A petition signed by 2000 people and 77 societies in favour of the University of Nottingham becoming a Living Wage Employer has been handed over to the university registrar, Dr Paul Greatrix.
Seven university students and a professor from the University and College Union met with Dr Greatrix to discuss the Living Wage campaign for UoN.
The meeting comes after the living wage was increased by 20p in areas outside of London to £7.85 late last week.
Cripps Health Centre became one of 35 Living Wage Employers to pay the living wage to staff members in June. Since then, the on-campus campaign has been gaining more support for a petition for all staff members in the University of Nottingham to receive at least the living wage.
“The university is not in a position to accept the terms of the petition at the moment”
The registrar has said during today’s meeting that the university is “not in a position” to accept the terms of the petition “at the moment” according to Ben Wright, a third year Politics student who handed the petition over to the registrar.
However, the supporters remain optimistic about the results in the future.
“The university is happy to continue an open minded dialogue with regards to paying the living wage”
“The registrar has said the university is happy to continue an open minded dialogue with regards to paying the living wage,” added Ben.
“He highlighted that accreditation is a journey and you are not really accredited unless you are always increasing”.
Professor Maek Korczynski, who also handed in a letter with 112 signatures from the University and College Union in favour of the petition’s terms, added: “They haven’t made a decision to or not to consider it. They are keen to highlight that this does not mean the situation won’t change soon”.
“The difference between the amount that the employees at the top and those at the lower end are paid is ridiculous”
Steven Smith, a former University of Nottingham student who is currently unemployed, attended the meeting and told Impact: “I’m here in support of the petition because everyone deserves to be paid good money.
The difference between the amount that the employees at the top and those at the lower end are paid is ridiculous”.
Both Professor Maek Korczynski and Ben Wright have been given “complete free reign” to contact the registrar for further meetings from this point.
Tamsin Parnell
Image: www.commlinks.co.uk
