UNISON – UCU joint response to ‘Evolving Goldsmiths’

We believe that Evolving Goldsmiths will fail to secure a ‘lasting legacy of progressive social change’. The intention to target professional and academic services in order to find cost savings of 15% will inevitably have a detrimental impact on the student experience and thus impact negatively on student recruitment and retention. Additionally, it will do nothing to address the scandal of casualisation at Goldsmiths and will have the effect of increasing already intolerable levels of work for many staff.

Furthermore, the proposed increase in size of the senior management team at a time of serious financial difficulty suggests a lack of radical vision and lack of recognition of the considerable talent and expertise that exists within the Goldsmiths community. We reject the move towards a School based system on the grounds that there is no evidence it will lead to improved efficiency, cost savings or an improved experience for staff and students.

We demand Goldsmiths Senior Management Team halt the ‘Evolving Goldsmiths’ campaign immediately, and in its place establish mechanisms with unions and staff across the Goldsmiths community for devising a new strategy for securing Goldsmiths’ future, in which union, academic and professional staff representatives will have equal representation and decision-making power from the outset. In this way, we believe that Goldsmiths will have a far better chance of harnessing the expertise, skills, talents and experience of the Goldsmiths community in order to meet the current financial challenges we face, and build on our reputation as advocates of social and economic justice.

Passed unanimously joint UCU – UNISON meeting 29.01.2020