Motion in support of Dr Siobhán McGuirk

This motion was passed at GUCU branch meeting on 11/09/2023

This branch notes that:

  1. Casualisation is a key focus of the ongoing national pay and working conditions dispute ‘UCU Rising’. It remains an issue that has not been passably recognised or addressed by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association.
  2. Goldsmiths Council has approved the Fixed Term Contract (FTC) policy agreement, which protects fixed term workers against ‘less favourable treatment’ than permanent members of staff, and committed to fully implement a strengthened the Assimilation Agreement, including consistency on recognising permanency after 4 years for fixed-term staff.
  3. We are aware of numerous cases where the college has rescinded on these agreements, including denying staff their permanency- and redundancy-related employment rights. This includes the case of Dr Roberto Mozzachiodi, who this branch voted to support earlier this year. Another acute recent case of this nature involves Dr Siobhán McGuirk, a longstanding active branch member and Lecturer of Anthropology.
  4. On March 10, 2023, Dr McGuirk was informed that her FTC would not be renewed. Discussion of the issue was however paused as Dr McGuirk presented her case for permanency, following 5 years of service. Permanent status was confirmed by HR on April 24, and reconfirmed in June and July. In June, a new 1-year FTC Lecturer in Anthropology post was advertised externally, without being ring-fenced for employees at risk of redundancy. Dr McGuirk was not advised to apply and was not informed that she was “at risk”. On August 30, Dr McGuirk received formal notice that her “FTC” would end on August 31 – the following day – with no acknowledgement of her previously established permanent status. Non application to the externally advertised FTC post was cited as a key reason for the decision.
  5. On the basis of the above, Dr McGuirk is a permanent employee in the post of Lecturer in Anthropology who has been falsely termed as FTC for the purposes of ending her employment, which in any case is not objectively justifiable.

This branch believes that:

  1. Dr McGuirk became a permanent employee on 1 May 2022, following 4 years of service. She was therefore unlawfully given a new FT contract for the period of September 2022–August 2023. 
  2. There was no objectively justifiable reason provided for Dr McGuirk’s FTC not to be renewed, which is a breach of her employment rights and constitutes Less Favourable Treatment of Fixed Term Staff in employment law.
  3. Subsequent to Dr McGuirk’s permanency being confirmed, a new FTC job in her Department has been advertised externally, no redundancy consultation has taken place, and Dr McGuirk’s post has not been identified as “at risk”. She has therefore had no reason to voluntarily seek redeployment or to apply to a new post.
  4. Dr McGuirk made every effort over six months to engage constructively and following due process with HR and management to confirm her continuing workload for 2023/24, only to be met with silence, delay or misdirection. 
  5. HR has repeatedly failed to act in a timely, clear and unambiguous manner, as mandated by ACAS guidelines and by Goldsmiths’ own policies, and to uphold employment law. This includes: failure to respond to a claim for permanency within 21 days; failure to provide a new contract and/or written particulars of employment within one month following a change in employment (recognition of permanent status); failure to provide at least 3 months’ notice for a contract end; failure to provide reasons for redundancy; failure to provide information regarding the appeals process.
  6. Sending notification of redundancy with one day’s notice is not only a grave violation of an employee’s rights, but also severely restricts their ability to appeal.
  7. Dr McGuirk’s case is at once egregious and indicative of widespread violations of workers’ rights at Goldsmiths and sector-wide, including unfair treatment of casualised workers, and denial of workers’ permanency and redundancy rights.
  8. If this “end of FTC” is allowed to stand and Dr McGuirk is not reinstated, the case would set a dangerous precedent with implications for all staff – permanent and FTC – at Goldsmiths. It would, in effect, sanction the rescinding of permanency status for the purposes of ending a contract.
  9. Within the context of the national dispute over pay and conditions, and following its recommitment to the FTC policy and Assimilation Agreement, the college has no excuse for not implementing and following its own policies. Its failure to do so only exacerbates issues of precarity and casualised employment. 

This branch resolves to:

  1. Call on HR and senior management to immediately rescind the “end of FTC” letter sent to Dr McGuirk, reinstate her to her recognised permanent post, and provide her with an updated contract, reflecting this status.
  2. Call on HR and senior management to rescind the job search for the post of 1yr FTC Lecturer in Anthropology with immediate effect, before interviews have taken place, should there be no requirement for the post once Dr McGuirk is reinstated.
  3. Call on the college to investigate this case and to take necessary measures to ensure that their commitments to the FTC policy and Assimilation Agreement are upheld, including that redundancy process and policy is followed for all staff who have worked for 2 years or more, and that permanency process and policy is followed for all staff who have worked for 4 years or more, as per their employment rights.
  4. Strengthen efforts to promote the existing public campaign against casualisation, including a new initiative to inform FTC employees of eligibility, policies and processes concerning permanency and routes to branch support on the issue.
  5. Pursue collective action in support of Dr Siobhán McGuirk, if the college fails to respond as above.