Students, workers and local campaigners gathered outside the Clarendon Building yesterday calling for the University to pay its staff the real living wage for Oxford.
A wide range of student societies organised the campaign in tandem, including the Oxford Living Wage Campaign, Oxford Feminist Society, Oxford Migrants Society and Oxford Climate Justice Campaign.
The Oxford Living Wage is set at £10.02, already higher than the national real living wage of £8.21.
The City Council sets the wage at 95 per cent of the London Living Wage, which is calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. The Council is scheduled to increase the Oxford rate to £10.21 for 2020.
Only Blackfriars, Campion Hall and St Cross currently pay all their employees the Oxford Living Wage or above.
At the event student campaigners from St Anne’s discussed their expeiences in negotiating with college authorities, noting the typical ‘excuses’ deployed by bursars across Oxford. Councillor Martyn Rush said: “how ridiculous it was that an institution as wealthy as Oxford didn’t pay a wage sufficient to subsist in the city.”
According to a press release from Oxford Living Wage, the University does not pay all its staff this rate despite having the largest endowment of any UK university.
Earning £308.3 million from its investments in the 2017-18 financial year, the university is the largest employer across Oxfordshire.
A campaign spokesperson told Cherwell: “This action shows how important it is for the University and colleges to take action. The popularity of this cause among a wide range of those involved with the University and the wider city makes clear the University and colleges can no longer fly under the radar, and shirk their responsibility to pay a real living wage for Oxford, of £10.02ph.
“The Oxford Living Wage campaign is determined to continually ramp up pressure on Oxford – the wealthiest university in the UK by endowment- as the movement gains further support.”
The spokesperson added: “Today, we have brought together a wide range of interested parties, uniting both Town and Gown in support of the Oxford Living Wage. We’ve shown our resolve to demand for change in the University and college’s pay policy and set out why it is so important.
“Actions like these serve to raise awareness in Oxford – among students and the wider community – of the University’s failings, and hopefully in time will lead to more colleges adopting the Oxford Living Wage, as Campion Hall among others have done.”
In a statement made on the rally’s event page in advance of yesterday’s rally said: “Fair pay is essential to combat poverty— an individual in Oxford earning £9 an hour would only have £25.97 to spend on food each week.
“With this being a standard rate of pay at the University of Oxford and its colleges, we must demand more. If it’s not the Oxford Living Wage, it is a poverty wage. As living costs rise, the wage should too.”
This comes as part of a series of rallies and marches held by the Oxford Living Wage Campaign increase pressure on the University to raise pay for staff.
Oxford University have been contacted for a comment.
From Monday 25th to Tuesday 4th December, staff members at 60 universities including Oxford will strike over pay and working conditions.
The move comes as attempts to broach an agreement between the Universities and College Union and staff failed.
Whereas 43 different universities are striking over pensions and pay/working conditions, academics in Oxford are striking over the pay and working conditions only.
UCU Oxford Co-President Aris Katzourakis said, “Strike action is a last resort, but universities’ refusal to deal with absolutely key issues have left us with no alternative.
“It is staggering and insulting that universities have not done more to work with us to try to find a way to resolve this dispute.
“We are heartened by the support and solidarity of the official student union of the University of Oxford and we hope students will continue to put pressure on university vice-chancellors to get their representatives back round the negotiating table for serious talks with the union.”
As well as an eight strike days, union members will begin “action short of a strike” from Monday – this includes measures like working strictly to contract, refusing to cover for colleagues and refusing to rearrange lectures missed due to strike action.
Staff will be on picket lines from 8.30am at several sites across Oxford – including the Clarendon Building, the Radcliffe Observatory and the Said Business School.
A rally held outside the Clarendon Building on Monday will have speakers including, “Oxford East Anneliese Dodds, Oxford UCU co-president Aris Katzourakis, Oxford Student Union president Anisha Faruk and Chair of Oxford and District Labour Party, Rabyah Khan.”
74% of UCU members polled in Oxford voted in favour of strike action. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has said she ‘fully supports’ the UCU members, and called for urgent talks to resolve the dispute.
