Uni under fire for not furloughing cafe staff

An MSP has blasted bosses at Paisley’s university for their“shocking”treatment of cafe staff after they refused to furlough 16 workers.

Ross Greer, who represents Renfrewshire as part of his West Scotland remit, has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling on the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) to reverse its decision.

It emerged this week that UWS refused to help students working in the cafe and coffee shop to access the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - which allows companies to furlough staff and claim 80 per cent of their employees’wages.

This was after the Department for Work and Pensions had advised the affected staff, who are all on zero-hour contracts, to ask if they can be furloughed.

The workers are now struggling to pay their bills and, as students, they are unable to access Universal Credit.

Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi Black and West of Scotland MSP Neil Bibby have already sent letters to the university’s principal asking for the issue to be resolved.

Mr Greer is now asking parliament to rally together to demand the university makes an immediate U-turn.

“This is a shocking way to treat a group of workers who rely on their income from the cafe to support themselves,”said the Green MSP.

“UWS had an easy way to use government support to help its staff at no cost to themselves, but it has inexplicably refused to do so.

“While UWS claim there are hardship funds available, they are not comparable to the 80 per cent salary cover through the furlough scheme.

“These workers should be able to receive the support they’re automatically entitled to and not be forced to go through the extra stress of applying for a fund where there’s no guarantee they’ll get what they need.”

Despite the decision, the university has maintained it is taking a“proactive and compassionate”approach to students’financial support.

Some of the affected staff have admitted to feeling exploited after being left with no source of income.

Others said they felt especially disappointed UWS chiefs would not give a reason as to why they won’t furlough staff.

A University of the West of Scotland spokesman said:“We have extensively reviewed, and sought advice on, the national guidance regarding furlough.

“It is clear that where employers receive public funding for staff costs then employers are not expected to furlough their staff.

“We appreciate, however, that the situation remains fast-moving and dynamic and we continue to monitor developments and guidance closely in liaison our Trade Unions, with whom we are holding twice-weekly meetings.

“We are absolutely not, however, leaving this group – or any other group of students not employed by UWS, whose part time work has been affected by the current crisis – without financial support.

“We have been encouraging students to access our student hardship funds which have already administered support to hundreds of students over the past few weeks. The vast majority of these funds have been provided to those who have temporarily lost part-time income.

“Like a number of local authorities that are also in receipt of public funds, we are identifying alternate employment opportunities within the university.

“We have also reached out to community partners and businesses sto see where any temporary opportunities for employment of students might be available.

“To support the potential for this, we have also offered UWS HR assistance to these organisations for any associated recruitment processes.”