Tuesday 02-11-2021 - 14:59

Durham SU Assembly is made up of elected student representatives from across the university whose role is to discuss and deliberate on policy affecting the student body. 

We have had a request from ten Assembly members to call for an additional Emergency Assembly meeting to discuss and decide our position on possible industrial action undertaken by the University and Colleges Union (UCU).  

This means our first Assembly of the year (11 November), as decided by Governance and Grants Committee, will become a single-issue Assembly and we will conduct an additional Assembly on 25 November for standard business. 

This is a complex discussion, and we know students will think about this issue in lots of different ways. You can read the full motion to be discussed below, but we expect and welcome any amendments. The proposers of the motion may accept friendly amendments themselves, and we can reissue the motion if any are received. Amendments which look to change the position from the ones proposed by the Student Officer Team will be considered by Governance and Grants Committee, and will be debated at Assembly. 

Any proposed amendments should be sent to dsu.governance@durham.ac.uk no later than four days before the meeting (7 November at midnight). 

To help your understanding of such a complex issue and get the most out of the Assembly meeting, you might find it useful to read some of the background information beforehand. You can see information from the principal parties here (UCU) and here (Universities UK). 

This Assembly meeting will take place online between 16:00 – 18:00 on Thursday 11 November. 

Any student can attend as an observer and speak for or against the motion. Non-Assembly members can book tickets here. 

The Assembly members requesting an Emergency Assembly are: 

• Seun Twins – SU President 

• Charlie Proctor – SU Undergraduate Academic Officer 

• Declan Merrington – SU Postgraduate Academic Officer 

• Jack Ballingham – SU Opportunities Officer 

• Jonah Graham – SU Welfare and Liberation Officer 

• Kezia Mbonye – People of Colour Association President 

• Jamie Halliwell – Working-Class Students’ Association President 

• Mal Lee – LGBT+ Association President 

• Freddie Green – Trevelyan SU Rep 

• Sydni Akis – Mature Students’ Association President 

 

The motion to be debated is: 

 

Durham SU policy position on UCU industrial action 

 

Proposer: Seun Twins, Charlie Procter, Declan Merrington, Jack Ballingham, Jonah Graham 

 

Durham SU notes  

1. That the University and Colleges Union (UCU) have recently conducted a ballot for industrial action including strike action and action short of a strike (ASOS).   

2. As well as continuing to protect pensions, which was the focus for the 2018 UCU strikes, staff are also balloting over the ‘four fights’;  

   • Addressing gender, ethnic and disability pay gaps for university staff  

   • End contract casualisation and rising job insecurity   

   • Tackle rising workloads  

   • Fair pay  

3. In 2018 Durham Students’ Union passed policy to support UCU’s strike action 2  

  

Durham SU believes  

1. Many Durham postgraduate research student are adversely affected by the issues raised particularly in UCU’s Four Fights campaign, and as dual members of Durham SU and UCU they will be entitled to vote in the ballot and engage in any industrial action.  

  

Durham SU resolves  

1. Durham SU supports the University and College Union because we want great people to be in great jobs, making our education excellent. Our staff deserve secure and equitable work and their pension contributions protected.  

2. No UCU member will engage in industrial action lightly, and we respect and support the difficult decision they have made. We know that striking is always the last option. This dispute must be resolved, through negotiation, as soon as possible.   

3. There is no contradiction in supporting UCU’s campaign goals whilst recognising that ongoing strike action could harm students’ education. Students won’t have had a ‘normal’ education for three years, and they deserve the full Durham experience. The quicker the dispute can be resolved, the better for students and staff.  

4. The Durham SU Officers will make every effort to advocate for the continued quality of teaching and learning, for reasonable adjustment in assessments, and to represent the interests of all members (including postgraduate research students) to the University administration.  

 

Footnotes 

1.  https://www.ucu.org.uk/hedisputes  

2. Durham SU update: UCU strike action policy @ Durham SU