Student Solidarity Zine

We’ve seen fantastic support from Kingston students for our industrial action in the UCU Rising dispute. They know our working conditions are their learning conditions.

Illustration Animation students have created this zine to share information about the strike action and more broadly what a union / strike / picket line is, featuring reportage illustration made on the picket line and at teach-outs:

Students have also made their own posters in support of the strikes, run teach-outs like picket-line life drawing, and made placards, badges and banners. Thank you to Kingston students for their support and solidarity.

Strike action continues Thursday 9th and Friday 10th February

Kingston UCU members are back out on strike in the second week of escalating UCU Rising action in 2023 – strike days are Thursday 9th and Friday 10th February.

Join the picket lines 8am – 12pm at Penrhyn Road and Knights Park. There will also be a digital picket on Zoom at 10am – check linktr.ee/kingstonucu for the link.

There will be teach-outs both days including a picket line life drawing session organised by fine art students at 10am on Thursday at Knights Park. If members, staff, students or supporters are interested in running a teach-out contact us at kingstonucu@gmail.com

Share photos and follow the action on on twitter and instagram @kingstonucu. Find strike graphics & posters to download and share. HPLs can also post their stories on our HPL Precarity Tales padlet

Thursday 9th Feb is Student-Staff Solidarity day organised with NUS. Kingston students have been making solidarity posters. Share our strike explainer for students and talk to them about why we’re striking. Here’s 5 ways students can support the strike:

Don’t forget to claim strike pay from the national UCU Fighting Fund. To claim you need to show evidence of pay deductions so it is important that HPL colleagues claim the hours they would have worked as usual.

To get more involved, join our #strike-committee on slack: kingstonucu.slack.com.

Equality Espresso 5: LGBTQ+

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 Monday the 20th of June we will finish off discussing LGBTQ+ topics for Pride Month! Nicola from our branch committee was an original member of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners – and she can say a few words about parallels between attacks on lesbians and gays in the 1980s and attacks on trans rights now.

Please come bring your thoughts and contributions to our Equality Espresso on Zoom at 10 a.m. all week.

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

Equality Espresso 4: neurodiversity

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 Friday the 17th of June, we will discuss neurodiversity in the workplace and the issues staff have with accommodation of who they are.

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

Equality Espresso 3: gender

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

Equality Espresso 2: disability

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 Wednesday the 15th of June, we will discuss disability, the associated pay gap, and the issues staff have had with accessibility and accommodation of their needs.

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

Equality Espresso! June 14th – 20th 2022, 10am daily Zoom

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!

We will start on Tuesday the 14th of June 10am, discussing race equality and the associated pay gaps at Kingston University. Has any progress been made since we sent our 2020 Anti-Racism Recommendations to the VC?

On Wednesday the 15th of June, we will discuss disability, the associated pay gap, and the issues staff have had with accessibility and accommodation of their needs.

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.

On Friday the 17th of June, we will discuss neurodiversity in the workplace and the issues staff have with accommodation of who they are.

On Monday the 20th of June we will finish off discussing LGBTQ+ topics for Pride Month! Nicola from our branch committee was an original member of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners – and she can say a few words about parallels between attacks on lesbians and gays in the 1980s and attacks on trans rights now.

Please come bring your thoughts and contributions to our Equality Espresso on Zoom at 10 a.m. all week.

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 – including if the 10 a.m. time does not work because we can look at repeating these events at another time in a future month.

In solidarity,

Kingston UCU branch committee

Top up the Fund Appeal

Today is the first day of the marking boycott, an action supported by our members in Kingston UCU in a final vote last Friday 20 May.  Solidarity to everyone at Kingston and its sister unions throughout the country who are taking part!   

We blew past our original target of £1000 pounds a mere 24 hours after launching the appeal, and offer a mighty thanks to everyone who have pitched in so far!  We’ve had donations and messages of solidarity from the Kingston community and beyond.

We have 46 days more to go in the Top Up the Fund appeal, and are hoping to raise much more to support our members who are starting to take action today.

All the more so as we learn that Kingston management have joined the leader board of the PEF – the Punitive Employer Framework (let’s make this a thing!!) – by being one of the top 10 employers threatening to deduct 100% pay from workers taking this legal action!

Please help us to fight back and to mark the first day of the boycott by sharing the appeal on your networks

Are you a Kingston UCU member and not able to participate in the marking boycott?  Then why not commit to sharing a part of your wages to help support those who are?  You can set up a regular monthly donation with your next donation! 

Solidarity and strength to those starting the boycott action today!

How Kingston senior management can take action to address our Four Fights demands

