The National Union of Students and Unison claim 1,000 Cambridge staff earn below the minimum wage. |
At least 1,000 staff at Cambridge University are earning below the "living wage", unions claim, around 20 times less than the annual package of the vice-chancellor. Figures suggest some housekeepers, cleaners, waitresses, kitchen porters and gardeners take home the equivalent of less than £12,334 a year – the minimum wage for a 40-hour week. At the same time, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the university’s head, earns almost £250,000. The average vice-chancellor is paid £219,000 but some earn more than £400,000, including benefits. The National Union of Students published the figures as it launched a joint campaign today – alongside Unison – to highlight the stark pay differentials in British higher education. They are lobbying for all colleges, universities and student unions to pay a “l(fā)iving wage” for all staff. It has pledged to publish figures “naming and shaming” those universities that pay large numbers of staff below the minimum wage. Cambridge insisted that the staff named in the research were trainees or those on "zero-hour contracts" who only work when it is available. Dannie Grufferty, NUS vice-president, said: “There is clearly an inherent injustice in the average vice-chancellor getting paid more than 17-times more than a minimum wage employee on their campus. “Colleges and universities are a community and everyone within that community needs to be treated with dignity and that means paying them a wage they can live on for their work. “Employers at colleges and universities have six-months to get their house in order before we name and shame those that allow such shocking disparities to continue.” The NUS and Unison published a breakdown of the number of staff working centrally for Cambridge and its individual colleges on less than the minimum wage. But Cambridge insisted last night that its minimum pay levels have increased, with those on the lowest wages receiving a higher rise than those on upper pay spines. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
英國工會稱,劍橋大學至少1000名職工薪水低于“基本生活工資”,是大學副校長年收入的近1/20。 數據顯示,按一周工作40小時來算,某些女管家、清潔工、女服務員、廚房雜工、園丁每年實得工資還不到最低水平12334英鎊。 與此同時,大學校長、教授雷斯?jié)煽?伯瑞奇威茨爵士年薪近25萬英鎊。副校長的平均年薪為21.9萬英鎊,某些副校長年薪加福利甚至超過了40萬英鎊。 發(fā)布這一數據的英國國家學生聯盟今日聯合英國工會發(fā)起了一場運動,目的是凸顯英國高等教育界存在的赤裸裸的收入差別。 他們正面向各個高校和學生會進行游說,呼吁給所有職工發(fā)放“基本生活工資”。 國家學生聯盟聲稱將發(fā)表這些數據,“點名指出并羞辱”那些給眾多職工發(fā)放不到最低線工資的大學。 劍橋大學堅稱調查中提到的職員是培訓生或是有需要時才工作的小時工。 國家學生聯盟的副主席丹尼?格魯菲提說:“副校長的平均工資是校內員工最低工資的17倍還多,這顯然是內在體制的不公平?!?/p> “高校是一個社區(qū),社區(qū)內的每個人都需要有尊嚴的待遇,這意味著給他們發(fā)放的工資必須能讓他們維持基本生活。 “高校的雇主們有六個月時間來整頓薪酬體制,如果他們允許這種令人震驚的不平等繼續(xù)存在,我們將對它們進行點名批評。” 國家學生聯盟和工會發(fā)布的這一分析報告涵蓋的工資不到最低線的職員主要在劍橋大學及其獨立分院工作。 不過劍橋大學昨晚堅稱,它的最低工資水平已經有所提高,那些底層收入職員的薪水漲幅將超過高層收入群。 相關閱讀 (中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: kitchen porter: 廚房雜工 lobby: 對……進行游說 pledge: 保證給予;許諾;發(fā)誓 zero-hour contract: 每周工作時間長短不固定的一種合同,雇員隨叫隨到,按小時結算工資。 breakdown: 分析 |