By Connor McElwaine 

Going into this year, Dundee Labour students had just two members and meetings were stuck to the ‘AOCB’ culture of minutes and agendas. We had tried recruitment, but to be honest we had nothing to really recruit people to.

Here I am with other enthusiastic organisers in the making at Movement for Change Intensive Training in Barnsley in November 2012

I was delighted to be given the opportunity through my trade union Community to attend the Movement for Change intensive training weekend last November. The weekend allowed me to hear from, and become friends with, activists not only from across the UK, but from the Labour Movement in Europe too. We were all organising to achieve change within our communities in different ways. To hear their personal testimony of what had motivated them to come to the training was truly a unique and profound experience in over six years of being a Labour member. The skills I learned, people I met, and my personal growth as an organiser in the making that the training allowed was essential in how I was to lead the action for pay justice at my university.

The weekend highlighted the importance in developing a personal narrative and equally the importance of understanding what made others motivated to achieve change. This seemed like the perfect way to start off our new year. Our initial meetings were therefore used to speak about what had brought us to join the Labour Party and displayed the wide range of social backgrounds and motivations that now existed within our campus society. Critically, through hearing each other’s stories, we were all convinced that the Living Wage was a cause worth advocating, agitating and organising for.

Building power through relationships

Through the use of role play scenario during the Movement for Change training, I found the importance of building relationships with a wide range of people truly striking. So we began our campaign by going round student halls and speaking with other students through societies we were involved with or taking the time while waiting on lectures to speak with people in our classes. Often it was small five minute conversations in which we expresses our own displeasure in studying at a university where 153 members of staff were paid below £7.45 per hour, and overwhelmingly students connected in some way with our vision of how the university should be run. Critically, we spoke to and built relationships with staff employed at the university who were paid below the Living Wage so that we had a joint campaign moving forward. In next to no time we had a petition with over 500 signatures and email addresses.

Something that stuck with me from the residential was the need for the continued development of the issue so as to reach and encapsulate the interest of as many people as possible. To do this I enlisted the help of local Labour elected members Jenny Marra MSP, Jim McGovern MP and Councillor Richard McCready who were asked to publicly pledge their support from which we managed to get our initial local newspaper coverage. Their political weight and recognition allowed for our actions to develop a stronger credibility and for our movement to become an issue for the whole of Dundee bursting free of any disorganised, ill-thought-out, student protest typecast. Our credibility as a movement and as force within Dundee was further enhanced by the support from our Rector who was able to secure us yet further media attention and for the issue to be firmly placed on university court members agendas.

From building a coalition of societies of all political beliefs and pressure groups including Oxfam and the feminist society – who were agitated by the highly disproportionate gender inequality amongst low paid workers – we had constructed enough support to get our traditionally conservative student union to pass a motion for its executive to be pushing university management at every opportunity to implement the Living Wage.

Developing a campaign strategy with Movement for Change

By building power through relationships, Dundee Labour Students were able to build and impressive campaign for the Living Wage

With the continued support of Kate from Movement for Change I was able to devise a campaign strategy that understood the underlying power dynamics within our university. This allowed for our agitation to be focused into constructive action which culminated in our public event on 30th April where speakers would press the case for the Living Wage and fun informal games would highlight the gross pay injustice that exists on our campus. The Principal, who had refused or ignored our previous invitations for meetings, was invited as we knew he was due to deliver training to library staff workers on that day. Unfortunately, he changed his diary and suddenly “Sorry, Mr Downes is not in Dundee on Tuesday” was the response from an increasingly flustered PA. With it being unfair for our event to go ahead without a Principal figure I decided that I would have to fill the gap, and donned the appropriate attire of a ‘fat cat’ complete with cigar and top hat. Even though people had exams and were revising, over 50 people attended our action: a wide range of students who we had built relationships throughout the year, and from numerous societies from all political backgrounds, but we all agreed on the Living Wage. Local radio stations, newspapers, and television all came down to cover the action, and you can read more about it here.

Media coverage from our action in April

Because of the range of people present and the press coverage, The Head of Press for the university came to the action and made a commitment to discuss the issue at the next university council meeting and to release a statement afterwards. We look forward to hearing what Principal Pete Downes has to say, and the campaign continues. With the help of the UNISON branch, our representatives on University Court and with aspects of the training that I had learned now passed to the next generation of campaign leadership, we will continue to press for – and win – a Living Wage for all members of staff at the University of Dundee.

Connor McElwaine first worked with Movement for Change on our intensive training weekend. Since then, he has built a strong leadership team and led a fantastic campaign on the Living Wage at Dundee University. There are still a few places on our next intensive training weekend in June – you can apply here.

Students at Dundee University are pushing their Principal to commit to paying the Living Wage

The Living Wage campaign at Dundee University has been running since the start of the year and has gone from strength to strength. Dundee Labour Students are finding it outrageous that 153 members of the University staff not paid a Living Wage with 113 of them being women. Movement for Change has been working with Dundee Labour Students all through the school year to help them get organised around this pressing issue.

