Never Forget Never Forgive SOAS
SOAS, University of London. Wed 12 Jun 2019
SOAS Management in 2009 were upset because cleaners were asking for
the London Living Wage. The
management had outsourced the cleaning so that the cleaners got low
wages and poor conditions but SOAS
could claim it wasn't their fault. But the workers and the students
wouldn't wear it, and the cleaners took
industrial action, backed by their UNISON union branch. Management's
response was to arrange with the UK
border agency and the cleaning contractor to call all the cleaners
to a fake 6am briefing. After they arrived the
doors were locked and the cleaners were all interrogated by the Home
Office staff. Nine were found to have
questionable immigration status and were arrested and deported, despite
protests by students and staff at SOAS.
Unison branch secretary Sandy Nichol tells the story. The cleaners
kept on fighting for better pay an conditions
and to be brought back into direct employment by SOAS university -
and after years of struggle they are now
back 'in house', wearing SOAS uniforms. But SOAS cleaners, staff and
students still remember the shameful
behaviour of the management, and hold up posters with the names of
those who were deported.
Consuela, wearing her SOAS cleaners uniform speaks in Spanish
and her speech is translated into English
People stand listening. I didn't have a wide enough lens to include
all who were there
A speaker from Birkbeck Unison
Teaching staff also spoke about the incident and their support for
the low paid workers in SOAS
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