Month: December 2023

The below motion was adopted by the Branch with a strong majority.

This branch notes:

• That UCU at UoN again easily reached the ballot threshold of 50% during the most recent, national ballot (local records indicate a turnout in excess of 60%);
• That we are well organised locally and therefore ready to defend our conditions at UoN if and when necessary;

This branch believes:

• That it is our key task to defend all jobs and working conditions;
• That we need to maintain our readiness to take action through the continuing building of our reps network;

This branch resolves:

• That any management plans for redundancies will immediately trigger an e-ballot as a first step towards a formal ballot on industrial action.

Members attending the EGM on 6th November voted to support three motions:

• Motion in support of Professor Hakim Adi and the MRes in the History of Africa and African Diaspora.
• Motion on the Current Situation in Gaza.
• UoN UCU Branch Motion on Academic Freedom and UKRI.

The full text of each motion can be found below.

Motion in support of Professor Hakim Adi and  the MRes in the History of Africa and African  Diaspora  

This branch notes that: 

1. In 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of  the Black Lives Matter movement, universities across the UK, including the  University of Chichester, pledged to better support Black Studies and Black  students and to decolonize the curriculum. 
2. Hakim Adi, Professor of Africa and the African Diaspora, is the first African-British  professor of History and is one of only four Black professors of History in the UK and that only 0.3% of History staff are Black. 
3. The MRes in the History of Africa and African Diaspora at University of Chichester  is the one of very few post-graduate courses of its type in the country and has  recruited students of Black Caribbean, African and African-British heritages.  
4. By making Prof Adi redundant, at least 16 postgraduate students will lose vital  supervisory expertise and support.  

We recognize that: 

1. Linking Professor Adi’s employment to the financial success of the MRes is  individually damaging and a threat to the whole sector.  
2. Dismantling the MRes leaves current post-graduates without expert supervision  and support and undermines the future of Black history in particular, and Black  studies in general. 
3. The loss of Professor Adi and the MRes is a step backward in commitments to  decolonize the curriculum and support Black staff and students. 
4. The particular targeting of the MRes and the impact it will have on Black  students is an example of structural racism within the academy.  

UCU is committed to campaigning against all compulsory redundancies, to fighting  racism and supporting the decolonization of the curriculum. Professor Adi’s threatened  redundancy and the closure of the MRes goes against these principles.  

We support the demands made by the Black Members’ Standing Committee and call on  the University of Chichester to: 

1. Retain Professor Adi in his post as Professor of the History; 
2. Look for viable strategies to maintain the MRes History of Africa and the African  Diaspora.  

We call on all universities and HEIs in the UK to:

1. Promote and resource Black history, and support Black students and staff for the  benefit of higher education and society as a whole.  
2. Recognise and take initiatives to counter structural racism within higher  education.

Motion on the Current Situation in Gaza

We are utterly horrified at the violence that we have seen in recent weeks in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. 

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the targeting of civilian life by both Hamas and  the Israeli military, and we also condemn instances of Antisemitism and Islamophobia that  we have witnessed since the violence unfolded. 

This branch notes:

• That collective punishment of more than 2 million Palestinians living Gaza is a clear  violation of international law. 
• The complicity of the British government and main opposition party through their  unequivocal moral and material support for Israel, its occupation of Palestine and its  crimes against humanity. 
• The attacks in our sector on academic freedom and the right to protest in support of the  plight of Palestinian people. 
• The increase in racism including Islamophobia and Antisemitism in our universities  and wider society. 
• The events of recent days are part of a continuing cycle of violence that has been the  result of decades of brutal occupation. 
• The targeting of civilians by Hamas was and is brutal and unacceptable. 

The branch believes:

• In the right of occupied and colonised peoples to resist that occupation as is  recognised under international law. 
• Achieving a lasting peace in the region must start with an end to the occupation, a  release of hostages, and recognition of the rights of all people. 
• In maintaining an unambiguous position of solidarity with Palestine. • the right of academics and students to express their solidarity with the Palestinian  people and to contextualise the unfolding violence. 
• That these discussions can take place is crucial to academic and intellectual freedom. • that we support any colleague and student who is grieving as a consequence of the  current violence in Israel/Palestine. 

The branch resolves:

• To call upon the British Government and the international community to collectively  call for an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, and de-escalation, by Hamas and  Israel, including the lifting of the siege of Gaza. 
• To call for a suspension of UK political and military support of Israel, which is used to  perpetuate war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• To affirm in line with the position of the national UCU our support for the Boycott,  Divestment and Sanctions movement. 
• To support campaigns of solidarity with Palestinians. 
• To affirm our institution’s legal and normative commitments to uphold academic  freedom. 

As a trade union, we are committed to achieving peace and an end to violence and  oppression. We send our solidarity to all those affected by these events, especially education  staff and students. We know that many will be worrying about loved ones, and to those  grieving we send our heartfelt condolences.

UoN UCU Branch Motion on Academic Freedom and UKRI

This branch notes:

1. There is a current wave of repression and censorship against those expressing  solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause. 
2. On 28^th October Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and  Technology, wrote a public letter to UKRI which singled out and named two  academic members of the UKRI EDI Advisory Group for their social media posts  criticising Israel’s actions in Palestine, and questioned the role of the Advisory Group. 
3. UKRI responded with a letter to Donelan, dated 30^th October, in which they  announced the suspension of the EDI group, an investigation into Donelan’s claims,  and a review of the future of both the EDI group and all other advisory structures  within UKRI. 

This branch believes; 

1. Michelle Donelan’s letter represents a chilling attempt to silence and intimidate  academics speaking out, whether on Palestine and other matters deemed contrary  to a narrow, partisan political agenda. 
2. The capitulation by UKRI leadership to political threats from a government minister  raises ethical questions about the independence of research and knowledge within  UK HE. 
3. The letter, and UKRI’s response to it, undermines and threatens academic freedom.
4. That the underlying political agenda served by Donelan’s intervention is to undo all  the important work on equality, diversity, and inclusion at UKRI.  

This branch resolves; 

1. To advise that UoN UCU members in voluntary roles with UKRI resign from their  posts and do not accept future invitations to participate. 
2. To advise that UoN UCU members boycott events organised by UKRI and refuse to  conduct peer reviews from UKRI grant applications. 
3. To encourage UoN UCU members in professional associations to express their  concern collectively to UKRI. 
4. To reaffirm its commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion in UK HE and call on  the University of Nottingham to issue a statement to that effect. 

Composers’ note: This motion draws on a draft motion circulate to signatories of the UKRI Open Letter regarding the initial response of UKRI to Michelle Donelan’s letter by the Notes from Below organization.