges to be among the last four colleges in Scotland to ensure that low paid women in catering and cleaning are paid a Living Wage is an embarrassment to Glasgow and it should be an embarrassment to the Glasgow Colleges Regional Board. UNISON has been asking the board to intervene to make this happen but they seem powerless despite holding the College purse strings”.
Collette Bradley, Vice Chair of The Scottish F.E. Committee said: “For Clyde and Kelvin College still to be holding investigations into how they can make this happen doesn’t wash with us nor does it wash with the low paid workers languishing on poverty pay.
They have known since January 2016 that accreditation was required by December 2016 with actual payment to follow on soon after. They both significantly missed the deadline and someone needs to step in now to ensure the Colleges implement this without further delay even if that means using their own cash reserves to top up the wages of these low paid workers while they resolve the contractual situation with the companies”.
Notes:
Living Wage and accreditation: https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage
Minister’s letter of Guidance (section 61): http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/AboutUs/SFC_Letter_of_Guidance_2017-18.pdf
Pay Deal with December 2016 deadline: https://unison-scotland.org/2016/01/22/unison-hails-historic-pay-deal-for-further-education- support-staff-in-scotland
Colleges Scotland response to delay in implementation of Living wage accreditation in February 2017: https://collegesscotland.ac.uk/news/media-releases/921-comment-on-the-living-wage-3-february- 2017/file
UNISON Contacts
Collette BradleyVice Chair: UNISON Scottish F.E. Committee 07989092189
John Gallacher Scottish Organiser Tel: 0141 342 2824
BB: 07904 342 426
Chris Greenshields Chair: UNISON Scottish F.E. Committee 07957366903
Martin Clark UNISON, Scottish F.E. Committee: 07713653658