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ISS Cleaners’ Industrial Action: Key Facts What is the industrial action about? There is currently a dispute between the cleaners’ union, UNISON, and the cleaners’ employer, ISS UK Ltd, over terms and conditions. The cleaners’ claim is for the same holiday, sickness pay and pension entitlement as directly employed SOAS staff. The claim is not about bringing cleaning staff in house. We are aware that ISS proposed an offer on 19 March but this was not accepted by UNISON reps as sufficient to form the basis for further negotiations. Therefore the proposal to postpone planned strike action was rejected and the strike will go ahead on Friday 21 March. Which contracts are outsourced at SOAS? In common with many large organisations, SOAS outsources some services. A number of services are performed by outsourced contractors at SOAS, including catering, cleaning, maintenance, security, health and safety, careers service, combined heating and power, energy management and environmental services. Cleaning Services at SOAS Cleaning services at SOAS have been outsourced for as long as can be established and historically were provided as part of a contract organised by the University of London. SOAS was one of the first higher education institutions to pay the London Living Wage (LLW). SOAS Governing Body reviewed outsourcing arrangements in July 2013 and recommended that SOAS should not insource these services but should pursue other avenues of improving the terms and conditions for outsourced employees. A shared services model is currently being explored with partner colleges as a way to achieve this. The SOAS community will be kept informed as this progresses. As part of the commitment to improving terms and conditions for outsourced staff, SOAS is awarding an interim ex gratia payment of five days’ wages to cleaning, maintenance and security staff this Spring.