Kingston UCU has sent the following to senior leaders as our formal contribution to the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee (JNCC) meeting this month due to take place 17th May, but cancelled by senior management:
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We call upon the Vice Chancellor and Senior Leadership Team of Kingston University to act upon the points within the University and College Union’s Four Fights campaign that they have acknowledged can be addressed, in part, at the local level. These demands must be met now to acknowledge the strength of feeling amongst staff that Kingston University must be transformed to create an equitable workplace.
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Workload  
  1. Publish the current number of staff vacancies in all areas of the University and commit to immediately advertise these vacancies by the end of June 2022.
  2. To further commit to recruit to these vacancies before the end of Teaching Block 1 2022.
  3. To proactively communicate to all fractional staff, before the beginning of Teaching Block 1 2022, the mechanism for having their fraction increased if their role and responsibilities have expanded and their fraction no longer fairly covers their workload.
  4. To repeat this communication to fractional staff and process at least once per year on an ongoing basis.
Casualization  
  1. To proactively communicate to all HPL and fixed term staff with clear guidance on the process to be made permanent and to invite casualized staff to begin this process by the end of June 2022.
  2. To communicate with all line managers and HR colleagues, by the end of June 2022, on how to actively support the process of conversion of temporary staff to permanent contracts with a view to maximizing conversion of staff.
  3. To convert all eligible staff on HPL or fixed term contracts to permanent fractional or full-time posts at the appropriate spine point and on a fraction that fairly reflects their workload and to complete these conversions to permanent before the beginning of Teaching Block 1 2022.
Pay  
  1. To give all staff –regardless of grade or salary – a one-off £1000 bonus to acknowledge the extraordinary workload consequences of the Covid pandemic and the return to campus, and acknowledge the professional commitment, care and goodwill that staff extended to their students and colleagues to enable the university community to function through this period.
  2. To halt all further strike deductions – as to date these have been taken in punitive single deductions which have inflicted real financial distress on their own employees, including employees supporting dependents.
  3. To donate those strike deductions already taken in April to the student hardship fund, to be available to all students in financial distress.
  4. To commit to write an open letter to UCEA stating that ongoing and future pay negotiations must match inflation in order to prevent staff suffering during the cost of living crisis and halt the further erosion of pay in the sector.
  5. To publish on StaffSpace, send to all staff via the newsletter, and send to all line managers the process for bonus pay and requesting an increase in pay via spine point by the end of June 2022.
Equalities  
  1. To immediately cease the use of NDAs in all cases of bullying and harassment, and all processes relating to grievances, staff conduct or disciplinary processes.
  2. To align Kingston’s harassment, bullying and discrimination policies to sector-leading policies, and the measures advocated by campaign groups within this sphere.
  3. To roll out training on the prevention of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination to all managers, supervisors and HR partners throughout the academic year 2022.
  4. To ensure that staff contributing to EDI initiatives, including networks, awards and benchmarking, have this work properly recognised within workload models, recognised in progression and promotion, (and through salary increase or acting up for leading roles.) To be completed within Teaching Block 1 2022
  5. To liaise with trade unions to identify key areas of non-promotable workload in the university and ask each department to conduct an equalities impact assessment on who conducts this non-promotable work. To respond to the equalities impact assessment to urgently correct imbalances in which staff undertake this work.
  6. To address the gender, race, and disability pay gaps that are increasing across the University through direct action, involving increasing these staff members spine points and temporary staff hourly wages, as needed. This should be accomplished by the end of Teaching Block 1 2022, guided by the already collected data from the University’s own report on these gaps.

Kingston University UCU branch committee

Four Fights Update: Marking and Assessment Boycott and further Strike Action

We have recently received information from our central UCU colleagues about the next stages of our industrial action. On Friday 6th May, 2022 UCU sent to our employers the legally required 14 day notification for industrial action. The nature of this industrial action this time will be a Marking AND Assessment boycott as well as 10 further days of strike action. The Marking and Assessment Boycott will begin on Monday 23rd May, 2022.

Our Branch Committee has taken the opportunity between our successful second strike ballot and this formal announcement of our next round of industrial action to seek information, support and solidarity from other branches and UCU itself.

The feelings and opinions from grassroots members were fed back yesterday to the national union at a Branch Delegate Briefing attended by two members of our Branch Committee who voted on the nature and extent of our continuing campaign.

The overwhelming preference, of all those branches with a mandate to undertake industrial action, was to defer deploying the threat of strike action to the start of the 2022/2023 academic year so that events such as Clearing and Induction might be targeted. It is also possible that we will be able to have some autonomy over exactly when we can call strike action in the future.

In terms of the Marking and Assessment Boycott the Branch Committee members continue to work with colleagues from across the whole union to ensure that this action will have maximum impact whilst mitigating any possible impacts on individuals, such as pay deductions and feeling isolated or unsupported. Our intention is to set up regular meetings as support and guidance sessions to make sure that no-one feels alone in this action. We will provide further information very soon as all members will have questions about the mechanics and potential consequences of this kind of action.

Role of Departmental Reps

In order to help us maximise the impact of the Marking and Assessment Boycott we need members in each department to nominate one or two people to act as a Departmental Contact for the boycott to begin conversations with their colleagues about their contribution to the Boycott and then feed questions back to the branch committee so that the branch’s deliberations are member-led. Don’t worry about not having all the answers. This is a learning process for all of us and mutual and collective support is going to be the key to our success. In particular, we expect that more senior and experienced colleagues will play a major role in supporting newer colleagues and especially those employed on precarious contracts in each department.

This action can hit hard if we act collectively

With other branches we are discussing branch “twinning”, salary sharing, fundraising from other unions, other fundraising events and activities as well as lobbying UCU to raise the cap on pay outs by the union’s Hardship Fund to mitigate any personal losses to members.

Your involvement in these strategies is crucial.

It may not however actually, take much time and effort for us to bring the university’s assessment processes to a halt if our action is focussed and strategic. Last year a marking and assessment boycott, in conjunction with other forms of industrial action, forced the University of Liverpool’s management to withdraw their threat of 47 academic redundancies. A template for a winning strategy is already available to us then. Each worker’s active participation has the potential to have a real and major impact. The more of us that take part in the boycott and fundraising efforts, the deeper the effect and the more likely we are to push management to act in our favour.  Locally at KU that could include, but would not be limited to, immediate reductions in workloads, conversion of all HPLs to fractional permanent contracts, and more transparent and equitable progression and promotion criteria.

Next steps – Branch Meeting

We look forward to seeing you on Friday 13th May at 1pm for a Branch meeting (see inboxes for link) so your views can be expressed, heard and acted upon. We hope soon to have a toolkit for us all to use during this next stage of our united action. In particular, whilst hitting management hard we will seek to win the support of students and other staff.  Constant two-way communication within the branch as well as external publicity  will be important parts of our strategy.