Solidarity and Donation Motion for UCL Security Workers

This motion was passed at a GUCU Branch meeting Wednesday, 5 July 2023

This branch notes:

  1. UCL’s subcontractor Bidvest Noonan has informed outsourced security guards at UCL that they will all need to reapply for their jobs, with 40 redundancies made in the process.
  2. Those not being made redundant will be required to accept worse working conditions and cuts to their hours. The new working hours proposed mean many workers face losing £13,500 a year from their salaries.
  3. UCL and Bidvest Noonan’s plans also involve removing building attendants from their roles. These roles are incredibly important for the functioning of UCL buildings, and this move will vastly decrease campus safety.
  4. This move is on the back of a longstanding campaign from UCL security staff to be brought in-house, as already this workforce (the most racialised workforce at UCL) has among the worst pay and conditions on campus. 
  5. Fire and hire restructures and redundancies are becoming common managerial strategies in HE to demobilise union branches and increase staff workloads.

This branch believes:

  1. Outsourcing should be eradicated from Higher Education as it creates a tier system between university workers and directly contributes to institutional racism.  
  2. That security workers are key to running our institutions, and they risked their lives to keep our universities secure during the pandemic. Their struggle is our struggle. 
  3. That every effective local campaign against redundancies in the sector strengthens the position of all university trade unions and will dissuade university employers from taking this approach in the future. 
  4. That cross-branch and cross-union solidarity is one of the strongest resources we have in the fight against corporate managers and the erosion of our sector. 

This branch resolves:

  1. To make a donation of £400 GBP towards IWGB’s strike fund. 
  2. To publicise IWGB’s campaign against the redundancies at UCL.
  3. To send a template email to UCL’s Provost.