According to the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), the first strike will take place on 19 November and will be the biggest strike of outsourced workers in UK higher education history.
The IWGB says they balloted almost 300 workers "as part of the union's campaign to end outsourcing and zero hours contracts at UCL".
According to the IWGB, the ballot demands that, "the facilities management companies that manage the security and cleaning contracts, Axis and Sodexo, give the outsourced workers the same terms and conditions as UCL's direct employees". The IWGB launched an appeal to raise money for the strike fund on 6 November.
In September 2017, the IWGB won a commitment from the University of London (which UCL is a part of) to bring outsourced workers in-house by July 2018. However, the IWGB reports that since that agreement, "only 10% of the workers have been brought in-house, and a boycott of the university is ongoing until there are concrete plans for the insourcing of the remaining 90%".
