Motions and Amendments for debate at the GM, Thursday 1st February, 3-4pm

31 January 2024

Five motions and 2 amendments have been submitted for members to debate and vote on at the General Meeting on 1st February.

This will be a hybrid meeting, taking place:

Thursday 1st February from 15:00 - 16:00 in Maths 505, Gordon Street (25) and also online via Zoom

There is no need to register if you are attending in person, but to participate via zoom you will need to register by 2.50pm tomorrow using the registration link emailed to members.

See Appendix 1 below for motions received on

Our industrial dispute, next steps
Trade union day of action for Gaza
Branch Comms on Palestine
Cuba solidarity
Greek trade unions

See Appendix 2 below for amendments received on item 1 and item 2.

The agenda will be as follows:

Solidarity speech from Rachel Shank (Aberdeen UCU)
Motions and amendments (industrial strategy; Gaza day of action; Palestine comms; Cuba solidarity; Greek trade unions)
End at 16.00 sharp
UCL UCU Social Event at Marquis Cornwallis Pub, upstairs function room, 16.30 onwards (food from 6pm)

UCL UCU Executive
www.ucl.ac.uk
@ucl_ucu

Appendix 1: Motions

Motion 1

Stop the wave of redundancies, rebuild the fightback

Proposer: Sean Wallis

UCL UCU notes:

1. No further steps in the Four Fights dispute have been announced since the ballot in November.

2. The issues regarding equal pay, workloads, casualisation, and pay remain unresolved.

3. Without an active dispute on any issue, employers are increasing their cuts and attacks.

4. UUK has published a report saying that many universities could be in serious financial difficulties next year.* The main drivers are increased TPS costs in post-92 universities and risks to international student recruitment.

5. At least 15 UCU HE branches are already facing large redundancy programmes.

6. As a union, we need to make collective decisions about what happens next.

UCL UCU resolves to:

1. Call for a SHESC on the future of the Four Fights/JNCHES disputes, including a potential TPS dispute, and resisting redundancies.

2. Support branches resisting redundancies in the meantime.

*https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/financial-sustainability-uk-universities

Motion 2

Motion for participation in the National Day of Workplace Action for Gaza on February 7

Proposed by Ilektra Christidi

UCL UCU notes

· That Israel is continuing its offensive on Palestinians in Gaza despite a global mass mobilisation in solidarity with Palestine calling for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the siege on Gaza, and lifting the air, land, and sea blockade.

· UCU Congress motions 8 and 9 (2023) supporting BDS and protests against Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

· That our own branch supports a call for ceasefire and stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, based on the motions passed in the EGM of 27 October 2023.

· That UCU nationally supports the 7 February day of action called for by the Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and calls on every branch to arrange a protest at their workplace on that day, and to ask student and other campus unions to participate.

UCL UCU resolves to

· Support students’ right to walk out, protest and demonstrate, and call on members to act in solidarity with them.

· Take part in the 7 Feb national day of workplace action #StandWithGaza by calling its members to a protest during the lunch hour, along with students and other campus unions.

Motion 3

Motion re Comms

Proposer: Neil Davies, Division of Psychiatry

Seconder: Bettina Friedrich, Epidemiology and Health Care

Alinda Damsma, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Vanessa Freedman, Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science

Sonia Gollance, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Lily Kahn, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Jennifer Rode, Department of Culture Communication and Media, IoE

Patty Kostovka, Institute of Risk & Disaster Reduction

François Guesnet, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Pete Duncan, SSEES

Sacha Stern, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Masha Sibiryakova, SSEES

Notes:

● Recent communications from UCL-UCU on Israel-Palestine have caused major concerns for many members within the branch.

● 50% of the emails sent by the branch since October 2023 have been related to Israel-Palestine.

● The branch’s communications have not contributed to reducing the notable tensions on the UCL campus connected with the Israel/Palestine conflict and have negatively impacted Jewish and Muslim and Israeli and Palestinian students and staff.

● The low attendance at the EGM on 27 October 2023 of around 80 colleagues or just over 2 % of the current membership ca 3,600.

Believes:

● Our branch must facilitate dialogue and contribute to a balanced, considerate and professional discussion on the topic of Israel/Palestine on campus.

● The branch should aim to try to de-escalate tensions on campus around the Israel/Palestine conflict and ensure that all members from every nation, ethnicity and religion feel welcomed and safe in our branch.

● The branch’s primary objective should be to improve working conditions at UCL and address the ongoing cost of living crisis that staff face.

Resolves:

● To maintain a social media presence that reflects our values of collegiality and professionalism by amplifying the voices of experts, in keeping with UCL’s exceptional reputation in UK higher education.

● To maintain the highest levels of professionalism at all times, especially when interacting with our students on social media.

Motion 4

Cuba Vive – End the blockade on health

Proposed by Waseem Ahmed

This branch notes that:

Cuba’s commitment to health for all has helped the country achieve world-renowned health services for its people despite 62 years of an illegal US blockade.

Today, these achievements are under threat. A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic crisis, climate change, extra sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, and inclusion on the US’s State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list have taken a terrible toll on the health service.

The country’s dedicated health professionals struggle with limited resources to treat patients. From surgical supplies to spare parts, paracetamol to sutures: items that are in plentiful supply in the UK are increasingly hard to come by or cost up to three or four times more. Some health indicators have declined and there has been an increase in preventable deaths and suffering.

Today’s shortages are unprecedented. After leading the region for many years, Cuba’s impressive health indicators are suffering. Between 2019 and 2022 the infant mortality rate rose from 5 per thousand live births to 7.5.

Since US companies won’t sell to them, Cuban doctors are forced to adapt larger catheters to use for infants with renal failure who need dialysis; many of the 450 Cuban children diagnosed with childhood cancer each year are forced to go without the appropriate drugs; and 20,000 Cuban families waiting for diagnoses of genetic diseases have not been able to receive adequate care because the technology needed to treat them contains over ten per cent US components and therefore can’t be sold to Cuba.

In the midst of this, Cuba’s commitment to internationalism continues to inspire. From sending doctors to help treat COVID patients in 45 countries during the pandemic, to training medical students from the global south, including 144 Palestinians students currently studying at Havana’s Latin American Medical School.

Cuba’s continued inclusion on the SSOT list threatens Cuba’s ability to continue its international health programmes as well as provide health care for its own population.

We welcome the Cuba Vive medical appeal launched by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and UNSION regions in January 2024 which aims to raise money to buy and send containers of life-saving medical aid to Cuba.

This branch agrees to support Cuba Vive by:

Donating to the appeal

Raising awareness and encourage support by publicising and distributing appeal materials to members

Promoting the #OfftheList campaign to remove Cuba from the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list

Motion 5

Motion of solidarity to staff in Greek universities opposing the bill that permits the establishment of private universities.

Proposed by Ilektra Christidi

UCL UCU express our solidarity to colleagues and students in Greece who mobilise against the establishment of private universities in Greece.

Greek universities remain tuition-free to this date due to the decades-long, relentless action by student and labour unions. This bill will deliver a fatal blow to free public higher education, ultimately forcing public universities to impose tuition fees to compete against private providers.

In the UK, we know the consequences of the marketisation of Higher Education only too well; the only results this bill is guaranteed to achieve are worse working conditions for staff, barriers to Higher Education- especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds- and research and teaching dictated by the market and not by the needs of society.

In Solidarity,

UCL UCU

Appendix 2: Amendments

Amendment 1 - to Motion 1