Sussex staff set terms for first round of industrial strike action

The University and College Union (UCU) at the University of Sussex announced last week following an Emergency General Meeting that they will go on strike this Thursday 18 March, and again in the summer term. It was also decided that there will be a lobby of the university senate meeting on Wednesday 17.

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Management back-tracks over student suspensions

Last Wednesday 10 March, six students formerly suspended from the University of Sussex had their penalisations modified so as to permit them to continue with their academic studies.

The students, dubbed ‘The Sussex Six’, were initially suspended on Friday 5 March by Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing. They each received a letter from the university stating they had been “positively identified” by management as “leading participants” of the Stop the Cuts rally and occupation of Sussex House earlier that week.
Farthing imposed the suspensions with immediate effect under Statute V.4, which states: “I have the power to suspend or exclude a student.”

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Stop the Cuts in pictures

Sussex UCU votes for strike action

Last Wednesday 3 March, the University and College Union (UCU) at Sussex voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in their fight to save jobs and services at the university.

Turnout totalled a record 80.9 per cent, the highest the union has ever received in a ballot.

The union said the unprecedented turnout was indicative of the strength of feeling among UCU members over the savage funding cuts and damaging job losses proposed.

Over three-quarters of staff who voted supported strike action, and more than 82 per cent agreed to action short of a strike.

Sussex UCU said it still hoped the dispute could be “resolved without any disruption.”

Paul Cecil, president of Sussex UCU, said: “UCU members have today delivered a clear mandate for industrial action at the University of Sussex. We thank our members for participating in such large numbers and reiterate our belief that a negotiated settlement is still possible if the university steps back from implementing its job-cut plans, votes to delay the decision, and considers our alternatives.”

University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) president, Tom Wills, offered a statement of support, declaring, “We are right behind Sussex staff and the principled stand they are taking in defence of their jobs and our education.”

“We will hold the university management responsible for the devastation that will be wrought on our education if they succeed in pushing through with their cuts proposals.

“Strike action by staff is the key to winning this battle and we will do everything we can to support it.”

A Sussex spokesman said the proposals were being consulted on and that no decisions would be made until the university’s council meets on 12 March.

He added: “We have been notified of the result of the ballot by UCU members. We have already made clear and repeat our position that ballots for industrial action are not the way in which the process will be influenced.”

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, conceded that industrial action is always a last resort but insisted that the proposed job losses will “impact massively across the University of Sussex and result in a far worse experience for students.”

University calls police on students who protest outside Sussex House against university cuts

Last Wednesday 3 March at 12.30pm students occupied Sussex House for five hours in protest against proposed course cuts and job losses. Police in a convoy of vans were called onto campus to contain the occupation and the accompanying rally.

University management seek to reduce the budget for 2009/10 by £3m on a turnover of £160m, with additional savings of up to £5m in 2010/11. As a result, 115 staff across campus face redundancy. A statement from the occupation said: “The job cuts would eradicate the environmental science degree program, and significantly reduce the size of the English, history, and life science departments. The student advice service, the crèche, security services and catering staff also face savage cuts.”
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Stop the cuts, start the music!

Last Thursday, 25 February, protestors braved the wind and rain to make a stand on student cuts in Library Square. At 1.15pm, representing the 115 threatened jobs at the University of Sussex, a band of protestors took to the square to promote ‘Stop the Cuts, Start the Music!’ to get their voices across in a positive way.

‘Wet and Fun,’ were the two words Scott Sheridan, Activities Officer and mastermind of the organisation, used to describe the scenes. Re-worded versions of such classics as ‘Old Macdonald’ (with a cut-cut here…) and ‘Tequila’ resounded around campus, contrasting the gloomy weather.
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Societies Festival builds community links

Last week saw the arrival of the first-ever University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) Societies Festival, a community engagement project spreading across the city, welcoming the local community to come and join in with the activities of some the societies.

