Numerous Cardiff UCU members will be participating in and speaking at this University event to mark the International Day of Disabled Persons. It looks to be a fascinating session, and we encourage members to attend.
Category Archives: General News
Disability Day of Action: 21 November 2018
Branch disability rep Irina Erchova and branch President Ryan Prout write:
UCU are holding a Day of Action for disability equality in education on Wednesday 21 November to launch disability history month. Continue reading
Critically Examining Cardiff University’s Finances: A New local UCU working group needs you!
One of the Union’s biggest strengths during the pensions dispute came from rank and file members’ own critical examination of USS and UUK’s positions on our pensions. Members locally, and at UK level, continue to use their expertise as researchers to effectively demolish the case for decimating our retirement incomes.
We now need to draw on our members’ expertise around the University’s finances, business strategies, and spending priorities.
Our employers get away with redundancies, increased marketisation, inequality, casualisation, and cuts to pay and conditions by arguing they are financially inevitable. But as we know, cuts are always about priorities and choices, and we can much better counter these claims when we have our own facts, figures, and analysis to use in disputes and campaigns.
In short, knowledge is power: help us generate this essential information! If you’d like to be part of this working group please email UCU@cardiff.ac.uk to express an interest.
Branch Solidarity Network’s “Activist Handbook”: How to fight back and win Trade Union disputes
The UCU Branch Solidarity Network has just released a free, downloadable, “Activists’ Handbook” which collects bags of inspiring and amazing examples of UCU activism at UK universities and gives guidance on how to organize around a wide range of different issues. It’s an excellent resource, and well worth checking out.
We’re super pleased to see a number of contributions involving Cardiff UCU members in here. It references our on-going workload campaign, as well as the fantastic Common Room events run for Cardiff staff and students.
You can access the book for free.
The Common Room Autumn Semester Dates: Self care, staff-student solidarity, & democratizing the University
Over the coming weeks the Common Room collective (among them, numerous Cardiff UCU members) will be hosting diverse sessions in venues across the university on Wednesdays 12noon until 1pm (see the flyer for the full programme).
Some of the sessions will feature presentations and thought-provoking discussion, others will be more focussed on practical activities. The aim of all events is to make a difference to the way we think of ourselves and each other in relation to the university. In doing so, Season 2 aims to continue the original ethos of the Common Room:
- Cultivating care & value in the academy
- Sustaining staff-student solidarity
- Reclaiming & democratising “the university”
One of the aims of the Common Room is to increase solidarity amongst all staff and students; the Common Room is open to all students – undergraduate and postgraduate – and all staff – academic and non-academic – alike. Please send a link to this post to any groups or individuals you think might be interested in this mission.
Anyone can join the Common Room Outlook Group by following this link.
Reminder: National Unity Demonstration against Fascism and Racism, Saturday 17 November
At the recent TUC Congress, UCU raised a motion, seconded by PCS, noting the disturbing rise of racist and fascist activity across Europe. Congress agreed the need for a mass movement in Britain to halt the growth of the racist and fascist right and supported the call on the General Council to co-organise the national unity demo in London on 17th November, called by Stand Up To Racism and supported by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and a number of key figures from Labour, the trade unions and faith communities.
Members of Cardiff UCU executive committee will be attending the march with the branch banner and we would like to encourage members to attend. For more info please email standuptoracismcardiff@gmail.com.
Transport info:
Action on threat of compulsory redundancies
Following media reports of possible staffing cuts at Cardiff University, the University’s representatives at this week’s Joint Consultative and Negotiating Forum refused to rule out the threat of compulsory redundancies as a consequence of the Size and Shape Review and the Transforming Cardiff/Transffurfio Caerdydd programme.
We hope that our fears prove unfounded and we are keen to work with the University to avoid redundancies, as we have done before.
As a result, and in accordance with the unanimous resolution passed at Wednesday’s General Meeting, UCU has written to the Vice-Chancellor invoking the Disputes Resolution Procedure and requesting that a meeting of the Joint Negotiation Committee be convened on this issue.
National Unity Demonstration 17 November, London
UCU is supporting the National Unity demonstration which takes place in central London on 17 November. More details are available on the UCU website.
Coaches will be going from Cardiff, Ceredigion and Swansea. It may be possible to put on additional transport, but this will depend on numbers.
If you would like to go, please contact the UCU office at ucu@cardiff.ac.uk.
UCU Equality Groups Conference 2018, Manchester
The UCU Equality Groups Conference 2018 will be held at Manchester Conference Centre from Thursday 29 November – Saturday 1 December 2018.
The conference holds four half-day conferences and a plenary session for all quality strands. This means that not all delegates will need to attend for the full 3 days. The sessions are:
- Thursday 29 November, 09:30 – 13:00: Disabled Members Annual Meeting
- Thursday 29 November, 14:00 – 17:30: Women Members’ Conference
- There will be a dinner for all delegates attending for each strand on Thursday evening from 19:30
- Friday 30 November, 09:00 – 13:00 Plenary session and workshops
- Friday 30 November, 14:00 – 17:30: Black Members’ Conference
- Saturday 1 December, 09:30 – 13:00: LGBT Members Conference
Further details, including registration, are on the UCU website.
Rethinking the University: Past, Present and Possible Futures
Members of Frontline and PAC have launched the new initiative “Rethinking the University: Past, Present, and Possible Futures”. We share an interest in university governance and leadership structures, the way in which decisions are made, and the future of universities and higher education more generally.
We have organised a seminar series to provide historic and contemporary perspectives on how universities are run. We have invited a range of British and international speakers to share their insights about the workings of universities, addressing questions such as: How have universities worked in the past? What types of governance models exist across universities in Britain and Continental Europe? How could, and how should universities work in the future? In short, the seminar series aims to provide a fresh look at an institution, in which we all work, but not many understand.
A total of 6 lunch-time seminars are planned and all will be held on Thursdays between 1 and 2 pm. The speakers include:
- Dr Eric Lybeck (Exeter, UK) – 21 February
- Bernhard Chesnau (Dresden, Germany) – 14 March
- Dr Elisabeth Morrish (York, UK) – 11 April
- Prof. Johan Wagemans (Leuven, Belgium) – 9 May
- Dr Alison Wood (Cambridge, UK) – date TBA
- Prof. Felicity Callard (London, UK) – date TBA
The talks will hopefully provide an impetus for interesting and fruitful discussions about what kind of university we are hoping for in the future. Senior management will be invited to the series, and it is envisioned that after all guest speakers, there will be at least one discussion session focussing specifically on practices at our own university. This event is run in association with UCU.
If you are interested in contributing to future events of this initiative, please get in touch with Frank Sengpiel (sengpielf@cardiff.ac.uk) or Christoph Teufel (teufelc@cardiff.ac.uk).