Students and staff at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London have welcomed a partial victory in their dispute with university authorities over the abuse of cleaning staff. Campaigners ended a two-day occupation of the SOAS director's office after he agreed to a number of their demands.
The dispute attracted national attention after nine cleaners at SOAS, employed by the contractor ISS, were arrested by immigration police in riot gear last week. ISS is accused of calling in the authorities after the staff joined a trade union and campaigned for wage increases.
The director of SOAS, Paul Webley, agreed to meet with campaigners' representatives after up to 60 activists peacefully occupied his office. He strongly denied that SOAS had played a part in calling in the police and agreed to lobby the Home Office for the release of the cleaners. Some of the nine, including a woman who is six months pregnant, are said to have already been deported to South America, while others remain under arrest in Britain.
In a joint statement with SOAS Students’ Union, which backed the protests, Webley said he was “disturbed by allegations that have emerged about the possible role that ISS played” in the raid. He will hold discussions with ISS as well as with trade unions.
The SOAS Governing Body will now consider whether to bring cleaning services in-house. This is a key aim of the campaigners.
While welcoming their progress, the activists stress that their campaign is far from over. Since the arrest of the cleaners, there have been almost daily rallies outside SOAS, with campaigners receiving the backing of filmmaker Ken Loach and politicians including Tony Benn, John McDonnell MP and Jean Lambert MEP.
The dispute follows a sharp rise in student direct action in recent months, often focused on universities' involvement in the arms trade. Protesters at SOAS are keen to emphasise that the campaign brought together students, academics and non-academic staff on an issue which concerned them all.
“In each struggle, we have to be united, we have to work together”, SOAS student Rachel Archer told Ekklesia, “When students and workers unite, we are a force to be reckoned with”.
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