Lady Margaret Hall’s JCR has passed a motion in support of a college porter asked to step down against his wishes.Having reached the retirement age of 65 Terry Greenwood, a night porter at the College, has been asked to resign, but the JCR has passed a motion calling for the college to extend its employment of him.The motion stated, “This JCR notes that Terry has been a friendly, hospitable and helpful presence in LMH who has made our time here far more pleasant. The JCR believes Terry is a credit to the College and its student body and is fully capable of performing his duties until he himself believes it is time to retire. “The JCR therefore resolves to declare its support for Terry Greenwood and expresses its hope that he can continue to serve LMH and its student body as a Porter for as long as he is willing to continue.”
It was concluded that the JCR president, Marlene Cayoun, would write a letter of support for Mr Greenwood to Bart Ashton, the Domestic Bursar, and Lawrence le Carré, the Head Porter, in collaboration with the MCR president.Commenting on the motion, the JCR president said, “Terry is a wonderful and well-loved member of the college, who is extremely competent at his job. He’s not in any way impaired by his age. We would all be very sorry to see him go, especially as he hasn’t expressed any desire to leave.”Other students spoke of their anger at the College’s decision to dismiss the porter. Third year student Matthew Henshall, said, “There is a lot of anger amongst students here. Terry Greenwood is the best porter in college by far. All of the porters here are good but he is a class apart. He is both caring and compassionate.” Henshall went on to add that Mr Greenwood was “perfectly fit for the job”, attended the LMH gym and that he was very much in support of him.The Domestic Bursar and the Head Porter were unavailable to comment on the situation.
According to employment laws introduced in 2006, although there is a default retirement age of 65, workers have the right to ask their employers to let them stay on at work. In order to prevent retirement being used as cover for an unjustified sacking, bosses must give at least six months’ notice of an individual’s retirement date. by Katherine Hall
LMH students rally behind “well-loved” porter
