Category: Uncategorized
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Dismantling White Supremacy at Sussex
The most recent Black Lives Matter protests precipitated by the murder of George Floyd in the US have accelerated a polarisation in debates about the nature of “race” and racism in the UK and other “liberal democratic” states. Hard coded into the movement’s very name is a recognition of the fact that black people experience…
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Post-Graduate Researchers Demand Certainty and Support from University of Sussex
Doctoral researchers have felt the brunt of the University of Sussex’s cost cutting agenda. As students and precariously employed teaching staff, their requests for support through the pandemic have received slow and reluctant attention. Doctoral researchers are some of the hardest working and most valuable members of the university community. Ahead of the UK lockdown…
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UCU Sussex Anti-Racist Action Plan 2020
Following our branch meeting on anti-racist organising last week, a working group has formed to develop an action plan which we now share below and as a downloadable PDF here. This plan represents a starting place for dismantling structures of white supremacy at Sussex. We see this as a broad collective project and would like…
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Black Lives Matter
Image credit: https://blacklivesmatter.com/ UCU Sussex stands in solidarity with Black staff and students at the University. We also stand with all those protesting against police brutality and working to dismantle white supremacy within Sussex, the UK, the USA and worldwide. We ask you to sign this open letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell,…
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The McGettigan Report
Today UCU Sussex publishes a report on University of Sussex’s finances commissioned from Andrew McGettigan, independent expert on university finances and author of The Great University Gamble. The report is non-technical, clear and concise. We recommend everyone with an interest in the future of the University, and more broadly of UK Higher Education, to read…
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Video: Our Campaign, Our Demands: We Are Crisis Justice at Sussex
The grassroots campaign Crisis Justice at Sussex (CJS), formed by the local branches of the three campus trade unions (UCU, Unite and Unison) has launched an official campaign video. This video summarises, introduces and distills our public campaign and our urgent demands. We are proud to launch this video and delighted that so many Sussex…
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A Response to the Vice-Chancellor
On 5th May the Vice Chancellor sent a long email to all staff which implicitly responds to the Crisis Justice at Sussex campaign. That campaign is itself a response to the programme of cuts outlined in the Financial Review Guidelines, which were circulated in their original form on 25th March and then published in revised…
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Campaign Launch: Crisis Justice at Sussex
UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX TRADE UNIONS: UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU) AND UNITE PRESS RELEASE Date: Thursday 30 April 2020 for immediate release Unions launch ‘Crisis Justice’ campaign against job cuts at University of Sussex The lowest paid and most vulnerable employees are most at risk of losing their jobs in a controversial review of staff…
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The Sussex Financial Review Guidelines: A Report to Members of Sussex UCU, Unison and Unite
The University Executive Group (UEG) issued the Sussex Financial Review Guidelines (FRGs) to Heads of School and Divisional Directors on 25th March, with an accompanying note from the VC stating that budget holders ‘must strictly adhere to‘ them (bold in original). There was no prior consultation on the guidelines with the campus Trade Unions. After…
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Joint campus union statement on University of Sussex Financial Review Guidelines
On Wednesday 25 March, a set of ‘Financial Review Guidelines’ were emailed to all Heads of School and other budget holders at the University of Sussex, and then shared to a number of staff. This communication caused a considerable amount of anxiety to those who received it, as it contained proposals to ‘terminate’ some temporary…
Sussex UCU, Brighton, UK 