Hi all,
forwarded message from UCU about the situation at Keele Uni and
management's refusal to come to the table with UCU members there. Please
respect the greylist and pass on to others...
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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 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:
Non attendance, speaking at or organising 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
[log in to unmask]
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
[log in to unmask] 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 further and higher 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:
https://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3015
1. Write to Times Higher Education (THES) [log in to unmask] and
The Guardian [log in to unmask] outlining your support for the
academic boycott at Keele and calling on management to negotiate with
the local association officers.
2. Show solidarity now. Send an individual message of support to UCU
members at Keele by emailing them to [log in to unmask]
3. Go straight to the top! E-mail 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:
[log in to unmask] and copied to Justine Stephens at
[log in to unmask] Please also forward any replies to Justine at
[log in to unmask]
4. 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 [log in to unmask]
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