UCU members strike at Derby University over ‘punitive’ job cuts

Derby University staff belonging to the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) are out on strike. As reported in the Canary, UCU members have voted for strike action over what they see as punitive job cuts. Staff and students contend this latest proposal for over 250 redundancies is the result of long-term, systemic financial mismanagement at the institution.

Day 1 of strike action…

It’s a beautiful day to fight the system on a Tuesday morning – the sky is blue and biting. Unfortunately, university staff don’t seem pleased to see me when I nip into reception for a visitor pass. Security waits while two members of the press team take my details and politely inform me I’m not allowed on any campus. It doesn’t sound like I’m going to get a comment.

Down at the bottom of the drive, I catch up with Francesco Belcastro, chair of the Derby UCU, and the other strikers. Everyone is in good spirits despite the cold, with planned activities on each day – today features a “running protest” between campuses. It’s great to see him after our recent interview. Francesco tells me:

We are here on this beautiful day on this beautiful campus to protest, we are on strike… We are trying everything we can to save this university from its management. We think the plan they are trying to carry out is absolutely suicidal… We are here to defend our colleagues, our students and the local community.

Student support for UCU strike

Plenty of students are out showing support. I bump into a half-dozen from the journalism department, whose course will be badly impacted – antagonising journalists is a rookie error. One student on the picket line told me:

I originally came here to cover this story because it’s relevant to my course; if staff get made redundant, it will obviously decrease in quality.

Sharan, a student who founded Derby Students for Transparency & Accountability (Derby STA), feels the university is being opaque:

We are not being spoken to about all the spending and all the cuts… There is no transparency, no accountability. Our sense of community has been shattered. We had a meeting with the heads of the university; they didn’t answer our questions, they haven’t followed up… They still aren’t accountable for the massive spending.

Spirits are high, but the mood shifts when a university official suddenly appears.

Francesco is momentarily delighted – has Chief People Officer, Sarah Setchell seen sense and come to join the strike? Unfortunately not. She’s here from the Vice Chancellor’s office to speak to the workers at the end of the drive.

She doesn’t want to speak to me, either. Staff are visibly shocked and outraged. Staff had been expecting news on voluntary redundancies the day before, but a late Monday email has sown fresh confusion. Strike members tell me that the university has just announced internally that some of the pools would be closed, with those jobs offset by the voluntary redundancies. There’s still no concrete information though, and people are annoyed:

She just said they might take more than they originally wanted – or they might not.

It’s laughable – how are people meant to plan for their futures with such a lack of specificity? Its especially galling when the uni have set such tight deadlines for the staff involved, as one person tells me:

The whole process has been punitive – it’s back of a fag packet stuff.

Shortly after Sarah’s departure from the front lines, I receive a call from the University press team. They were unhappy about the Canary article which last covered the UCU strikes in Derby.

Derby Uni fact checking team…

They asked me to, please, write a more balanced article this time – they are happy to fact check things for me. How kind.

I don’t want to be the arsehole here – but seriously?

How can I include your point of view when you refuse to speak to the media? All I can print are the robotic snippets from existing press releases. Professor beep boop says one zero zero one one. This sort of logic is reminiscent of that used by protesters outside hotels: “you’re just here to call us bad people…” I’m here to represent both sides fairly – and I am happy to do so, but you have got to actually speak to me! And if you aren’t going to then you don’t get to complain afterwards..

Dear Derby Uni, I’m sorry I made you sad. This isn’t personal – I don’t think that the people who are making these decisions are bad people. Based on the evidence, they are probably just bad at their jobs. And it’s not a big deal, I’ve been bad at loads of jobs before. There’s no shame – capitalism is an inherently coercive structure; I wholeheartedly support anyone’s quest to monetise their innate incompetence. Everyone deserves food and shelter. Playing devil’s advocate though – at least when I was bad at my job it was back when jobs paid £3.40 an hour. And I was washing dishes. And no offence, but no one ever lost their job, at Christmas, because of me. How’s that for balance?

Appetite for change

It’s clear this strike action wasn’t taken lightly. The turnout was solid, the mandate overwhelming. Simon Haywood, a lecturer in creative writing, summed up the mood:

We just want the university to come back to the table, put a halt on the process, and talk. We don’t bite… There’s a lot of money being spent on new builds, and we think that with that sort of money going round, there should be money to save the core functions of the university… Everyone knows some sort of adjustments have to be made, but we are ready to face the future

Strike action is called for 2nd-4th December. However, with the mandate covering the next six months and the university seemingly unwilling to engage, it’s hard to see this being resolved before Christmas. All signs point to a resumption of strikes in the new year, and I look forward to checking back in on the picket lines.

Featured images via Barold