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The Friday email: 14 January 2022
13 January 2022
Boycott Goldsmiths: solidarity with education workers fighting job cuts
Yesterday UCU announced a global academic boycott of Goldsmiths University of London over plans to sack up to 46 staff as part of a 'recovery plan' after years of financial mismanagement have left the university with £12.7m deficit. Staff have already taken 15 days strike action over the threatened redundancies but now the union is calling on the academic community to support our colleagues at Goldsmiths including by:
- refusing to speak at or organise academic or other conferences and events (with Goldsmiths or involving Goldsmiths)
- refusing to participate in non-research based partnership enterprises with Goldsmiths
- refusing to write for any academic journal which is edited at or produced by Goldsmiths
- refusing to accept new contracts as external examiners for taught courses
- relocating events due to take place at Goldsmiths to other venues.
Covid-19 safety in education
With many education workplaces reopening this month and concerns over high transmission rates of the Omicron variant, the union has published new guidance and written to employers setting out how we expect them to respond to the latest risks. You can read the full guidance here which includes calls for employers to:
- reduce onsite working while infection rates remain high
- ensure safe workloads for staff
- provide high quality masks and effective ventilation
- make sure social distancing and hygiene measures are in place
- allow staff to take time off for vaccinations and testing
- support staff who are required to self-isolate.
Higher education disputes latest
Our campaigns on university pay, pensions and conditions continue and we need your support to keep up the pressure.
UCU has now served notice on university employers where branches are taking action short of a strike (ASOS) that we will escalate our action to include working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, removing uploaded materials, and not rescheduling lectures or undertaking voluntary activities. You can find updated FAQs on how to support the action here.
The reballot of branches hoping to join the action in 2022 closes today and solidarity to all the local reps who've worked so hard to 'get the vote out' and encourage members to take part. The results will be published on Monday afternoon.
Branch delegates and the union's higher education committee (HEC) will be meeting next week to discuss and make decisions on next steps.
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