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| Sasha Callaghan - UCU President-Elect addresses the rally |
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| George Galloway MP - Reading the letter he has sent to Brian Roper |
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| London Met UCU members make their position clear |
Respect MP George Galloway, whose constituency covers part of the university, attended the rally, and, along with leaders of the University and College Union (UCU), demanded that the university management acknowledge UCU as the recognised union for academics and abandons its plan to make up to 60 lecturers compulsory redundant.
George read out a letter that he wrote to Vice-Chancellor Brian Roper on June 29, which said:
‘I am shocked by your decision to, in effect, derecognise the lecturers UCU union at London Metropolitan University. This institution, which is a critical resource for large numbers of school leavers and mature students in Tower Hamlets and elsewhere, can ill afford to lose 60 lecturers.
‘That those redundancies are compulsory aggravates the injustice. That the university’s management has set itself apart from every other higher education institution in the country by now refusing to discuss the job losses with recognised union representatives is an outrage.
‘When lecturers at London Met have taken action before in defence of jobs and the service they provide they have enjoyed the overwhelming support of people in east London. I must tell you they are ensured of that support again, should they decide they need to take action over this attack on their colleagues and their rights to trade union representation.
‘I have told UCU representatives that I am at their disposal over this dispute. It is not too late for you to abandon this course of confrontation and agree to meet UCU union representatives in meaningful discussions.
George said that, as yet, he had (surprisingly!) received no reply to his letter.
‘What century do these people think we’re in?’ he asked.
UCU President-elect Sasha Callaghan emphasised that London Met UCU are not on our own in this dispute and that we have, and can expect, massive support right across the union.
She said she had attended an extremly angry public meeting of Harlow College lecturers last Friday about the excesses happening there, and it seemed to her that the bosses of London Met and Harlow are like evil twins within the education sector.
Other excellent speakers included London Met Students union vice-president Noreen Fatima who gave her full support, as well as UCU reps from Harlow College and City & Islington College.
The three London Met UCU speakers emphasised the need for co-ordinated and decisive action both locally and nationally to ensure that the union is fully, and effectively, recognised by management, and that all compulsory redundancies are prevented.
At a local level action will begin next week with the issuing of a ballot for industrial action. It was stated that local members now need to pull out all the stops to ensure both a high turnout and an overwhelming YES vote for both 'Strike Action' and 'Action Short of Strike'.
At a national level this means that the 'Academic Boycott' of London Met, agreed at UCU Congress, and actioned by UCU's Higher Education Committee (HEC), now needs to be publicly declared.
Guardian (11/07/07) - 'Lecturers step up row with London Met'