She said: “I am deeply concerned that a combination of falling pay, rising workloads and increasingly insecure employment is making a career in higher education less suitable.”
Earlier this week, the UCU laid the blame for the strikes firmly with the universities, who they said had refused to even discuss changes to pay. This will be the second year in a row where Oxford academics strike over remuneration. Strikes were held in early 2018.
A spokesperson for Oxford University said: “The University is disappointed with the outcome of the Oxford UCU ballot in favour of industrial action over the national pay settlement.
“We understand the concerns many staff have on pay, as well as on pensions. We also have a duty to ensure our education and research activities continue as far as possible and will therefore have contingency plans in place to minimise the impact of any industrial action on staff, students and visitors.”
Times Higher Education (THE) has named Oxford University as the world’s best institution for medical and health teaching and research, it was announced this week.
Topping the THE World University Rankings table for the ninth time running in the medical field, this follows from the THE overall rankings in September, which awarded Oxford the spot of top university.
There are over 1,500 graduate and 1,500 undergraduate students in the Medical Sciences Division at Oxford.
Notable achievements over the past year include the award of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine to Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe, Director for the Target Discovery Institute within the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University.
Oxford University contains one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe, supported by close partnerships with the Oxford University Hospitals and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trusts.
With support from a network of international research units, the division is able to constantly improve “the University’s research and teach- ing, while the latest developments in medical research lead to improved patient care.”
Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of the Medical Sciences Division, said: “Our extensive research partnerships and collaborations with universities, researchers and industry at home and abroad play a major part in keeping Oxford at the top of the international league tables, as well as helping us to continue to attract and support some of the best scientists and clinicians to work with us.
“This focus on research directly translates into improved clinical treatments and teaching, helping us to provide better care and treatment for patients, create a better learning experience for students and continue to help researchers to develop their breakthroughs into successful spin-out companies.”
Oxford Brookes University cancelled a talk by British conceptual artist Rachel Ara on Monday, following allegations of transphobia.
The cancellation came after the Oxford Brookes LGBTQ Society sent a letter to the University’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Anne-Marie Kilday, claiming that Ara was a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF).
In the letter, the society said Ara had “openly showed support for the ‘LGB Alliance’ which is openly transphobic and seeks to isolate trans people within the LGBTQ+ movement.
Responding to the allegations, Ara told Cherwell her crime was “liking and retweeting a few tweets that someone did not agree with.”
She said: “This is an issue partly about freedom of speech – but not totally. Whilst I believe that people should have freedom of speech, they should not be hurtful. I have been accused by an anonymous twitter account of being transphobic and I think a fascist. With the freedom of speech argument, it implies that I have been these, and should be allowed to be. But I do not believe I have been either.”
Ara, who identifies as gay, described herself as: “a long-standing activist in the LGBT community (35 years) and rather left leaning.“
She said: “To be called transphobic and fascist is very at odds with my beliefs. What the focus should be on is who is calling me that and why. Who is behind this account and why are they hiding behind it – what do they have to hide?”
Oxford Brookes subsequentlyconfirmed the talk was “post- poned” as it had not been booked through the correct process, but Ara contested these claims, say- ing: “This does not add up. I have the email trail proving this. The university obviously postponed or cancelled my talk due to the pres- sure from the LGBT group.
“What was heartening is that the majority of students supported me. A few contacted me via email, and some on twitter to say they were ashamed and disappointed about what happened. The students are now organising an event to happen outside the university. They want to hear about my work – the tech and feminist aspects – there was never anything controversial.”
The cancelliation of Ara’s talkis not the first such instancein Oxford. In November 2018, journalist and broadcaster Jenni Murray pulled out of a scheduled talk at Oxford University following claims by students that she too was transphobic.
The incident comes just weeks after a slew of transphobic stickers were posted around Oxford city centre, bearing slogans of the TERF movement.
Attempts by the city’s trans community to create an open dialogue with the posters of the stickers were rejected and positive stickers placed over the transphobic ones were subsequently defaced.
Contractors employed to construct a new accommodation site for Jesus College have this week completed demolition of the row of shops which previously occupied the site of the new complex.
