Goldsmiths UCU has been organising in solidarity for years.
- recovery programme 2021/22
- recovery programme 2020/21
- Wildcat Marking Boycott Summer 2020
- Evolving Goldsmiths
Recovery Programme 2021/22
In the Summer/Autumn of 2021 SMT reneged on many of these commitments, signed disastrous deals with banks Lloyds and Natwest to restructure their debts, and went ahead with an extensive programme of restructure and redundancy, pursuing 52 redundancies and the destructive centralisation of departmental administrative structures into School-wide Hubs. Initial plans also included direct threat of course closures based on faulty criteria of ‘sustainability’.
In response, the branch participated in a Goldsmiths-wide mobilisation, including:
- Public campaign of open letters, statements, and alternative proposals;
- An academic boycott, also known as Greylisting;
- Campaigning against Lloyds, Natwest, and external consultants KPMG;
- An extensive student-led solidarity campaign;
- Participating in SMT’s consultation process, again including extensive alternative proposals;
- Insisting on, and winning, an extended consultation process;
- Legal support for members facing redundancy and victimisation;
- Campaign of non-compliance with restructure and its core pedagogical pillar, the Comprehensive Curriculum Review (CCR);
- Extensive strike action over 2 terms;
- Marking and Assessment Boycott from April;
- First industrial action over two ballot terms in the sector.
Recovery Programme 2020/21
The Recovery Programme was first introduced in the immediate aftermath of Evolving Goldsmiths. Initial details were unclear, but redundancies and AL budget cuts were again on the table. Our branch launched a ballot and then an official Marking and Assessment Boycott from January until April 2021. The branch also proposed comprehensive alternatives to restructuring and redundancies.
We also conducted a vote of no confidence in the Warden, with 89% of nearly 700 votes cast declaring no confidence.
Again the action was successful; SMT agreed not to pursue redundancies for a 12-month period and to maintain AL budgets for another year.
We also secured other commitments: no Voluntary Severance without consultation, a review of workloads, the implementation of Assimilation Agreement, no further restructure without extensive consultation and equalities impact assessments.
Wildcat Marking and Assessment Boycott, Summer 2020
In the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, SMT announced the freezing of all Associate Lecturers (ALs) recruitment for the following academic year andrefused to apply for the government furlough scheme for ALs despite their eligibility.
ALs, building on networks developed during GARA (Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Action), security and cleaners in-housing campaigns, and the fight against Evolving Goldsmiths, launched a wildcat (unofficial/unsanctioned) Marking and Assessment Boycott – one of the first in the sector.
The wildcat was successful, with AL budgets restored for the following academic year, saving 472 jobs.
Evolving Goldsmiths 2019/2020
First major restructure proposal from new warden Frances Corner, intended to reduce academic and department autonomy, introducing new layers of management.
Evolving Goldsmiths was abandoned following sustained pressure from:
Campaigning across the Goldsmiths community: SU, UCU, Academic Board, Professor’s Forum, petitions, open letters, Goldsmiths Racial Equality Group, and more.
Campaigning against Evolving Goldsmiths brought a wide range of people working and studying at Goldsmiths together, and brought about concrete proposals for alternatives to SMT’s restructure.