Executive Board receives alarming petition from cleaners on working conditions
The participation councils of the UvA have called on the Executive Board in a letter to investigate the working conditions of cleaners working for the UvA. The cleaners raised the alarm via a petition complaining about a lack of respect from cleaning company Vebego.
On the 5th of November, the cleaners’ petition was published, expressing serious complaints towards Vebego’s management. For example, the cleaners are said to be rushed and pressurised, bullied and stalked when sick, waited on when visiting the toilet, and ignored and threatened when they raise these issues. The signatories of the petition demand that these abuses be addressed.
Besides Vebego cleaners, students and UvA employees also signed the petition. Now the Joint Assembly (in Dutch: GV) of the Central Works Council and the Central Student Council, has also joined the discussion on the alleged abuses. In a letter to the Executive Board, the GV expresses its “disgust” upon hearing the working conditions listed in the petition. The GV also referred to previous occasions when the poor working conditions of staff not employed by the university were raised. As recently as 2017, for instance, a meeting was organised at the UvA by FNV Cleaning because of excessive work pressure and lack of respect from managers.
As the Executive Board has previously stated that employees who work for the UvA, even if they are not directly employed, are entitled to the same working conditions and treatment as UvA employees, the GV believes that a socially safe and fair workplace should be guaranteed from the Executive Board.
Reaction
In a response, the UvA says it feels involved with the cleaning team and takes this signal seriously. “We immediately started talking to employees of Vebego and the FNV to hear what is going on. For us as a client, we find it very important that all employees are well taken care of, including those of our partners,” a spokesperson said. Furthermore, the UvA says it is closely following the conversations between the cleaners and Vebego, and assumes that the cleaners can continue their work in a pleasant and good way.
Update 10 December:
Vebego has now also responded to the petition. 'We are aware of the existence of a petition from our cleaners working at the University of Amsterdam. This petition came about in collaboration with trade union association FNV. As the petition has not yet been handed over to us, we cannot comment on its content. Of course, we do take the situation seriously and are in close contact with our cleaners, UvA and FNV.’
