University of Brighton solidarity appeal (donations & greylisting)

Brighton UCU is in its fifth week of indefinite strike against compulsory redundancies, its seventh consecutive week of strike action in total.

Notices of compulsory termination were issued last week to 23 academic staff, on top of the 80 that have accepted voluntary redundancy rather than compete for their jobs under threat of the sack, nearly 10% of lecturers.

In addition to the trauma suffered by targeted staff, job losses on this scale will have a devastating effect on the quality and range of the education the University offers its students.

Please donate what you can using the Crowdfunding page for individual donations. UCU members are determined not to back down in the face of management attacks but are now struggling to pay their bills. Many UCU members at Brighton are also suffering indefinite 100% deductions for participation in the MAB.

UCU is now calling for a global boycott (greylisting) of the University of Brighton. This is a very serious sanction which means UCU is asking its members, other trade unions, and the international academic community not to apply for jobs or positions such as external examiners or visiting professors, not to speak at conferences or write for publications, or otherwise engage with the activities of the university.

This attack on members came as a complete shock, in part because the University had spent over £50 million on building projects in the last two years.

Brighton UCU report that the huge spend on new buildings is part of a plan apparently intended to allow the University to grow student numbers. However, members rightfully questioned what use these expensive buildings would be if staff teams were decimated with no-one left to teach core modules. The student-staff ratio is already the 97th worst in the UK. Increasing student numbers with over 100 fewer lecturers will clearly create worse conditions for all. Staff numbers need to be increased.

Local negotiators have told management that the autumn term will not start unless every single compulsory redundancy is dropped.

For queries about greylisting or more information about the campaign, please contact Brighton UCU: brightonucu@gmail.com.

UCL UCU passed a motion of solidarity with University of Brighton UCU at our AGM.

UCL UCU Executive Committee
www.ucl.ac.uk/ucu 
@ucl_ucu