Statement and FAQ to students from the staff union (GUCU) about industrial action in Spring 2022:
Dear students,
As many of you already know, the staff union (GUCU) had a branch meeting on Monday 6 December where members committed to escalating the strike into the spring term, unless SMT (Senior Management Team) agreed to the union’s demands for no compulsory redundancies, transparency over the College’s finances and an alternative plan to reduce the College’s financial deficit. In spite of three weeks of strike action last term and active support from students and sabbatical officers, SMT remain committed to redundancies, which could result in up to 46 full time positions being cut from academic and administrative staffing. Although our collective efforts have pushed back SMT’s timeline and protected jobs until now, the outcome of the collective consultation process has been a rejection of all the counterproposals for savings presented by staff and campus trade unions. This leaves the union with no choice but to escalate the dispute by declaring its intention to strike again. In a branch meeting on Wednesday 19 January, the staff union’s membership voted in favour of strike action this term and for an escalating approach, meaning that not all days of the week will be strike days. This allows course convenors and seminar leaders to be in touch with their students, teach and extend support on working days. At the same time, UCU nationally has announced additional strike days in the national disputes around pensions and the Four Fights, which are in addition to our local action. The proposed dates for GUCU strike action this term are as follows:
Week 1: Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 February (2 days)
Week 2: Monday 14, Tuesday 15, Wednesday 16, Thursday 17 and Friday 18 February (5 days)
*Reading Week: Monday 21st and Tuesday 22 February (2 days)
Week 3: Monday 28 February, Tuesday 1, Wednesday 2, Thursday 3 and Friday 4 March (5 days)
Week 3 of strike action (Monday 28 February – Friday 4 March) will be coordinated with Goldsmiths UNISON, the union for campus facilities workers (security guards, cleaners) and professional services staff.
SMT has the power to stop further strike action at any time by coming to an agreement with GUCU. We understand that the possibility of further strike action is upsetting for many students, and acknowledge that strike action has already caused a lot of disruption to your studies and lives. Strike action is something that the union escalates to, it is never the first course of action taken. The decision to strike again this term is not being taken lightly and further action is being planned because after months of negotiating, SMT are unwilling to meet the union’s demands and take the redundancies off the table. These redundancies are the first of several ‘tranches’ of upheaval promised by SMT so it is vital that we continue to resist the restructure. Stopping strike action now would put us back to square one and reverse the incredibly hard work that has been done by students, sabbatical officers, union members and the executive team.
We will be in touch again shortly with a date for an open Q&A for students where we will listen and respond to all your queries and concerns.
In the meantime, please see a comprehensive FAQ about strike action see here.
In solidarity,
GUCU
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FAQ for students on strike action in the spring term 2022
- Why are more strikes happening in the Spring Term?
In spite of three weeks of strike action last term and active support from students and sabbatical officers, SMT have made no concessions and the proposed 46 redundancies are still on the table. SMT (Senior Management Team) has also failed to be transparent over the College’s finances and has not agreed to an alternative plan to reduce the College’s financial deficit. This leaves the union with no choice but to escalate the dispute by declaring its intention to strike again. In a branch meeting on the 19th of January, the staff union’s membership voted in favour of strike action this term and for an escalating approach, meaning that not all days of the week will be strike days. This allows course convenors and seminar leaders to be in touch with their students, teach and extend support on working days.
- What are the dates for the strike period in the Spring Term?
The proposed dates for GUCU strike action this term are as follows:
Week 1: Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 February (2 days)
Week 2: Monday 14, Tuesday 15, Wednesday 16, Thursday 17 and Friday 18 February (5 days)
*Reading Week: Monday 21st and Tuesday 22 February (2 days)
Week 3: Monday 28 February, Tuesday 1, Wednesday 2, Thursday 3 and Friday 4 March (5 days)
Week 3 of strike action (Monday 28 February – Friday 4 March) will be coordinated with Goldsmiths UNISON, the union for campus facilities workers (security guards, cleaners) and professional services staff.
- Is this a done deal?
SMT has the power to stop further strike action at any time by coming to an agreement with the staff union (GUCU). Strike action is something that the union escalates to, it is never the first step of action. However, the union’s demands have yet to be taken seriously by SMT so management have left the union with no choice but to plan for another strike period in the second term.
- Why is this dispute happening?