The event, supported by Brighton and Hove Council’s Adult Learning Festival, saw a programme of 13 events entertaining Brightonians of all ages.
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Discover Islam comes to Sussex

Sussex Islamic society is hosting Discover Islam week on campus, starting Monday 22nd to Friday 26th February. The society hopes the line-up of different events will allow students the opportunity to learn more about the religion that the media love to discuss. The Islamic society at Sussex (ISOC) will be presenting a wide variety of talks and fairs as well as a variety of food throughout the week.
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Students set to film documentary about university cuts

Two Sussex students are filming a documentary about the proposed cuts at the university. Carl Salton-Cox, a first-year history and film student, and Kit Bradshaw, a politics student, want to examine the cuts from a human angle, looking at specific individuals and the feelings evoked by the management’s proposals, which would see the elimination of courses, services, and over 100 jobs.

The students intend to present a reasoned perspective on both sides of the cuts, for and against, rather than engaging in the sort of visual polemic that filmmakers like Michael Moore use in their films.

“We’re not trying to be particularly partisan or Marxist about it,” Salton-Cox said. “I’m a Marxist, but Kit is a Conservative, so we’re coming from different perspectives.”

The pair, both from Sidcup in Bexley, are childhood friends. They have made films before as teenagers, including a drama about sexuality and self-harm called “The Only Release.” Their second film, “Shoots Her,” won an award at the Rob Knox Film Festival, renamed in memoriam of the young actor who was stabbed to death in Bexley in 2008.

“We’ve never made a documentary before – our experience is with drama, so we’re going for more emotive because that’s how we construct a film,” Salton-Cox said. “But we know that costs have to be cut, and we want to be fair to both sides. If the management are right, the film should show that.”

Their plan for the film is to ask questions of students and staff and then present these questions to the senior management, juxtaposing the arguments in context with each other. However, the two students have had some difficulty speaking with the management, and say they have only recently received replies to their emails requesting interviews.

Many members of staff are hesitant to speak to them too, which Salton-Cox attributes to an “atmosphere of fear” on the campus.

“It’s weird—people in the history department used to be in the hallways chatting to each other. Now it’s just silence.”

The students are aware of the reluctance staff have about speaking out and have considered conducting private interviews, which would then be transcripted and voiced by actors in order to preserve the anonymity of staff concerned for their jobs.

The two undergraduates hope to present a well-rounded perspective on the cuts and the Stop the Cuts campaign, but worry that this will prove difficult with the management and staff unable or unwilling to be interviewed.

“We can’t be objective if the management won’t talk to us.”

UCU proceeds with ballot for strike action

The University and College Union (UCU) has formally initiated ballot proceedings to determine whether academic staff should strike in response to higher education funding cuts and looming job losses.

The outcome of the ballot will govern whether students’ lectures, seminars and workshops will be disrupted. The trade union for academic staff has 550 members at the University of Sussex.

The call to vote on strike action comes after UCU members voted in favour of industrial action at Leeds University earlier this month, where up to 700 members of staff face the risk of redundancy. Academic staff at Leeds are to hold three one-day strikes on the 25 February and the 2 and 4 March.

UCU Branch President at the University of Sussex, Paul Cecil, told the Badger that UCU “will continue in talks with the management in an effort to remove the current threat to jobs and avert any industrial action.

“We have to be clear though that the University plans threaten nearly 10% of academic posts plus many support posts, and we simply do not accept that the current excellent education that our colleagues provide can be sustained under such conditions. We note for instance that cuts in options for next year have already been notified to students in some at risk areas. Our plans address these key concerns of students, which is why it is so important that we reach agreement on an alternative to the draconian cuts that are currently proposed.”

The university has issued the following statement to the Badger: “The University has consulted, and is continuing to consult, with each of the three recognised trades unions – UCU, Unison and Unite – on the proposal for change, and that includes consultation with a view to reaching agreement on ways and means of avoiding the proposed redundancies, reducing their number and mitigating their impact.

“By making strategic changes, however difficult this may be, the University will be better placed to achieve a sustainable future in what are – and will continue to be for some time to come – very challenging times for higher education.”