The Campaign has received a lot of media attention and support from the public

From the beginning of the campaign, the students have been collecting signatures on a petition which now stands at 500 signatures. The campaigners have also been leafleting and petitioning public lectures, pushed for online publicity and sent multiple letters to the principal.

The campaign has also received the support of Jenny Marra MSP, Jim McGovern MP and Cllr Richard McCready. This support has allowed for significant press attention in the local press which has allowed the campaign to gather further legitimacy and supporters.

Even after all this support and publicity, Principal Pete Downs hasn’t agreed to pay the Living Wage to the entire University staff.

With momentum building behind the campaign, our Dundee activists are heading into next week with a meeting on the 30^th of April in the student union with Principal Downs from which the students will seek a pledge of implementation.

Hear Connor McElwaine, one of the leaders of the Living Wage campaign and our residential training attendee from last November, talk about the campaign and how Movemvent for Change has helped give it focus.

Find out more about the campaign on the Dundee Labour Students’ website and stay tuned for updates!

Movement for Change invites you to join Rachel Reeves MP and David Miliband MP in partnership with Labour Students, NUS and Unison for a Living Wage Parliamentary Reception.

As well as an exciting opportunity to celebrate a new generation of Community Organisers, this event marks the re-launch of Labour Students and Movement for Change’s Living Wage campaign for the new year.  It is being held to coincide with ground-breaking new research on the Living Wage from Queen Mary University and we are pleased that the author of that research, Professor Jane Wills, will be joining us.

Places are limited.  If you would like to join us please email to request a place.

7 November 2012

18:30 to 20:30

Room E, 7 Millbank, SW1

Over the past year, Movement for Change and Labour Students have run Living Wage trainings and actions at universities across the UK. In the process, we’ve secured the Living Wage for low-paid employees (equating to as much as a £1,750 per annum pay increase in one case), including at the largest university in the country. Meanwhile, Movement for Change’s team of Community Organisers is training and developing students in areas as diverse as Swansea and Guildford to continue the campaigns into the new academic year.

Here, former Movement for Change organiser and current Secretary of Labour Students Teddy Ryan shares his personal thoughts on what Movement for Change activists have achieved so far.

TEDDY:  The gulf between young people and politics has never been greater. The largest group of unregistered voters are those under the age of 25; the majority of those who are registered do not vote. Reversing that trend is a huge task for the Labour Movement and only by understanding the root of the problem can we begin to overcome it. Fundamentally, too many young people feel disconnected from politics and local political action is an alien concept to most.

The optimistic outlook for Labour is that with a renewed Labour Party under Ed Miliband, and with the Liberal Democrats discredited beyond repair, 2015 will see millions of young people turning to Labour as the party of hope and opportunity. The polls are good and internally we have more Young Labour and Labour Students groups than ever before, but the honest truth is that simply pushing Labour in front of the other two parties is not good enough. Rather than simply winning the fight over whether or not the Labour Party is a force for good, we must be prepared to have and win the argument that politics itself is a force for good. We must proactively demonstrate that young people are able to change their own communities through positive political action.

Over the past year, I’ve travelled the length and breadth of the country, visiting universities and Labour Clubs working on the Movement for Change/Labour Students Living Wage campaign. In a short space of time, students have demonstrated clearly that politics can make a real difference. By working with Movement for Change, Labour Students has proved that young people can take political action which goes beyond raising awareness and creating debate – they can change people’s lives.

With successes at Manchester, Kent and De Montfort as well as successful accreditation at LSE, the campaign is cause for celebration. However, the political energy within ongoing Movement for Change/Labour Students Living Wage campaigns must not be lost. Many active and growing campaigns exist and where there has been success the clubs there are now working on pushing the living wage beyond their campus.

I am proud of how the Living Wage campaign has made a difference. It helps us win the argument that political action can be a force for good in our communities. Over the next year, Labour Students and Movement for Change will continue the campaign, pushing it into the wider community.  In doing this, and continuing to campaign hard for Labour on the doorstep, Labour students will seek to win the wider argument that politics and political action should be embraced and not ignored by Britain’s youth.

Find out more about Movement for Change’s Living Wage work, and contact us to get involved.

When we first launched our Living Wage campaign at Surrey University in September we knew that we faced a unique challenge: as a relatively new club it was always going to be difficult running a sustained campaign on-campus. In addition, as the majority of full-time employees are currently paid at least £7.20 an hour, the argument for accreditation is harder to make to undecided students.

However, in one of the most expensive university towns in the country it’s important that cleaners, security staff and facilities staff get a salary that helps them to meet the rising cost of living. Whilst their current salary may be sufficient for now, without accreditation there is no guarantee that wages will rise in the future. Therefore Labour Students and Movement for Change are right to raise such an important issue, especially at a time when there is a temptation to look out for number one.

In recent months the help that we’ve received from Movement for Change has helped us to re-focus our efforts and re-launch our campaign. Surrey Labour Students may be a small club, but our members are passionate and have a wide range of experience. The training provided by Movement for Change has helped us to plan a campaign that plays to our strengths, making the most of our limited resources whilst aiming to reach the broadest possible student audience.