Goldsmiths Senior Management Team (SMT) is planning mass staff redundancies across departments this term, as part of a wider scheme of redundancies to be rolled out over two years. They have informed us that they plan to cut 46 jobs this year. All of these redundancies are connected to a restructure of the university which is clearly based on ideological rather than financial motives. Key to the restructure is the introduction of a ‘common curriculum’ which will mean that all students across College have to take obligatory, credit-bearing modules on general topics, rather than specific to your choice of degree.The survival of courses in the departments of History and English and Creative Writing are in serious jeopardy, and the professional services cuts (to staff in timetabling, student support and other areas) risk causing chaos and harming student experience. In response, GUCU members voted to take 15 days of strike action last term, beginning Tuesday 23 November until Monday 13 December 2021, in order to pressure SMT to take these damaging job cuts off the table.
The staff union has been negotiating with the SMT for months and during the last strike period in order to come to an agreement and stop the strike action. After reviewing the college’s finances and negotiating with SMT, GUCU’s current position is that the restructure and the proposed redundancies are not financially necessary in order to make up the college’s deficit. In other words, SMT doesn’t need to fire 46 people in order to fix college finances. The 46 redundancies that unions on campus are currently resisting are the first of several ‘tranches’ of upheaval promised by SMT so it is vital that we continue to resist the restructure. Stopping strike action now would put us back to square one and reverse all the incredible hard work that has been done by students, sabbatical officers, those working in the teachout programme and the negotiation team. We need to declare further action to keep pressure up and keep building on all the work that has been done over the past few months by students, staff, sabbatical officers and organisers.
- How will further industrial action impact students and their studies?
Much like the strike action of 2021, classes led by union members on strike days will not take place and striking staff and students will be present on the picket line and in teachouts. Teachouts are collaborative spaces for engaging with vital and important issues that impact us all. They are non-hierarchical spaces for exchange, consciousness raising, and organising that are facilitated by staff and students. We call them teachouts as they leave behind the university classroom. These take place in the SU and in other buildings near the main Goldsmiths campus such as the CCA and Laurie Grove. For more information on teachouts and to have a look at what spaces were created by students and for students see the teachout website for the 2021 winter strikes. We welcome all students to participate and organise in these spaces!
The following areas of campus will not be picketed to allow students to access services and the SU building:
Library
Prayer room
Student services
Wellbeing and disability services
Art studios
Practice studios in MCCS/ PSH
Music rooms
Laurie Grove Baths
SU building
Immigration – DTH
You can find a campus map with information on how to access these services while not crossing the picket here:
- Is the staff union fighting the restructure and redundancies in any other ways?
The staff union has also called for an academic boycott of Goldsmiths. Academic boycott is a strategy of industrial action taken by the union designed to sanction the university and draw attention to the disastrous choices and actions that the Senior Management Team (SMT) have taken to make up to 46 staff redundant (for more information on GUCU strike action last term and the reasons for the strike see here). An academic boycott primarily affects events organised by the university and its research partnerships, and asks for solidarity from the global academic community to boycott the institution until management agrees to negotiate towards the union’s demands.
The academic boycott does not target any core teaching that is important for students. Both Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) gallery and the Students’ Union are exempt from this boycott, so all events will carry on as usual and you are encouraged to attend. Academics and speakers visiting Goldsmiths, whose work or presence is part of the core content of a course are also not required to engage in the boycott so that teaching can be carried out as normal. Many of Goldsmiths’ courses are designed to accommodate regular guest lecturers and practitioners and so these activities are specifically not included in this action to reduce disruption to students and learning activities.
For more information about this and how to get involved please see the following FAQ.
How can students support the strike?
Join a student organising group that is involved in resisting the restructure on campus. Students showed incredible solidarity and put a lot of work into supporting the strikes last term. To get involved with organising around the academic boycott and strikes you can join this student lead and focussed organising group here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HJBtmurwWbzCvUVBfZcJA4
The staff union also runs twice monthly student-staff pods. The student-staff pods are conceptualised as non-hierarchical (horizontal) groups comprising academic staff, students and professional services staff. The rationale for the departmental student-staff pods is to build solidarity at a decentralised, departmental level. The pods operate alongside the activities of the student-lead Goldsmiths Community Solidarity (GCS) group. To join this initiative email Grace, the student liaison officer at: mtill001@gold.ac.uk
Write to the Senior Management Team in support of the strike action and ask them to agree to the staff union’s demands. GUCU developed a complaint/open letter template that students can use to email the Senior Management Team (SMT) about the restructure that can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xOQgjt4lsnLQle_da6JBBrHIDoRHNnFOrmeloPIDikg/edit
Where do I go to have any further questions answered?
The staff union and the student union will organise an open assembly with students. The dates and times for this will be communicated shortly. The sabbatical officers, the GUCU presidents and union members involved in student-staff solidarity work will be present to answer any questions and listen to any concerns or worries that you might have. Students can also reach out to their personal tutors and course leaders for more information.