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Union Demands Proper Sick Pay for Catering Staff
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Chartwells staff in campus catering facilities including Eat Central receive inadequate sick pay, forcing ill staff to come to work. Disparity between contracts worsens the injustice; Unite the Union demands equality for all staff on campus.
Jude Budworth Staff Writer
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he majority of catering staff in campus food facilities do not receive any sick pay for the first three days of illness, say representatives from Unite the Union. This forces staff to choose between coming to work when ill or being unable to pay their bills, causing concern not only for the employees but also increasing the risk of illness spreading on campus. The Union is launching a campaign for better and equal sick pay for all employees. For 11 years, University of Sussex campus catering staff have worked under a “two tier” benefits system since the University outsourced catering services to Chartwells Catering in 2013. Staff previously employed by the University of Sussex received a TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of
Employment Rights) contract, meaning that the conditions for sick pay were held over for these workers. Chartwells has since offered contracts to new employees which did not include enhanced sick pay schemes but instead included only Statutory Sick Pay, which is the legal minimum provision in the UK. Unite the Union, who recently negotiated a recognition agreement with Chartwells Catering, claim this is “blatantly unfair” as it “risks plunging people into poverty [due to] the impossible choice between taking care of their physical and mental health or being able to pay bills or buy food.” Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) amounts to only £109.40 a week. However, according to GOV.UK, to claim the sick pay employees must meet two criteria. The first is that employees must be sick for at least four days before they are paid, after which they
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Eat Central staff may be forced to come to work when sick, risking spreading illness to customers . Image: Joseph Foudy are not paid for those first three days. The other campus staff but also to Chartwells’ second is that employees must earn at own management staff. An anonymous least £123 a week, meaning most workers employee on campus said: “We are all on zero-hour contracts are ineligible for catering assistants doing the same job SSP. [at] the same rate, therefore they should On the other hand, the few remaining provide everyone with the same benefits. TUPE’d catering staff receive sick pay Managers get sick pay, so why not the rest that matches their wages and is paid from of us?” the first day they are off sick. This policy not only applies to TUPE’d workers and Continued on page 6...
Armed Police Arrest Student for Violent Threats Ada Carpenter Senior Editor
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rmed police arrived on campus at around 7 p.m. on 5 March, allegedly in response to a report of an armed man making threats. The police, who appeared to be specialist firearms officers (SFOs), were seen by students entering an East Slope residence building after four police cars pulled up outside Amberley. A student was subsequently arrested. It was reported on 8 March that he has made bail. The armed police response is warranted where there is reasonable suspicion of threat to life or of weapons
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possession. Witnesses at the scene report hearing that a student threatened his flatmates after an argument about Israel and Palestine escalated. In a statement prior to the arrest, Sussex Police said: “Police were called to the University of Sussex campus in Brighton just after 6.30 p.m. this evening following a report of a man in possession of a firearm making threats to kill.” It was later reported that no firearm was found. This is the second time within a month that armed police have been seen on campus, with an
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incident on 7 February worrying students. A University of Sussex spokesperson said on 6 March: “There was an incident yesterday evening and police were called to the campus. This is now a matter for the police and it would it be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage.” Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil sent a message to all students on 8 March regarding “the safety and wellbeing of our community.” In the statement, she emphasised that police were onsite “within 20 minutes of a report being made to campus Security,” and thanked the security services for their work to k e e p students and staff safe.
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