The lot originally housed a number of high street shops including Next, FatFace and River Island. The block, Northgate House, was originally constructed in the 1960s as part of an array of development works along Cornmarket Street which included Clarendon House, currently occupied by Wasabi.
The land was leased to the shops by Jesus College, who own the properties and the leasehold.
Works began in September 2018, however the new development will begin to take form from now onwards. Proposals put forward
by Jesus College and approved by the city council form part of Jesus College’s master plan for 2017-2021 to expand the college, with the new block due to provide additional accommodation for students at the college as well as a new set of teaching spaces.
The project was partly funded by a gift of £15 million to the college by Hong Kong entrepreneur Dr Henry Cheng.
Plans have been generally well received. The lower level of the building will continue to provide space for retail units which front onto Cornmarket Street, preserving the retail heritage of the road. The units will also include space for 38 new cycle spaces.
Architecturally the building isdefined by vertical elements, tallwindows and narrow shop fronts intended to tie in with the historic visage of the street, which would originally have been made up of narrow plots intended for use by merchants’ houses.
The only property on Cornmarket which retains its original historical form is lot 26-68, also owned by Jesus College. The lot, which currently houses Pret A Manger, was constructed in 1386 but restored by the college in 1983.
The clearance of the retail blockalso provides for the first time aclear line of sight from Cornmarket Street onto Jesus College’s Second Quad, although this will change once the project is completed in 2020.
The architectural significance of the quad’s Dutch gables have been noted by architectural historian Pevsner as well as author Simon Jenkins, who compared the windows to Welsh dragons’ teeth.
Oxford City Council has published its annual Workforce Equality Report, suggesting that, while there is stillprogress to be made in regards toworkplace diversity in the Council, there have been significant improve-ments in the last year.
In a Council meeting on November 13, the report’s recommendations on improving ethnic diversity and representation in the Council’s workforce were discussed.
Councillors noted that the propor-tion of Council employees from the BAME community had increasedfrom 1% to 13% over the last year,with the number of applications from the BAME community rising, along with the number of new starters.
Nonetheless, this 13% proportion is still short of the percentage of economically active BAME persons in the City, with the 2011 census putting that figure at 18%.
Questions were raised by councillors at the meeting regarding the viability of the census data, with the current percentage of economic active members of the BAME community being recognised as far higher than the 2011 level, meaning the gap the Council must close is much larger.
In other areas of diversity, thenumber of women employed in the Council workforce now stands at 59%, though they continue to be underrepresented at a higher management level; the number of BAMEemployees in senior positions alsoremains extremely small.
Nigel Chapman, cabinet memberfor safer communities and customer focused services, told the Oxford Mail: “These issues don’t get solve [sic] in a year or even ten years. The number of job applications from BAME communities has gone up.”
He added: “We have to watch we don’t lose very talented staff from these communities.”
“We have 91 staff members from BAME communities from the city; surely there must be 91 who could be trained over time to become leaders. We must make sure they are given every opportunity to do that.”
As a result of the recommendations of the Report, the Council has updated its Equalities Action Plan for 2018-21 in an attempt to improve workforce equality in the areas high-lighted in the report.
Six student-led campaigns joined together for an Intersectional Justice rally at Oxford University last Friday.
More than 50 students congregated outside the Clarendon Building presenting a list of demands to the university focusing on the need to adopt more socially and environmentally-just policies.
Acknowledging the connection between campaigns for both social and climate justice, the six campaigns organised the rally to demand an integrated set of practices related to social and environmental justice.
Intersectional justice refers to the advancement of equality and justice for all by combating in-tersecting forms of structural inequality and discrimination.
The six campaigns, which include Common Ground, the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign (OCJC) and the Student Union Disabilities Campaign, plan to organise similar rallies until they are “thoroughly considered or adopted by the University.”
The rally saw representativesfrom the campaigns taking turnsto present demands related to theirgroups’ specific missions.
Expressing solidarity with theother groups, Common Groundbegan the rally by presenting their
demands. A campaign that re-examines
Oxford’s colonial past, CommonGround called for “reparative justice and critical examination of Oxford’s physical iconography and curricula.”
