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Dear UCU colleagues I and colleagues have written to The Guardian <https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/22/we-refuse-to-act-as-external-examiners-until-universities-deal-with-staffing-issues>today to say that, as senior academics, we will be resigning as external examiners and refusing to take on new examining contracts for courses at universities and colleges across the UK and to urge colleagues to join us. We are refusing to act as external examiners because although we believe that this role is crucial in underpinning the quality of education provided to students, so too is the need to provide fair pay, pensions and job security for those who work in universities. In the current disputes between UCU and university employers the union has highlighted the proliferation of casualisation with half of frontline staff not having a secure contract; cuts in pension benefits which have left USS members worse off; shocking gender and ethnicity pay gaps; and a systemic culture of work overload which contributes to high levels of staff stress and illness. If you want to add your name to the list of those resigning external examiner posts and/or refusing to take on new contracts until universities take action to address these issues please click here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eGPHtP3ZavE3W6aW4Gkr8NUG7x9ot2WxulL8GsJ9Qkg/edit?usp=sharing,,--> *Please forward to people in your institution.* Best wishes Jane Professor Jane Holgate Professor of Work and Employment Relations Work and Employment Relations Division Leeds University Business School 31 Lyddon Terrace (room 2.05) University of Leeds LS2 9JT email:[log in to unmask] Mobile: 07960 798399 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES&A=1