The President of the Oxford Union, James Langman, has condemned the behaviour of members of the Union’s Secretary’s Committee and Standing Committee at President’s Drinks held last Thursday.
Langman stated to members of the Standing Committee at the meeting held on Monday, “Two complaints were made by members of the Union staff about Union officers herding their friends into the event and disobeying the orders of the security guard we had on Thursday.
“I have given you more than enough guests to bring to the event. I am not prepared to have my staff pushed aside so you can get your friends in. Serious action will be taken if this happens again.”
Langman’s warning at the Standing Committee meeting was a re-iteration of his statement to the Secretary’s Committee earlier on in the day.
“A member of staff has complained that she would never work another Thursday shift if this behaviour continues” Langman stated.
He told those assembled, “I will not have the staff disrespected so you can look like top dog in front of your friends.”
An official spokesperson from the Union denied that any formal complaint had been made by the staff and emphasised that there was a “very small number of Union officers bending the rules.”
“There were in fact far fewer people at President’s Drinks than were on the guest list. Furthermore, the number of guests was well under the capacity of the room.
“A member of staff indicated that officers had tried to get their friends in but no formal complaint has been made. Any accusations of misconduct or mistreatment of staff on Union premises are taken most seriously by the Society.”
Concerns were also raised by Rahul Ahluwalia at Monday’s meeting about using Union staff for the Cardinal’s Cocktails event in sixth week.
A Cardinal’s event held at the Union last year caused chaos due to overcrowding and insufficient staffing. The Union spokesperson emphasised to Cherwell that the two events were unrelated.