The other groups followed with their demands, including the classification of students with unsettled status as home students, a more just and accessible campus for people with disabilities, fossil fuel divestment, and a consistent living wage for workers.
Organisers of the event releaseda statement summarising their mission. They said: “As one of the best-known and longest-standing academic institutions in the English speaking world, the Universityof Oxford often serves as a model for other universities.
“The University has a moral imperative to take this responsibility seriously and adopt just practices, including providing its workers with a living wage, divesting from fossil fuels, and protecting students placed in or threatened with detention and/or deportation, among others.
“We rally in solidarity with all campaigns that are working to promote a more just Oxford and en-courage the University to recognize our demands.”
The Demos-PWC Good Growth forCities report was created over tenyears ago as a way to measure the success of cities beyond GDP growth.
Oxford ranked as the top city inthe UK, improving on last year’s score.
However, Oxford received negativescores in house price to earnings, work-life balance and transport. The house price to earnings measure was the only one of these which worsened this year.
The report said: “Oxford’s exten sion of its lead at the top of this year’s index reflects continued improvement across a range of measures, including work-life balance, skills, income and transport. Oxford also performs strongly across jobs and health, scoring within the top five cities for both of these variables.”
Gordon Mitchell, Chief Executive of Oxford City Council welcomed the news, saying, “It is obviously great to see proof of what we all know: that Oxford is a wonderful place to live and work. But we must not rest on our laurels, and Oxford City Council is committed to tackling inequality in the city.
“Through its Oxford Strategic Partnership and in partnership withOxLEP, the City Council is bringing together a range of expert voices to look at how we can develop a more inclusive economy here in Oxford. We want to ensure that benefits of continued growth are spread more evenly.
“We are already playing a part in building a more inclusive economy through the Oxford Living Wage, our focus on apprenticeships, our work with social enterprises, and by using our procurement to support local small businesses.
“We are also committed to build-ing thousands of new genuinelyaffordable homes within and nearthe city to ensure that young people can afford to live close to their work-places, and their families.”
Oxford has increased its lead over its nearest competitors, Reading andSouthampton.
The report also compared enterprise partnerships, and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership is again the highest scoring.
Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive ofthe Oxfordshire Local EnterprisePartnership, said: “This report fur-ther underlines the continued and sustained strength of the Oxfordeconomy – and indeed – the wider Oxfordshire economy too.
“As well as recognising our eco-nomic success, the report effectively highlights that we truly are a major asset to the UK economy. Not only are we currently one of just three net County areas that contribute to the exchequer with a GVA of £23bn a year – but we have genuineglobal assets that are growing fromstrength-to-strength.”
The report made some moregeneral observations about urban life across the UK: “Good Growth for Cities 2019 shows continued broadimprovements across cities in theUK, driven in particular by falling unemployment rates and increases in new businesses.”
“However, there are also signs that progress has plateaued, particularly among top performing cities in the index.”
“Overall, the ‘price of success’ is becoming more pronounced, and declining scores in owner occupation, transport and housing affordability highlight some of the ongoing challenges faced by UK cities.”
Dressed in a suit tailored so well that he, himself, could have measured it, Calvin Klein looked positively dapper ahead of his talk at the Oxford Union on November 11. Perhaps this is not surprising for the man that arguably established American haute couture. However, he delighted in revealing to me that moments ago he had been in a leather jacket and jeans. This seamless transition from the everyday to the extraordinary is at the heart of Calvin Klein’s success: bringing elegance to underwear and red-carpet gowns alike.
In our discussion, Mr. Klein employed his vast knowledge of the fashion industry past, present, and future to reflect on his own work and to forecast how the advent of technology and, more specifically, social media has and will continue to impact design and the global market. While styles and means of purchase may change, Mr. Klein maintains that the linchpin of success is personal confidence. Whether one is running a business, conceiving a fashion line, or even presenting their work in a tutorial, faith in one’s own vision makes others excited to view the world through their eyes. Mr. Klein lead by example; it was with the greatest self-assurance and grace that he presented himself at the Union.
What trend are you most excited about in fashion right now?
