Update - UCL SMT spends ~£1M targeting employee

Between May and July we were compelled to write to our members no fewer than seven times regarding the conduct of UCL senior management in their handling of a case that began when two senior members of academic staff raised grievances against a member of UCL SMT. Instead of hearing these grievances, Senior Management decided to suspend one of the staff members and solicit complaints against them.

We have published an anonymised synopsis of the case.

The precedents in this case have wide implications for UCL's governance and its obligations to defend Academic Freedom.

What kind of University do we want UCL to become?

• The Provost attempted to select all three members of a Statute 18 panel to hear these disciplinary allegations. Following a petition and motion to Academic Board, the Provost conceded that one of them should be appointed by Academic Board (as Statute 18 requires).
• SMT/HR denied the member the right to have their Grievance heard. This issue is still ongoing. Please sign our petition requesting UCL guarantee to hear grievances (including against SMT members).
• Lawyers acting for HR asserted that paragraph 17 of Statute 18, which protects rights to due disciplinary process, is non-binding “guidance”. This issue is unresolved. Please sign our petition to the Provost and Chair of Council over Mandatory Procedures for Statute 18 Disciplinary Tribunals.

Over the summer, we learned that UCL is now estimated to have spent of the order of £1M on this case over the last 18 months, with costs continuing to mount. UCL is outspending the staff member many times over.

Colleagues will be aware we are currently in dispute over the imposition of a 1.8% pay increase (while RPI is in excess of 3%), and over the USS employers' refusal to pick up the costs of increases in employee contributions. £1M works out at £75 for every employee of UCL!

Each of these outstanding issues - the refusal to hear a serious grievance, the attempt to interpret parts of Statute 18 as non-binding and the misuse of UCL’s financial resources - are serious in their own right. 

What you can do

UCL UCU are calling for action by our members in two ways:

• Please review and sign the petitions above.
• Please attend our UCL UCU General Meeting next Wednesday 2 October, 13:00-14:00, Chadwick Building G08

We call on members of UCL UCU, and colleagues in our sister unions, to stand together to see effective and principled governance restored at UCL this academic year.