At least 1,000 staff at Cambridge University are earning below the "living wage", unions claim, around 20 times less than the annual package of the vice-chancellor.

Figures suggest some housekeepers, cleaners, waitresses, kitchen porters and gardeners take home the equivalent of less than ￡12,334 a year – the minimum wage for a 40-hour week.

At the same time, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the university’s head, earns almost ￡250,000. The average vice-chancellor is paid ￡219,000 but some earn more than ￡400,000, including benefits.

The National Union of Students published the figures as it launched a joint campaign today – alongside Unison – to highlight the stark pay differentials in British higher education.

They are lobbying for all colleges, universities and student unions to pay a “living wage” for all staff.

It has pledged to publish figures “naming and shaming” those universities that pay large numbers of staff below the minimum wage.

Cambridge insisted that the staff named in the research were trainees or those on "zero-hour contracts" who only work when it is available.

Dannie Grufferty, NUS vice-president, said: “There is clearly an inherent injustice in the average vice-chancellor getting paid more than 17-times more than a minimum wage employee on their campus.

“Colleges and universities are a community and everyone within that community needs to be treated with dignity and that means paying them a wage they can live on for their work.

“Employers at colleges and universities have six-months to get their house in order before we name and shame those that allow such shocking disparities to continue.”

The NUS and Unison published a breakdown of the number of staff working centrally for Cambridge and its individual colleges on less than the minimum wage.

But Cambridge insisted last night that its minimum pay levels have increased, with those on the lowest wages receiving a higher rise than those on upper pay spines.

英国工会称，剑桥大学至少1000名职工薪水低于“基本生活工资”，是大学副校长年收入的近1/20。

数据显示，按一周工作40小时来算，某些女管家、清洁工、女服务员、厨房杂工、园丁每年实得工资还不到最低水平12334英镑。

与此同时，大学校长、教授雷斯泽克?伯瑞奇威茨爵士年薪近25万英镑。副校长的平均年薪为21.9万英镑，某些副校长年薪加福利甚至超过了40万英镑。

发布这一数据的英国国家学生联盟今日联合英国工会发起了一场运动，目的是凸显英国高等教育界存在的赤裸裸的收入差别。

他们正面向各个高校和学生会进行游说，呼吁给所有职工发放“基本生活工资”。

国家学生联盟声称将发表这些数据，“点名指出并羞辱”那些给众多职工发放不到最低线工资的大学。

剑桥大学坚称调查中提到的职员是培训生或是有需要时才工作的小时工。

国家学生联盟的副主席丹尼?格鲁菲提说：“副校长的平均工资是校内员工最低工资的17倍还多，这显然是内在体制的不公平。”

“高校是一个社区，社区内的每个人都需要有尊严的待遇，这意味着给他们发放的工资必须能让他们维持基本生活。

“高校的雇主们有六个月时间来整顿薪酬体制，如果他们允许这种令人震惊的不平等继续存在，我们将对它们进行点名批评。”

国家学生联盟和工会发布的这一分析报告涵盖的工资不到最低线的职员主要在剑桥大学及其独立分院工作。

不过剑桥大学昨晚坚称，它的最低工资水平已经有所提高，那些底层收入职员的薪水涨幅将超过高层收入群。

Vocabulary:

kitchen porter: 厨房杂工

lobby: 对……进行游说

pledge: 保证给予；许诺；发誓

zero-hour contract: 每周工作时间长短不固定的一种合同，雇员随叫随到，按小时结算工资。

breakdown: 分析

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