gair
rhydd
Monday February 24th 2014 | freeword | Issue 1023
All staff, including externally contracted cleaners (pictured), will now be paid at least the Living Wage
Living Wage success University agrees to pay all staff a living wage Tom Eden Editor A policy to pay every single member of Cardiff University staff at least the living wage was officially approved last week. The move by the University to seek accreditation as a ‘Living Wage employer’ was proposed by the newly promoted Acting Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Jayne Dowden.
She put the proposal to the University Executive Board (UEB) on Monday 17th February and says the move has the full support of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Colin Riordan, adding that, “He is personally very committed to this.” It is believed that, if the application is successful, Cardiff University would become the first University in Wales to be an accredited Living Wage employer, paying a minimum hourly rate of £7.65.
Ms. Dowden told gair rhydd of the news from her office where a bunch of flowers stood next to a large ‘Thank You’ card, given to her by some of the University’s cleaners who had benefited from this decision. She explained that it has been a lengthy and complex project to get off the ground, not least with the nature of the cleaning contracts. “We have thirteen separate cleaning contracts so we had to change the terms and con-
ditions of each company’s contract and now every single cleaner is paid the Living Wage. “This has made a real difference to people’s lives and this [the flowers & card] is a very moving gesture.” Ms. Dowden made clear that a wide range of people had been working on getting the University to a stage where it was able to apply for Living Wage accreditation.
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