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See below for support from UCU and the local student's union for Salford's Uni's industrial action ballot over proposed job losses. Best wishes Ralph Professor Ralph Darlington Professor of Employment Relations Salford Business School, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT Phone: +44 (0)161-295-5456 email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> http://www.business.salford.ac.uk/staff/ralphdarlington British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA): www.buira.org<http://www.buira.org/> Editorial Board member Work, Employment and Society http://wes.sagepub.com/ Secretary of the Manchester Industrial Relations Society: www.mirs.org.uk<http://www.mirs.org.uk/> [SBS logo 70]<http://www.business.salford.ac.uk/> From: Simon Renton, Vice President, UCU [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 31 May 2012 15:00 To: Darlington Ralph Subject: A message of support and a reminder to vote: Dear colleague, A message of support and a reminder to vote: I wanted to write to UCU members at Salford to thank you for making me so welcome yesterday at your branch meeting. I found the determination and resolve in such a packed room really inspiring. I also wanted to take the opportunity to reiterate one message from yesterday. This ballot is critically important for everyone at Salford. Your employer will be watching what happens in this vote very carefully and it's no exaggeration to say that the result will affect everyone at the University, not just those whose jobs are at risk now. If your employer is permitted to behave in this way now, no one can feel secure at Salford. But your dispute is also an issue for the national union. We know that other employers will be planning major changes in our sector and I have no doubt that they will be watching what happens at Salford. So I want to take this opportunity to reassure you that the national union will continue to fully support your branch's campaign. I'm also really pleased to report that your campaign is gaining support from students. Your President, Chris Sheehy, has met with the Students Union and they have forwarded a message pledging their full support for UCU's campaign, which I have copied at the bottom of this email. There's no doubt that the campaign at Salford is growing in strength. But winning this ballot and getting a big turnout are the most things we can be doing at this moment. Nothing will speak more loudly or clearly to your employer. So please make sure you use your vote. If you have not already voted, for whatever reason, please, locate your ballot paper as a matter of urgency, fill it in and post it off today. Thank you for supporting your union. Yours sincerely Simon Renton, Vice President for Higher Education, UCU Statement of support from Caroline Dangerfield, President, Salford Students' Union: "The University of Salford Students' Union fundamentally believes that this latest round of redundancies at the University of Salford will significantly affect students. It is naïve to assume otherwise. Indeed, even before being officially imposed, the redundancy proposals have already begun to negatively impact upon the student experience. The speed and severity of the proposed cuts has only served to breed staff disillusionment, something which can only impact upon the service these staff provide to students. The lack of communication and consultation with students on the part of the University with regard to the cuts has lead to a culture of misinformation. Students do not know what is happening to their courses, to their lecturers, or even, in the case of Italian, to their programme of study. The information provided by the University has been uncoordinated, inaccessible, and generally insufficient to assuage the ever-changing and often inaccurate gossip circulating around the University and on social media. "The Union acknowledges the University's dire financial situation, but believes that while equally swift and equally deep government changes to the landscape of higher education have certainly had a significant impact, the blame cannot be pinned upon the government alone. Further, these issues do not diminish the University's responsibility to full consultation and communication with students in large scale decisions and changes that have a substantial effect on the student experience. "The Union fully supports the UCU in their campaign to save staff at the University. For the Union however, the fight goes beyond saving the jobs of individual staff members. We want to ensure that students are at the very heart of strategic decision making in the University. Students should have a say in the direction their University is taking - and since they will have to pay triple for a University education from September, this has never been more important.'