After years of campaigning, students and staff at the University of Bath have welcomed the news that the university will pay the equivalent of the Living Wage to all who work there from 1st April.
The University has confirmed to staff representatives that it will extend a living wage ‘pay supplement’ to all staff from 1st April.
This means that hundreds of staff, many of them students on zero hour contracts, will receive a discretionary pay supplement to bring their salaries up to the equivalent of £7.85 per hour.
However, the ‘pay supplement’ has not yet consolidated into staff contracts, so can be withdrawn at any time.
Trade unions and student activists have been pushing the university to pay the Living Wage for over two years, following Freedom of Information requests which showed that the University of Bath employs more staff on the minimum wage than any other university in the country.
The information also showed that the University is one the highest users of insecure ‘zero hour contracts’.
The campaigners, including members of UNISON, UNITE, UCU and ‘Bath Students against Fees and Cuts’ have staged a number of protests on campus this year, highlighting pay inequality, poverty wages and job insecurity on campus.
A petition calling for the living wage and an end to the excessive use of ‘zero hour contracts’ has attracted over 500 signatures.
As a major employer in Bath, this move by the University is likely to positively influence local wage levels and increase pressure on other poverty pay employers in the city.
Nick Moore, a 2nd year Politics with Economics student and member of activist group Bath Students against Fees and Cuts said: “I’ve needed to work at the University to be able to afford to live and study here.
“This past year I’ve felt pretty undervalued, on low pay and a zero hours contract, and it’s been difficult to get by, especially with increasing living costs.
“I’m so glad that we fought for this – the pay rise will really help me and many others.”
Chris Roche, a former student and now a member of staff said: “This is a huge achievement for the students and staff of the university who organised petitions, demonstrations and lobbies to make sure that everyone is paid at least enough to have a decent standard of living.
“The University made a surplus of £17 million last year, and there always seems to be enough to give big pay rises to the Vice Chancellor and others at the top of the University, so this concession is long overdue.”
Joe Rayment, Unison’s Young Members’ Officer at the university, said: “We welcome the news that all staff will now be paid an amount equivalent to the living wage.
“However, the pay increase on offer remains ‘discretionary’ and can be withdrawn at any time, leaving staff without any financial security.
“The University must consolidate the Living Wage into staff contracts, and urgently address the issue of staff casualisation.
“It is simply not acceptable that there are now over 2,000 members of staff on exploitative zero hour contracts. UNISON will continue to campaign alongside the other campus trade unions, UCU and UNITE, until all staff have proper contracts, job security and a wage they can afford to live on.”