We had dinner with an old friend of mine, Jean Pressman, whose family – his grandfather – started Barneys, and they’re closed; I mean it’s finished. And so, we had dinner right before we came to Paris. The real question is going to be what happens next. Because people are buying clothes online, they’re not spending time in stores, and if they do, it’s maybe to pick something up after they’ve bought it. Stores are becoming not so necessary. Most of the major stores have so many branches. Everyone has the same merchandise, so the people who buy are buying less in the stores, and this is going to present a real challenge for designers, retailers, for everyone. And it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next. It’s going to be a big change.
One of your staple designs was the stylish pantsuit, which was an empowering fashion trend for women in the workplace in the 70s. How did you seek to distinguish your take on the suit from your predecessors i.e. Chanel and Saint Laurent?
Everyone has done it; I just thought it was a very American look. I tried to always keep the collections with a feeling of what does the American woman want and, therefore, there must be other women around the world that want the same thing.
You created staples of popular culture through revolutionary ad campaigns. How did you find the line between art and spectacle?
What I have done with media and all of that is not art, it’s commercial. Art hangs in a museum. It was to sell product. It was controversial as a result, but there’s that side of me. I always had fun. I worked on the commercials; I worked on everything. And chose every photo that you’ve ever seen. And it was great fun and it worked. So different companies that we partnered with were always supportive. You know there were a lot of people that were offended, but that wasn’t the intension.
In what direction do you see the Calvin Klein line going after Raf Simons’s departure?
Good question. I don’t have an answer. I don’t follow what the company does. I know what a disaster it’s been, and it’s just too bad that it’s a big disappointment since I spent most of my life working on that, but that’s the way it goes.
How do you feel the increase in sustainably conscious manufacturing has affected the retail market?
I think it’s affected designers. They’re more conscious of fabric and what goes into [manufacturing]. I don’t know what kind of an effect it’s had for retail and for the consumer. I’m just not up on it.
With the influence of style accounts on social media, it can often seem as though one or two trends will rise to prominence and dominate the fashion landscape. What do you think people can do to dress differently?
I wouldn’t want to just dress differently. I would want to dress in a way that I feel comfortable and that I feel like I look good. But, to be different? I think being true to yourself in everything in life is a lot better than just being different. My approach wasn’t one where you could see the way – wearing our clothes –you looked from afar. You know, I never used bright colors. So [my style] was more understated, my attitude about clothing. But it was sensual, and it was interesting. It wasn’t so different; it was our style. And it was consistent throughout my career.
You discussed the rise of online shopping. One of the services your line provided was custom tailoring. How do you think the internet will affect bespoke businesses?
I made some appointments to see people in Naples, tomorrow they’re going to China. The people who do bespoke, custom made clothes, there will always be a customer for it. Not a lot, but there’s an awful lot of money in the world. And now these tailors from years ago – you had to come to London or Naples – now they go to you. And they’re traveling all the time. And in the end, the person who wants that, doesn’t really care what’s on the internet. It’s a different world. But I’ve become addicted to shopping online. I must say, at 3 o’clock in the morning I start going online and seeing what I can buy. It’s the best thing in the world: you buy, they send you everything; what you don’t want, you send back.
Was there ever a time when you thought you had designed something that would really resonate with your clientele but, when you put it to market, it didn’t sell the way you hoped it would?
I didn’t look at the sales to decide what was right or wrong for our company. I don’t know how other people work, but I think the name brands that you know, they’re not thinking about what will sell. They’re just thinking about doing something really good and if you think that way, there are other people that would agree with you I’m sure. And having confidence is important too. I like to, whenever I speak at schools, I like to talk about the fact that you have to show confidence in what you’re doing – whether it’s fashion or anything else. There were times when I’d be terrified. I thought, oh my god, I’m going to be found out that I know nothing. But I would act as if I knew what I was talking about because to convince people – whether those are people working in my design studio or buyers or anyone – you have to be confident about what you’re doing and just pretend. If you’re not, so what? Just act like you are.
What factors led you to sell your company in 2003?
