| Branch negotiators met with the Vice-Chancellor last Wednesday (13th September) to discuss the punitive pay deductions imposed on members at Cardiff University for their participation in the Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB). On Friday (15th September) we received an offer from the Vice-Chancellor, which was discussed by branch members at an Emergency General Meeting that afternoon. |
| The offer was that the University will not make any deductions for MAB participation taken after 1st August 2023, subject to staff members fully re-engaging in and prioritising marking duties, with all marking completed and in SIMS by 6 October 2023 at the latest. This offer is in exchange for the branch calling off next week’s local strike action (25th – 29th September). |
| Branch members voted to accept this offer and this morning the branch Executive Committee wrote to the Vice-Chancellor accordingly. The strike action next week will therefore not take place. |
| We have clarified for the Vice-Chancellor that the branch remains profoundly unhappy with how salary deductions in relation to the MAB took place and that we will continue to press the University Executive Board to return any and all punitive elements of deductions. |
| We have also requested that that individual extensions to the 6th October deadline be granted in cases where such large marking loads mean that despite prioritising, members are unlikely to be able to meet the deadline. Please contact the branch (ucu@cardiff.ac.uk) if you will be unable to meet this deadline and an extension is not granted for you. We remind members that while the MAB, and our local strike action have been called off, our Action Short of Strike, which includes working contracted hours, remains in force until the end of the current mandate (i.e., until 00.00, midnight 1st October). |
| This has been an extremely difficult period for many members, especially for those participating in the MAB, and re-engaging in making duties will come with further challenges. Please check in on your colleagues who have been participating in the MAB and offer support. Unity is our strength, and these colleagues need our solidarity. |
| For those who did not participate in the MAB, please donate what you can to the solidarity fund. The offer we have accepted from the Vice-Chancellor will not see lost salary returned to members who participated in the MAB: please consider donating the salary you would have lost by striking next week to help these members who have carried much of this dispute for us. Please donate directly to help make sure the whole of your donation goes to members:Account Name: UCU Cardiff LA12 Fighting FundSort code: 60-83-01 Account no: 20341260 Or through GoFundMe (which charges a fee):https://www.gofundme.com/f/cardiff-ucu-marking-and-assessment-fighting-fund |
| Finally, balloting for a new mandate of industrial action opens tomorrow (Tuesday 19th September). Please vote and get in touch if you don’t receive your ballot paper. |
Cardiff UCU
