Over 200 Hertford students have signed an open letter to the college Principal, Will Hutton, calling for the college to obtain Living Wage accreditation after he authored a piece in the Observer in which he lauded the success of Seattle’s recent implementation of a $15 per hour minimum wage.
The letter stated, “As students at Hertford, we want to know that the workers who empty our bins, cook our food and clean our buildings are paid enough for a decent standard of living in this city.”
It continued, “We invite you to publicly support our call for Hertford to become an accredited Living Wage employer, as an extension of your principled stand on Seattle.”
College authorities have stated that Hertford has paid the Living Wage for the past three years despite not yet obtaining official accreditation, however, senior figures within the JCR have expressed concern that the Living Wage has not been paid for the entire year, as it is subject to rise in line with inflation.
JCR President Josh Platt explained, “by November, when the Living Wage is increased, I suspect Hertford will be around 15 to 25 pence under the level of the new Living Wage. So in essence, it will be paying the Living Wage for approximately three to four months”.
Speaking to Cherwell, Principal Will Hutton commented that paying the Living Wage to college staff “has been my personal, now public, commitment ever since I arrived here and it would have continued with or without the letter from the JCR”.
He continued, “The Bursar and other members of governing body know I am committed to continuing to pay all our staff over eighteen the Living Wage. When the cycle begins again late this autumn with an expected further uplift in the Living Wage, we will incorporate that in the settlement for 2015 and 2016. Over this approach there are no dissenters.”
Cherwell understands that the JCR and college authorities have begun discussions concerning Living Wage accreditation. JCR President Josh Platt told Cherwell, “The preliminary meeting with college to discuss Living Wage accreditation was extremely positive. The JCR’s strong feelings about this issue were abundantly clear, and college office holders were left in no doubt that this is a very serious proposal.”
He continued, “We are still at an early stage in our discussions, and so naturally college did raise a number of practical and financial concerns which we will have to discuss in the weeks and months to come. I will be taking our views on Living Wage accreditation to other college committees this term and next, and I hope that we begin to take the steps which sees Hertford become the first college to entrench its commitment to a living wage for all staff.”
Principal Will Hutton told Cherwell that Living Wage accreditation “is not the prerogative of any single individual here, any more than at any other Oxford college.”
He added, “We will discuss this through our committees and in Governing Body in the next academic year. We’ll also be engaging with other colleges to see if we can proceed together. We remain committed to the welfare of all our staff, which includes but is not restricted to paying fair wages. And it’s good the JCR have lent their heft to the process.”
In order for an employer to become a Living Wage accredited employer, all staff and contracted staff must be paid the wage, and must then obtain an accreditation licence from the Living Wage Foundation. The Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University calculates the UK Living Wage, which is currently set at £7.65, and due to be readjusted in November.
