Author: alischinsky

Dear Vice Chancellor,

We, the undersigned, are members of Oxford Brookes University.

As staff and students, we are united in frustration by the failures of leadership across higher education that have led to recent industrial action. We are dismayed by the prospect of further industrial action. Given the lack of constructive progress on issues of pensions and pay, further action is likely to include marking boycotts and delayed graduations.

We write to recommend three actions that we believe will lead to a resolution of industrial disputes before further disruption occurs.

1. Withdraw your support for the Universities UK pension reduction plan, and push other Vice Chancellors to follow suit.
   It is unacceptable that you have chosen to support the Universities UK plan based on a March 2020 pension scheme valuation, and which pushes through dramatic cuts to your colleagues’ pensions. In March 2020, at the nadir of a pandemic-driven market slump, the pension scheme assets were valued at £66.5bn; according to USS’s own figures, assets are now valued at around £90bn, placing the scheme on solid foundations. A lawsuit against the pension trustees, charging abuse of power and negligent inefficiency, is ongoing in the High Court. In this context, it is impossible to understand how you can continue with your current path. We hope that you find recent clarifications of the UCU alternative to be of use.
2. Make public your support for a fair pay settlement for all higher education staff, and a sector-wide approach to address casualisation of employment.
   It is unacceptable that more-than-a-decade of real terms cuts to lecturers’ pay scales are set to be continued. Additionally, the number of colleagues undertaking teaching, research, and other duties without secure employment is unacceptable. We urge you to work with other Vice Chancellors to secure a sector-wide framework to address pay and casualisation.
3. Agree a sector-wide framework for addressing gender, ethnicity, and disability pay gaps.
   It is unacceptable that across the sector men earn 16% more than women, white staff earn 17% more than their Black colleagues, and that the disability pay gap is estimated at 16%. We urge you to work to secure a sector-wide framework to monitor and address these clear material injustices.

We look forward to your response, which can be delivered to and then disseminated by Oxford Brookes University UCU branch.

Please join us for a teach-out organised by UCU members and Brookes students, celebrating the role of the university as a space for provocation, thought and reflection on key social justice issues of our day.

Come join us for a fascinating series of 5–10 minute provocations followed by Q&A and discussion at The Up in Arms Pub.

All staff, students and members of the public welcome. Pizza (including vegan option) available for £5 from 12–3pm.

Teach-In Schedule — Thursday, 31st March

When?

People will likely start to arrive from 12:30. Events will start once people have been able to grab a bite or a drink – as things settle.

Where?

The Up in Arms Pub, 241 Marston Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0FN

What?

This event will be composed of two mini-panels consisting of three discussants (or provocateurs) per panel followed by Q&A. As the aim of this event is to generate discussion and dialogue, discussants will limit their provocations to 5–10 minutes.

Panel One

Chris Hesketh, Department of Social Sciences

What insights are to be learned from social movement struggles in Latin America?

Doerthe Rosenow, Department of Social Sciences

How can we respond to management appropriation of the ‘decolonising education’ agenda?

Alex Powell, School of Law

Is disruption good? Reconsidering the domestication of dissent

Panel Two

Neal Harris, Department of Social Sciences

Neoliberalism: What is it good for?

Francesco Sticchi, School of Arts

Do zombie films fight real political struggles?

Tina Managhan, Department of Social Sciences

The end of the ‘liberal world order’: What does
gender have to do with it?

UCU members and students have out together an exciting programme of teach-ins, celebrating the role of the university as a space for provocation, thought and reflection on key social justice issues of our day.

After the rally with UCU President Vicky Blake, come join us for a fascinating series of 5–10 minute provocations followed by Q&A and discussion at The Up in Arms Pub.

All staff, students and members of the public welcome. Pizza (including vegan option) available for £5 from 12–3pm.

Teach-In Schedule — Tuesday, March 1st

When?

Post UCU-Rally. People will likely start to arrive from 1:00. Events will start once people have been able to grab a bite or a drink – as things settle.

Where?

The Up in Arms Pub, 241 Marston Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0FN

What?

This event will be composed of two mini-panels consisting of twp discussants (or provocateurs) per panel followed by Q&A. As the aim of this event is to generate discussion and dialogue, discussants will limit their provocations to 5–10 minutes.

Panel One

Stuart Whigham, Department of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work
Sport, political protest, and social change — the need for public intellectuals

Although many social conservatives have long argued that ‘sport and politics shouldn’t mix’, sport has long been a domain in which political protests have been evident, albeit with varying degrees of success. More recently, the cases of Marcus Rashford, Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe, amongst others, have illustrated the potential for sportspeople to act as what Gramsci described as ‘public intellectuals’ in using their platform to gain popular support to enact social change. This discussion will focus on the lessons that can be gleaned from sport for other political protest movements in other domains of society.

Jill Millar, Business School
Is strike action ethical?

This provocation will ask the following:

1. What are the ethical issues raised by strike action? (Such as withdrawing labour; not delivering needed services, or services that stakeholders are entitled to; potential for exploitation if strikes not permitted)
2. How would I justify strike action from an ethical point of view? What principles am I relying on?

Panel Two

Tim Jones, School of the Built Environment
Why is the climate emergency a union issue?

Tim Jones (OBU UCU Green Rep) will talk about why the climate emergency is a union issue and what members of UCU and the NUS can do to get involved in addressing it.

Ben Kenward, Centre for Psychological Research
Has the world already been taken over by artificial intelligence?

Some people worry that intelligent machines with conflicting interests to people could take over. But what if intelligent non-human entities already exist, made out of people and infrastructure? This session takes a psychological and evolutionary approach to discuss the argument that some organisations (such as fossil fuel companies) are best seen as non-human entities making decisions that no human would make, and already “outwitting humanity”.

There is nothing inevitable about the levels of casualisation in the
higher education sector, nor has it come about by accident; it is the
result of universities’ reliance on a particular business model. After
adjusting for inflation, the sector has seen its total income rise by
around 15% over the last six years, while casualisation continues to grow.

For all these reasons, Oxford Brookes UCU and Oxford University UCU
joined forces to collect testimonies from their casualised members.
Collecting and sharing these stories means giving voice to those who
too often feel unable to question their terms of employment, for fear of
having their hours cut or not having their fixed-term contract renewed.

For our casualised colleagues, our branches and your fellow workers
are reaching out to tell you that you are not alone and that there are
ways we can take collective action to improve our conditions: contact
your reps and your branch, get involved, and don’t hesitate to ask for
information about your contract and rights.

For our colleagues in more
stable roles, this is a call to show your solidarity: talk to your students and precarious colleagues about joining the union, and support anti-
casualisation initiatives organized locally and nationally. ‘What can I do?’, includes more practical suggestions on how all UCU members
can challenge casualisation.

Read the full report here.