Balliol JCR passed a motion at a General Meeting held on Sunday to pressure the College to pursue Living Wage accreditation. Balliol College currently pays all of its staff except for students, the Living Wage, including those who are employed through a subcontract. However, it is not an accredited employer. Accreditation would cost Balliol a one-off fee of around £200 pounds, if it has less than 250 staff.
It is believed that no Oxford or Cambridge College is currently an accredited Living Wage employer. It was said in the debate that the point of the motion was to apply political pressure from the JCR to College to formalise their endorsement of the Living Wage Campaign. Living Wage accreditation entitles employers to use the Living Wage employer mark and grants members access to a strategic network of employers that support and promote the Living Wage. Other benefits advertised on the website of the Living Wage Foundations include Living Wage merchandise such as a mug, tote bag, pen and badge.
The motion initially claimed that, in order to gain accreditation, the JCR would have to pay all of its members over 21, including students, the Living Wage. Opposition was expressed to this, on the grounds that an arbitrary increase in wage for half of a year group, based purely on their age would be unfair.
However, it transpired in the debate that paying students over 21 the Living Wage would not be necessary, as the campaign explicitly states that the condition only applies to employees working for two or more hours on any given day for at least eight consecutive weeks.
The motion was amended in any case, so that accreditation would not be pursued, if students employed by the JCR over 21 did have to be paid the Living Wage. The motion approved by the JCR expressed the belief that the Living Wage is a worthy cause that deserves to be championed and that it would be of great symbolic value for an Oxford college to become an accredited Living Wage employer. The motion also mandated the JCR President to lobby college officers, and present a paper to the College Executive, calling for them to seek Living Wage accreditation.
Xavier Cohen, who proposed the motion, told Cherwell, “The important material aspect of the accreditation is that it makes it much harder – politically, that is – for colleges to stop paying the living wage once they have the accreditation.
“Aside from that, accreditation strengthens the institution that is the Living Wage and sets the bar for other colleges to now do the same.”
Balliol JCR President, Daniel Turner, commented, “Balliol has led the University in its commitment to the Living Wage, with the constant support of all three Common Rooms. We hope that the College are prepared to formalise this commitment and send out a message that the Living Wage Campaign is keeping up momentum in Oxford.”