Next week we’re holding a ‘Living Wage Week’ on campus. We’ll be out each day distributing leaflets, talking to students and staff, and collecting signatures for our petition.  Previous conversations with students have been promising – the majority appreciate that cleaning and security staff contribute a significant amount to their university experience and support an increase in the basic wage of all staff. Our job, both throughout next week and beyond, is to build up a broad base of support so that we can make a convincing argument to university officials and our Vice-Chancellor. By getting a range of students, clubs and societies on board I’m convinced that we can gain accreditation by the end of the academic year.

As a club we look forward to continuing working with both organisations over the coming months, and we’re incredibly excited about our new-found confidence that has come from our time spent working on this campaign. There’s still a long way to go, but I’m sure that we go on to win a Living Wage for all Surrey staff.

On the 11^th January Kent Labour Students was delighted to announce that the students’ union at the University of Kent, Kent Union, would be paying its cleaning staff the living wage from 1^st August. This is excellent news for the club, which has been running a Living Wage campaign since October, with several days of action on campus raising awareness, collecting over 600 signatures on our petition and local media coverage. We were especially excited to be able to host a visit from the Rt Hon David Miliband MP in October, who joined the club for a private reception, met our vice-chancellor about the living wage, and helped raise the profile of the campaign considerably.

There are 500 staff members at the University of Kent that are paid below the living wage and we could therefore make a significant amount of difference to a lot of people during our campaign. Kent Union, the students’ union, employs significantly less staff than the university and did not pay the Living Wage. We began negotiations with the staff at Kent Union, winning support of the Facilities Manager who manages the cleaning staff, and asked her to calculate the financial implications. We then put in a request to the Chief Executive that the Union consider the hourly rate for any career staff currently earning below the living wage.

A proposal was taken to the union’s Director Group, where it was approved that the cleaning staff would receive an increase to the hourly rate of 95p, partly to ‘acknowledge the work of the cleaning staff and ensure more parity with the Union’s career staff’ and to ensure these workers earn enough to provide their family with the essentials of life. This has in total put an extra £2,884 per annum into worker’s pockets. There is no doubt that the high profile and momentum of the campaign contributed considerably to this win.

Kent Labour Students will continue the campaign on campus, to ensure that all staff that work at the University of Kent are paid a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.

We’d like to thank Kent Union for being sympathetic to the cause and for paying the living wage, Labour Students and Movement for Change for their constant and committed support, but most of all we would like to thank all the brilliant campaigners, staff and students who have supported the UKC Living Wage Campaign.  Without these hard working and passionate people we wouldn’t have had the success that we’ve had during this campaign, and we wouldn’t have been able to make life slightly easier in a difficult time, for some very hardworking and deserving people.

Matt Partridge

Chair, Kent Labour Students

We at Manchester Labour Students have taken on the Living Wage campaign this year in an attempt to transform the University of Manchester into a Living Wage organisation.
Our campaign began on November 14th when Teddy Ryan came to do a training session with us about how best to tackle the campaign. This was very useful for members who hadn’t already been to a training session at a national labour students event and it motivated everyone to get behind the campaign ahead of us.
Later in the week, we made a huge ‘Manchester Labour Students Living Wage Campaign’ banner and posed for a photograph, alongside an article for the Mancunion, the largest student newspaper in the country. Not only did we get an article in the paper, but we made Pages 1 and 2.   

The following Monday (21st), we set up a stall outside the Student Union on Oxford Road. We had a stall up all day every day of that week and it proved to be a huge success. Everyone on the executive committee, not to mention other committed members, really got behind the campaign and we never had less than three people at a time helping out on the stall. This is a huge achievement considering lots of us had essay deadlines. We found there to be a lot of support from ordinary students, many of whom came to the stall having seen the article in the paper.

On the stall, we had a petition for people to sign who were interested in finding out more and who wanted to support the campaign. We have also given petitions to members for them to take back to their halls of residence and seminars in the hope of getting as many names down as possible. As well as having a stall, we have a facebook page which people can ‘like’.

As well as the support of students, we have received official support from other sources. We received a letter from Debbie Abrahams MP a couple of weeks ago, and we hope to receive similar official support from other local politicians soon. On 9th December, we hosted an event with Chuka Umunna MP and Shabana Mahmood MP and they both posed with us behind our banner. We hope that this kind of support will help us when persuading the directors of the merits of the Living Wage. On to0p of this, we hope it will reflect the seriousness of the campaign by showing them that this isn’t another fad student campaign that universities see so many of.

Due to the success of our campaign, the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Nancy Rothwell, has agreed to meet with us . In this meeting we hope to persuade her and the other directors not only the moral obligations of the university to pay a fair wage, but of the merits to the University of being accredited as a Living Wage organisation.

As well as meeting with Ms Rothwell, in the New Year we will start the stall up again. The plan is to have a stall outside the Union every Wednesday to keep the momentum of the campaign going. We will also continue to push for more official support from other large student societies, as well as local MP’s.

Grace Skelton is Vice-Chair of Manchester Labour Students