I’d been doing it a long time. Ralph Lauren continues to do it. I felt I had had enough, and I worked twenty-four seven. I mean that’s all I did, was work. I mean I studied for fashion and then I worked at it and then I did it. And at a certain point, I would have assistants in each design room for each collection we were doing. And the assistants would be showing me things – I would tell them to sketch various things – and they’d show me things and I would say, well we did that before. And that seemed to have happened over and over again. And they would say, ‘well, it doesn’t matter that you did it before because now there are people that didn’t have it [then]’ and I would say, ‘yeah, I know, but it’s boring for me.’ Because if I’m repeating myself just because my assistants think that’s a good idea, maybe I need a new challenge. Because I certainly have done everything I wanted to do, and I’m as busy now as I ever was. But I must say, happier. It’s not so easy running a company that is global. I never thought when I started – when I was in school – that I would be running a global company. I was thrilled if I had a job. So, I had enough of that. Now I like talking. I like speaking to people who want to do it, that’s more interesting to me – to meet people who want to do something. Because I was taught by my family that you can do anything you want. You just need a little talent; you need to study. But anything is possible in this world.
Anyone who has ever watched a mid-noughties rom-com, is
familiar with the idea that you are what you wear. We might have moved on from Geeks v Jocks but
how you dress still sends a message. It tells the world everything from your
age, to your occupation, to your interests, to whether your mum still buys your
PJs.
The cultural, and individual, importance of clothing has
never been so clear to me as when I came to live in Amman. The city is a
melting pot of tradition and modernity; of western super-brands with local
flair. Here you can see Balenciagas flash out from under a stylish thawb and
keffiyeh combo, or a woman wearing a Burberry scarf as her hijab.
Disappointingly, one thing many people asked me before I
came was whether I would have to wear a burqa. No, Aunty Barbara, of course I
don’t. I mostly wear a t-shirt and jeans. I also normally choose to cover my
legs and shoulders in public for three reasons: to avoid sunburn (I’m extremely
pale), as a futile attempt to avoid the omnipresent Jordanian male gaze (I have
great legs), and out of cultural respect (I study Arabic <3 xoxo).
In some places today, women’s clothing is controlled. The
abaya is obligatory in Saudi Arabia, women in Iran must cover their hair, and
in France women can’t wear what they want on the beach. All state control of female clothing is a
symptom of a wider system of international female oppression. Sexism is not
only a Middle Eastern problem, we just sensationalise it when it manifests in
different ways.
Aunty Barbara was also conflating a set of varied traditions
of cultural and religious dress into a scary and homogenous Other. Recently, one
of my Tunisian classmates forbade her daughter from wearing a black niqab. She
told her that if she wanted to fully veil, she could wear the traditional
Tunisian sefseri from her own culture.
This is a cream-coloured silk robe that covers the whole body and is held
with one hand. It’s a full body veil worn by Muslim women, and yet it doesn’t
carry the same stigma of oppression and terror that the people who are scared
of the burqa reinforce.
Generally in Jordan, dressing modestly is encouraged for
everyone. The only run in with the fashion police that I’ve heard of is when a
male classmate was stopped and asked very nicely to button his shirt all the
way up. Most adult Muslim women here do wear the hijab, and according to our
teachers, this is cultural as well as religious. Some women wear it with an
abaya and some wear it with skinny jeans.
Personally, the biggest clothing issue that I had was practical.
I had been warned by many previous students that Amman can get bitterly,
bitterly, cold in the winter, so I pretty much exclusively packed winter
clothing. I arrived in early September and immediately had a (very foreseeable)
35-degree problem. So, I had to go shopping. At first it was a struggle to find
good clothes. In the malls, imported clothes from European high street brands
are expensive and I personally can’t stand the live-laugh-love vibe of many
local boutiques.
The answer wasn’t to buy locally woven linen kaftans and
beaded sandals; the solution came in the form of a very Oxford look. In the
Friday clothing market (souk al-juma3) I found a treasure trove of funky
shirts, varsity sweaters and early-noughties beaded bodices. It’s a cross
between a kilo sale and your nan’s attic with everything from rugby spikes to Persian
carpets. 2000 miles away, I’ve never been more at home. For less than three
pounds you can dress like your parents did in the 80s, and isn’t that the
Oxford dream?
