🔍 REVEALED: QMUL UNISON has discovered that Queen Mary has been underpaying its lowest paid staff — including cleaners, porters, Catering, Security and Library staff — by up to £500 a year.
The underpayment disproportionately affects BAPoC staff and women. Our analysis shows that the discrepancy goes back at least to 2010 and is getting bigger.
In the midst of a cost of living crisis, QMUL management have so far refused to acknowledge the full extent of the error or share the data we need to find out exactly how much staff are owed.
We demand: QMUL, GIVE US OUR PAY!
SIGN our petition to demand:
👉 Full back pay for everyone affected
👉 An increase in the London Allowance for ALL QMUL staff
➡️ How did this underpayment come about?
Every year, Queen Mary is committed to implementing the nationally-negotiated pay settlement. In some years, that settlement calls for a larger pay increase for low-paid staff to combat inequality.
In at least three separate years, QMUL failed to apply this higher increase for low-paid staff.
➡️ Why did it go on so long?
The underpayment was harder to detect because of the London Allowance.
Whereas other institutions, pay all their staff the same London Allowance and publish a clear breakdown of their pay, QMUL has "consolidated" its allowance and pays less to lower paid staff. This meant that the underpayment was effectively hidden, while it got bigger and bigger every year.
➡️ An increase in the London Allowance for ALL staff
Even for those who weren't underpaid, QMUL's London Allowance is pitifully small. It's much less than staff receive at Westminster, UCL, Kings and SOAS — and staff at those institutions are asking for more.
At SOAS, where UNISON members took two days of strike action in March, they just won a big increase in their London Allowance, a £250 payment to those who worked on site during the pandemic and a one-off payment of £1000 for ALL staff.
✍️ SIGN our petition to demand QMUL give its staff what they deserve.
✔️ Vote YES for strike action
It's more important than ever that if you're a member of UNISON, you VOTE YES for strike action in the ballot opening on 22nd July.
Your pay is about to be swamped by record inflation. Meanwhile, QMUL has been reporting multi-million pound suprluses while Principal Colin Bailey takes home £300k a year.
A strong vote for action will put pressure on the college to protect staff from the cost of living crisis.
🟣 QMUL UNISON members can also:
🧑🏻🤝🧑🏿 ATTEND our members meeting at 2pm on 28th July in the Graduate Centre Lecture Theatre (6th Floor, GC601) to find out more.
📋 CHECK your details are correct on My UNISON and then...
✔️ VOTE YES in the strike ballot when you receive your ballot papers after 22nd July!
Not yet a member of UNISON? JOIN NOW! 💪🟣
Why is this important?
QMUL UNISON Branch Committee has calculated that Queen Mary has been underpaying some of its lowest paid staff – including cleaners, porters, Catering, Security and Library staff – by up to £500 a year.
These underpayments have profound equalities implications. Their impact has disproportionately been felt by BAPoC staff and women. In December 2019, the university’s own Equal Pay Audit raised concerns about pay discrimination, finding that the pay structure was “inconsistently applied and overly complex.” While this report raises questions about how long the university has known about the discrepancy, a recognition of the error from the University and a strong commitment to redress it is non-negotiable.
We noticed this discrepancy while we were trying to calculate how much Queen Mary staff receive as a London Allowance. As you will know, the London Allowance is supposed to be a flat amount awarded to all staff on top of the national pay settlement to reflect the high cost of living in the capital.
However, while other universities (such as King’s and UCL) pay the same allowance to all of their staff and publish a clear breakdown of how much they award, Queen Mary is currently far less transparent. QMUL "consolidated" its allowance into basic pay in 2005. When we initially contacted HR to ask how much it was, they were unable to tell us.
As the allowance is consolidated into basic pay and therefore subject to the same pay increases, the underpayment effectively means that the lowest paid staff have also seen a cut in their London Allowance. Catering and Security staff who should now be receiving a larger cost of living adjustment than their higher paid colleagues, are instead receiving a smaller one.
Even for those of us who haven't been affected by this underpayment, QMUL’s London Allowance is woefully inadequate. At £3,330 it is significantly lower than the amount received by staff at SOAS, Westminster, UCL and Kings. This has a knock-on effect for the university’s ability to attract staff and remain competitive.
According to the latest research by the Trust for London, London weighting allowances would need to be increased to at least £6,549 to cover a basic standard of living. That research was conducted in 2021, before the staggering inflation we've seen this year.
We therefore ask the university to commit to a significant increase in the London Allowance, to give staff some protection from the spiralling cost of living.
QMUL, give us our pay!
