The ultimate sanction available to UCU members

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Mike Harman

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Joined: 7-02-06

Jun 6 2008 09:12

Whatever happened to strikes?

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Many of you will by now be aware of the escalating situation at Keele University. You may have received my message yesterday via your branch officers or the activist list so apologies if you have already received this. However, given the gravity of the situation I am taking the seldom used action of emailing the whole UCU membership in order that all are aware of the situation and are able to support our colleagues at Keele. Many thanks for taking the time to read this and for your patience if you have already received.
** Greylisting of Keele to begin Friday 13 June **

Greylisting is the ultimate sanction available to UCU members and is only ever used where a university or college refuses to engage in meaningful negotiations with a branch or local association.

We are now asking colleagues in UCU, other trade unions, labour movement organisations and the international academic community to support our members in any way possible to bring management back to the table.

The term greylisting specifically means a voluntary boycott of academic and other university activities where appropriate at Keele.

Arising from the university's attempts to make 38 academic staff compulsorily redundant without meaningful negotiations, and now management's threats to deduct 25% of salaries a day from those taking part in ongoing lawful industrial action, Keele members are seeking the following from management:

· engage in meaningful negotiations with the branch and regional officials
· remove the threat of pay deductions relating to the ongoing action short of a strike (ASOS)
· commence the engagement of academic managers with teaching groups in discussion about future teaching programmes
· agree an acceptable process for voluntary severance - including an extension to the time period of the current scheme.

Colleagues are asked to show their support for Keele UCU in particular in the following ways with effect from Friday 13 June, 2008:

· do not attend, speak at or organise academic or other conferences at Keele
· do not apply for jobs at Keele
· do not give lectures at Keele
· do not accept positions as visiting professors or researchers at Keele
· do not write for any academic journal which is edited from Keele
· do not take up new contracts as external examiners for taught courses.

When you decide to support Keele UCU as above, make sure you tell management that you are participating in the greylisting and notify mailto:campaigns@ucu.org.uk

If you are currently or soon to be involved in any activity as above on or after 13 June please contact UCU campaigns team at mailto:campaigns@ucu.org.uk and we will provide guidance on how to support colleagues.

We need your help, urgently, to mobilise members and others to support the boycott if the university refuses to budge. Please forward this email to all members within your local association/branch, and encourage them to forward to others both in and outside the university. Every member is affected, every member must take part. Our ability to defend and advance our pay and conditions across higher and further education is dependent on our willingness to defend our colleagues.

Here are some things you can do right now to get the campaign off to a flying start:

** sign the petition calling on managers to stop the cuts and negotiate: http://www.ucu.org.uk/keelepetition

** write to Times Higher Education (THE) - mailto:letters@tsleducation.com - and The Guardian - mailto:letters@guardian.co.uk - outlining your support for the academic boycott at Keele and calling on management to negotiate with the local association officers.

** show solidarity now - send an individual message of support to UCU members at Keele by emailing them to mailto:campaigns@ucu.org.uk

** go straight to the top - email Professor Janet Finch, the vice-chancellor at Keele, to tell her that you will be supporting the academic boycott and asking her to begin negotiations immediately. E-mails should be polite, and to the point and should be sent to: mailto:j.v.finch@vco.keele.ac.uk and copied to Justine Stephens at mailto:jstephens@ucu.org.uk. Please also forward any replies to Justine.

** raise awareness - pass this email on to all your members, write an article for your university newsletter, raise the issue at your local union branch and get your branch or LA to write to the vice-chancellor, outlining your support for the boycott. If you would like a speaker on the dispute for a meeting, email Justine Stephens at mailto:jstephens@ucu.org.uk

Yours fraternally

Sally Hunt
UCU general secretary

john

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Joined: 9-07-06

Jun 6 2008 09:18

to be fair, they did have a strike in Keele.

I think the point is that in the rest of the UK a strike would be a secondary action, and therefore wouldn't have immunity from dismissal.

Mike Harman

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Joined: 7-02-06

Jun 6 2008 10:50

Boycotting a university during the summer break?

john

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Jun 6 2008 11:04

you're still missing the point - this is a 'UCU action' - not a 'Keele UCU action' - Keele UCU have been on strike, and arguably should do again.

But the UCU as a whole is extremely unlikely to go on what would effectively be a secondary action.

Mike Harman

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Joined: 7-02-06

Jun 6 2008 11:10

Jack wrote:

surely summer break is when stuff like that would have most effect- conferences, journals etc - Would have most effect? Whereas lack of students means a strike would less?

A strike around student registration would have a massive, massive financial impact.

@john: not really. I know workers at Keele have been on strike, this is more about the annoying and hyperbolic language in the e-mail - I've had about 6 of these in the past two days, I never get anything about actual strikes from UCU.

john

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Joined: 9-07-06

Jun 6 2008 11:30

Mike Harman wrote:

@john: not really. I know workers at Keele have been on strike, this is more about the annoying and hyperbolic language in the e-mail - I've had about 6 of these in the past two days, I never get anything about actual strikes from UCU.

ok, but that's because UCU is crap - we know that - for me, though, some collective action is better than none, so I'm quite happy to see this. If the university workforce can act collectively to exert some pressure on a university then that is a good thing. on the question of whether UCU is the vehicle to do it through, that is a different question.

Mike Harman

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Joined: 7-02-06

Jun 6 2008 11:35

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ok, but that's because UCU is crap - we know that

Yeah, but I wanted to rant about it.

Mike Harman

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Joined: 7-02-06

Jun 10 2008 08:47

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Thank you! Support floods in members at Keele:
In just over 48 hours over 150 messages of support have been received from across the world – here is just one that epitomizes the huge expression of solidarity:
‘Your solidarity in the face of an intransigent management is inspiring. As colleagues committed to providing programmes that attract trade unionists from across the country you should be very proud of your achievements. The loss of those programmes and your expertise would be devastating. Keep fighting for yourselves and all of us.’

Over 2500 UCU members have now signed the online petition, more than 10 high profile speakers have pulled out of three conferences so far which is putting some of
these in serious jeopardy, dozens of external examiners have contacted us seeking advice and a huge number of members have notified us that they will not be attending various lectures and conferences scheduled to take place at Keele over the next few months. In addition, Professor Richard Sennett, (LSE) UCU member and highly regarded contemporary American and British Sociologist has not only withdrawn from being the key note speaker at the upcoming ‘Beyond our Times’ conference but has also notified the vice-chancellor that he will not be accepting his honorary degree from Keele.