UNISON has welcomed a move by City University – part of the University of London – instructing contracting-out firm Sodexo to pay catering staff on zero hours contracts while City’s campuses are closed for the weeks they would normally have expected to work.
The pay will be backdated to when the staff were laid off on 17 March and will be calculated on average weekly pay this term up until then.
The UNISON branch had pushed for the move with an open letter and public pressure.
Branch secretary Daniel Shannon-Hughes said: “It removes a big worry for the most precarious workers at our university. We expect a response from City on pay for staff with contracted hours later this week.”