FRACTIONALS CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR PLAY

That this House expresses its support for the Fractionals Campaign for Fair Play launched by the fractional staff at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and supported by the SOAS University and College Union (UCU); notes with concern that fractional tutors and staff at SOAS are employed on temporary contracts which do not reflect the hours necessary to complete even the basic tasks required to teach classes with the result that typically fractional staff work more than twice the hours than their contracts estimate, with the consequence that their actual hourly pay often ranges below the London Living Wage; supports the call by the Fractionals Campaign for Fair Play to all graduate teaching assistants and teaching fellows to work to contract in protest at these conditions with the aim of securing fairer contracts which can guarantee a higher standard of education for students; and urges the management of SOAS to undertake serious and constructive negotiations with the union to address the issues raised by the campaign.