Durham university has been condemned for not paying its staff a living wage – despite spending less that its budget on staff, paying its vice chancellor £232,000 and having published a report calling on universities to lead by example on the living wage.
UNISON accused the university of hypocrisy after a Freedom of Information request showed that 597 staff earn less than the living wage of £7.65 an hour – while the insitution ‘saved’ £4.5m on its staffing budget.
In fact, the university has spent less than its budget for staff for each of the last five years – notching up a total saving of £14.9m.
Meanwhile, the vice chancellor got a 9.95% pay rise to take his salary to £232,000 – plus £37,000 in pension payments. Together, the whole package was worth 10.25% more than the previous year.
And the university, which charges students £9,000 a year, is clearly not feeling the pinch elsewhere, having spent £1.4m on arteworks, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.
“It is disgraceful and shameful that Durham University blatantly refuses to treat its lowest paid employees with some dignity and pay them the living wage,” commented UNISON regional organiser John McDade.
“It can clearly afford to pay this, buts imply chooses not to.”
In 2011, three leading academics in Durham University – including the now deputy vice chancellor Professor Ray Hudson – produced a paper on the role universities in communities.
The paper recommend that universities should lead by example and pay the living wage.
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