During the marking & assessment boycott, we have been having daily meetings on Zoom to support one another in our current industrial actions. These informal meetings are really lively and supportive.
We would like to continue to use this forum to highlight and discuss equality issues at the University– which are all trade union issues – in an informal and accessible way. We are hoping members of our branch will share their personal experiences, ideas for the branch, perhaps art work, research in the area, and more!
On Thursday the 16th of June, we will discuss gender equality and the associated pay gaps at Kingston University. We want to stress that this is not just for women – there are gender pay gaps for some men working in professional services, in particular. In addition, gender equality covers the whole spectrum.
See our current Athena Swan boycott campaign for further related issues and demands.
If you would like to share a story anonymously with the group, you can contact the KU UCU Equality Officer, Lori Snyder, ahead of time on kingstonucu@gmail.com with ATTN Equality Officer in the subject line.
If anyone needs anything to enable their attendance in addition to what can be achieved with their set up on Zoom, please let us know
Our local boycott of Athena Swan activities over our complete loss of faith in Kingston University’s commitments to gender equality and support for parents and carers has been covered in an article by Miranda Dunne in the Kingston Courier: Kingston Union launches boycott of ‘tick box’ gender equality charter
We have written to the Courier and the leader of Kingston Council highlighting errors in the statement made by a university spokerperson in this article – this boycott is independent of our current industrial action, and that action is over Four Fights related to pay and conditions, not just the 2021-2 pay offer.
With regret, Kingston University UCU are calling for all members and colleagues to implement an immediate boycott of all activities related to Athena Swan accreditations within Kingston University.
While the union supports the principles of the Athena Swan programme nationally, and recognises the hard work of colleagues engaging with the programme locally, we have completely lost faith in the University’s commitment to pledges made under the Athena Swan banner and in their wider commitment to gender equality, and support for parents and carers.
Among the significant, serious, and longstanding concerns Kingston University UCU has, are:
- Failures to seriously tackle sexual misconduct and violence, and put in place adequate safeguarding measures.
- Poor treatment and refusals of reasonable requests for flexible working from staff with caring responsibilities.
- Staff on maternity leave being made redundant.
- Minimal Paternity Leave
- Inequality in Promotion and Pay
We have drawn up a set of demands that Kingston University can agree to in order for the boycott to be lifted. Read these demands and find further information about these issues on our website here: https://kingston.web.ucu.org.uk/athena-swan-boycott/
Our current working-to-contract as part of Action Short of a Strike means members should not be undertaking additional voluntary duties such as sitting on charter mark committees (this has revealed how much vital work on equalities is done without proper workload time allocation, creating barriers to involvement for those who are unable to consistently work additional unpaid hours).
Although it closely relates to our national Four Fights dispute, this boycott is a separate local campaign. We expect members to adhere to the boycott until our demands our met and Kingston University commits, within an agreed timeframe, to take meaningful action to address these issues.
Please contact us with any queries and get involved in this campaign and other branch activity.
