This branch notes that:
Goldsmiths UCU members (GUCU) are in dispute with their employer over planned redundancies and measures introduced in the past year to reduce staff costs;
Following a formal ballot, since Jan 4th GUCU have been taking action short of a strike (ASOS), including a boycott of undergraduate and postgraduate assessments;
The planned cuts at Goldsmiths follow a pattern of financialisation increasingly seen across UK Higher Education Institutions, whereby financial pressures are used to justify restructures that cut front-line staff and increasingly take away autonomy from departments, teachers and researchers, increasingly centralising power (e.g. over budgets, decision-making, academic portfolios and procedures) with higher management;
That Goldsmiths has employed union-busting tactics to try to dissuade GUCU members from participating in the action, including a refusal of furlough to any staff involved in ASOS and public misrepresentation of the union’s positions.
This branch resolves to:
Issue a statement of solidarity with GUCU’s dispute;
Make a contribution of x to the strike funds.
Donations made to:
UCU Goldsmith College LA34; Welfare Fund
Account number 20392303 / Sort Code 60-83-01
Email passed motions to: gucu-admin@gold.ac.uk