The following motion was passed at the Wednesday 3rd February branch meeting.
This meeting notes:
- the emergence of new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus.
This union branch believes:
- The UK’s awful record in relation to Covid-19 deaths is directly attributable to the government’s mishandling of the pandemic, with national guidance marked by u-turns, slow responses, and the erroneous belief that economic health could be prioritised over human health. This has been experienced very acutely in the higher education sector where the drive for face to face provision has contributed directly to infection surges among students and the wider community.
Therefore, this meeting resolves:
- to call upon UoN management to end its policy of delegating leadership to a discredited government who have proven themselves incapable, and to instead start taking decisive action to make the health, wellbeing and security of staff and students the central priority above all others.
- to demand that where essential activities cannot be carried out remotely, personal risk assessments (PRAs) are conducted with each member of staff that is asked to attend campus. PRAs should include travel to and from work, and relevant personal circumstances. All risk assessments – including of work spaces – should take into account the new variant of the virus and all control measures need to be in place before any member of staff is required to attend work. Building risk assessments must reflect reality – with no repeats of the situation in Medicine during last term where staff were not informed of a failure to meet air change requirements.
- to demand that essential in person teaching on ‘Tranche 1’ courses (Medicine; Health & Social Care including Nursing & Midwifery; Physiotherapy; Veterinary Science; Education including initial teacher training; and Social Work) be re-timetabled to later in the academic year, once vaccinations of students and staff have been initiated more widely.
- to request that only staff and students with negative test results no older than 72 hours be allowed into in person classes and that staff and students be provided with FFP3 mask to attend campus.
- to demand that UoN management work with other public bodies, such as local councils, Public Health England, and community organizations – as well as trade unions – in a transparent manner, in order to develop a strategy that is forward-looking and in the best interests of all residents of our city.