Dear all,
You will remember that quite a long time ago, UCU provided legal support for a member who wished to challenge the pay deductions imposed on us in 2005 as revenge for our last dispute. We have finally received the judgment today: her case was not upheld.
This result is disappointing but not entirely surprising. It does not change much as we always knew that management could make 100% deductions for action short of a strike. Now the position on smaller percentages has been clarified. Of course, we would never have been in this position had our management been more reasonable. To take money long after the dispute had ended seems vindictive to say the least. It should be pointed out that, yet again, London Met is in a class of its own here. After the national pay dispute last year, every single university that had made deductions returned them when the dispute was settled. If our management had any desire to improve relations they would have done the same.
London Met management remains intransigent and hostile to both staff and students. The blind refusal to honour our recognition agreement, (despite repeated requests couched in a variety of ways) and the intention to make compulsory redundancies without consultation underlines their confrontational attitude to staff. Now that all other channels of communication have been blocked off it is more important than ever that we fight for the basic right to representation by the body of our choice. A high turnout and 'yes' vote in the ballot for industrial action is, therefore, vital.
The Co-ordinating Committee has not yet had time to study the judgment in detail. We will be doing so very carefully and we will make sure that we make all possible use of lessons to be learned from it. We will not call for any action without full discussion at members' meetings such as the one called for July 24th. We are aware that members have holidays and research commitments over the summer but please do make efforts to attend so that you can contribute to discussions of tactics. However, the larger picture has not changed: if we do not stand up for our rights now, we will lose them completely. If management are allowed to go ahead with their redundancies, many people will lose their jobs. We cannot - and will not - allow this to happen.
Looking forward to seeing you on July 24th.
Best wishes,
Amanda Sackur
Chair, Co-ordinating Committee,
London Metropolitan UCU