Strike Bulletin #4 | Cardiff UCU

It’s been great to have so many of us coming down to the picket lines.

We’ve had consistent representation at individual schools, and as for each strike day we all gathered at 11am at University Main Building to hear from students, professional services, and a colleague from Optometry – a veteran of strike action in US higher education, where picketing was illegal. Snow and cold notwithstanding, we’d love to have even more of us tomorrow.

These bulletins are a great way we all (including very recent joiners) can keep in touch with what is going on when:

visit this website daily at www.cardiffucu.org.uk
and
follow us on Twitter at @CardiffUCU

Hearing from our Vice-Chancellor
Our actions have had an impact! Colin Riordan has issued a public statement – you can find it on the university’s Twitter account. The vice-chancellor has welcomed the talks between UUK and UCU and stressed the need to find a solution. Cardiff UCU’s response is also available through Twitter, but here’s a highlight: ‘We’re encouraged that the Cardiff University Vice Chancellor has acknowledged the need for Universities UK to talk meaningfully with the union… Any settlement needs to be a fair, sustainable, long term solution for both employers and staff.’ If you’re online, please lend your voice in reply to the statement.

Cardiff University UCU response to the recent @cardiffuni statement about the #USSstrike pensions dispute (see the Uni statement here: https://t.co/lsKQ7omz94) pic.twitter.com/Tap4oG3dGa

— Cardiff UCU (@CardiffUCU) 27 February 2018

Other voices
We’ve had lots of support from other unions. Crucially, representatives from UCU have visited Cardiff Trades Council to drum up support for the Fighting Fund. This work is ongoing: we want to build up the fund to help those members most in need. If you know of other groups that we could turn to for support, let us know.

Llyr Gruffydds, AM for North Wales for Plaid Cymru, asked the Welsh Government to support academic staff and encourage the universities to find a meaningful solution to our dispute. Julie James, speaking on behalf of the government, wants the universities to come to the table with an open mind and believes staff ought to be remunerated properly. The education minister, Kirsty Williams, will speak with UCU representatives soon, and we hope that gives incentive for the vice chancellors to sort this dispute out quickly.

Teach-Outs continue
Today we’ve been continuing our programme of Teach-Outs at the Cathays Community Centre in the afternoons. Students, staff, and members of the public are all welcome, and it is a little bit warmer than the picket line if you need a place to shelter and sit down but still want to keep company with fellow union members. Yesterday’s theme was on the qualities of the university; today, our theme was resistance, with a variety of talks. If there’s a talk you’d like to share, get in touch!

Tomorrow – 28th February
We hope that as many of us as possible can turn out tomorrow, both for the pickets and 11am Rally!

As it’s the last day for this block of strikes, we want a good showing at the picket lines – please ask your colleagues to join us. We will gather for our rally at Main Building at 11am. There will be music, speeches, and also some guests. Things are moving, so join us and keep up the momentum! You’re all doing a great job.

Best,
Cardiff UCU Strike Communications Team

Further images from today: