Michael Arthur may reflect “with pride that the university is now on a sound financial footing, with borrowing as a percentage of turnover below the Russell Group average” (The profile: The UCL provost who ‘doesn’t shirk the need for change’, 4 June), but what your article does not mention is that this achievement has been built on the back of massive discrimination against University College London’s outsourced workers, the vast majority of whom are from BAME backgrounds and whose terms and conditions are far worse than those of their mostly white directly employed counterparts.
Nearly all UCL’s cleaners, caterers and security guards receive the legal minimum of holidays and sick pay, and are barred from the generous defined benefit pension schemes available to university staff. While all other adjacent institutions have either brought staff in-house or enhanced their benefits, UCL has steadfastly dragged its heels (despite posting a surplus of £156.4m last year according to its latest annual report). Had Peter Wilby spoken to one of these workers he might well have found a whole host of further reasons for the hostility to Professor Arthur that he describes.
Danny Millum
Branch secretary, University of London branch, Independent Workers Union of Great Britain
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