Middlesex University Branch Lobby of the Board of Governors

Tuesday 7th June around 25 - 30 UNISON Branch Members gathered at the Hendon campus to Lobby the Board of Governors over Redundancies and Outsourcing at Middlesex University. The lobby was organised by the Middlesex Unison Branch to support the dispute with the University Executive over compulsory redundancies in the School of Arts and Education and plans to outsource jobs from other sections of the University.

The Branches key points in the dispute are:

• A review of the implementation of the redeployment policy to make it easier for members to apply for alternative employment within the University.
• A recruitment freeze on external appointments while there are any employees facing redundancy.
• An agreed meaningful redundancy avoidance policy
• A significantly enhanced voluntary redundancy package.
• An agreement to minimise outsourcing and thereby avoid further jobs being lost to the university.

Branch Secretary Jenny Compton Bishop delivered a letter to the Governors expressing staff and union members belief that

• We believe that these strategies will seriously impact the student experience and make Middlesex University less rather than more competitive.
• The proposed reduction in staff numbers through restructuring will seriously undermine the ability of the University to provide a good service and value for money
• In-house staff provide a better service through demonstrated experience, loyalty and good-will.  The impact of redundancies and outsourcing is a loss of skills to the University and a detrimental effect to staff morale. 

Committee and Branch members spent 2 or so hours talking to staff, students, academics, passer bys and any Governors that were willing to engage with the lobby about the branches dispute and the future of Higher Education in general. The event offered the opportunity for Branch members to exchange experiences and bring their views to the attention of the University governance. However the lobby and the dispute would be overtaken by events in the next few days when it became clear to University staff what had been rubber stamped at the Board of Governors meeting. Photos of the lobby can be accessed by clicking on the link.

MDX Branchlines Extra