Caterers, cleaners, security and porters that were demanding the same working conditions as in-house employees called for the first official strike by outsourced staff in the London University’s 170 year history. Negotiations fell through after the employers failed to make any concessions to the trade unions. The outsourced workers only have statutory sick pay, which means they are not paid for the first three days they're sick. On the second day of a 48-hour walkout, Balfour Beatty Workplace, which delivers outsourced cleaning services, signed an agreement with trade union Unison announced that improves sick pay entitlement, increases holiday pay and gives access to its pension scheme to all its employees.
English: http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/victory-cleaning-staff-strike ...
http://www.theguardian.com/education/abby-and-libby-blog/2013/nov/27/university ...
http://3cosascampaign.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/press-release-ground-breaking-strike ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.