Students ‘clean’ during information day in solidarity with cleaning staff | Antwerp
At the beginning of last year, UAntwerp concluded a new contract with cleaning company ISS. As a result, the cleaning staff – a total of one hundred cleaners – were started under new conditions. The main difference with the old contract is that the staff is given fewer hours to do the same work. For the UAntwerp this means a saving of 18.
“UAntwerp chose to save on vulnerable and low-paid cleaners,” the students say. “In addition, the cleaning staff mainly consists of women, who, in addition to their job, are also mothers and have roots in migration. The new deal meant for them: fewer hours, income, less pension, higher work pressure and more flexibility. Now that the university is back on track and all students are once again able to move to the less able-bodied on campus, their new contracts are feeling the impact of their new contracts. We believe that the fact that the university saves on this group is incompatible with the image of a ‘progressive’ university. We demand that the savings be scrapped and that new talks take place.”