Cardiff UCU acknowledges that our branch leadership is not as racially diverse as we would like. We would like to invite all colleagues to get involved and would particularly welcome colleagues from diverse racial backgrounds. In turn, we pledge to act as anti-racist allies and to work with members across our branch to address issues without placing the burden on people of colour. We believe that diverse teams make the best decisions and seek to support and develop those teams in all parts of our branch.

We recognise that whilst the recent disclosures of racism in the school of dentistry will have shocked some members, for others this news just draws fresh attention to longstanding issues that are part of their lived experiences. We are committed to providing support to members who are experiencing (or have experienced) workplace racism. Cardiff UCU is also committed to improving the working environment at Cardiff University for staff of diverse ethnic and racial heritage. Although this is an area that we have been trying to be more active in, we acknowledge that progress has been slow, and we must do more.

In order to achieve this we will work with Cardiff University – seeking collaboration but also pushing and challenging the university where appropriate. Cardiff UCU also encourages all members to equip themselves to recognise and respond to discriminatory behaviour. In addition to sessions on ‘Holding Conversations about Race’ with  Susan Cousins during anti-racism week in February this year, we are funding two UCU members to attend Dr Muna Abdi’s two-day workshop “Becoming Anti-Racist Educators” and are planning to deliver/promote more anti-racist training opportunities in the future.