King’s cleaning and security staff are now being brought in-house after years of protests and negotiations

After years of staff complaints over unfit working conditions and months of student-staff protests lead by groups such as KCL Justice for Cleaners in support of UNISON, King's Management have agreed to employ their cleaning and security staff directly, last night's Council meeting revealed.

The KCL Justice for Cleaners campaign, lead by students, staff and academics, has been pressuring the university for over three years to directly employ staff rather than to continue employing them from contractors, which meant that cleaning and security staff were not given the same pay and general benefits as those employed directly by King's.

As well as protests and countless meetings with King's managerial staff, Justice for Cleaners has documented the past year of their campaign through a short film directed by two King's students, Leah Rustomjee and Jared Phanco, available on their Facebook page (below).

The campaign's success is a huge step towards ending out-sourcing and creating a fairer, more equal workplace at King's and other UK institutions, with similar decisions also being made this week by other London universities such as Goldsmiths.

UPDATE 11am:

King's principal Ed Byrne has released a statement, sent out via e-mail to all students and staff, announcing the council's decision to bring cleaning and security staff in-house.

However, the e-mail has also revealed that the changes won't take place until after the end of King's contract with Servest and CIS, the cleaners' and security staff's current employer, in 2019.

UPDATE 2pm:

KCL Justice For Cleaners have released an official statement on their official Facebook page regarding the success of their campaign. The full statement can be read below.