Motion 1: Staff concerns – austerity, cuts and pressures on staff

This branch notes that

• staff at the University of Reading are experiencing significant pressures, as a result of cuts and austerity
• members tell us that these pressures are particularly acute in professional services areas and are a predictable result of the implementation by senior management of a range of measures including the non-replacement or delayed replacement of staff who retire or move on.
• excessive workloads are made worse by the ongoing job freeze in professional services. (DTS staff for example are currently under particular pressure which has wide knock-on effects, especially at the start of a new term). We are also concerned by what appears to be a misguided resource investment in technology solutions, including AI, for mythical efficiency gains while staff are struggling with under-resourcing in crucial areas
• due to the interconnected nature of work within a university, academic staff are impacted not only by cuts to their own departments and schools but also by cuts to academic-related and professional services staff and increasing expectations and heightened progression requirements. A good example is the sudden introduction of the demand for research active staff to bring in increased funds without recognising the time it takes to deliver research outputs.
• ReadingUCU committee have formally tabled staff concerns (including specific concerns re: governance, culture and hiring decisions within DTS) to senior management at the recent Joint University UCU Committee (JUUC) meeting.

This branch asks the vice-chancellor and Council

• to acknowledge the detrimental effects of the current austerity measures and the impact on students and staff
• to put in corrective measures so as to immediately and effectively address the issues raised by staff, including via the Reading UCU at JUUC

Reading UCU resolves

• to continue to oppose management approaches to resource allocation that prioritise investment in external consultants and providers (including a rush to deploy ‘AI’) while management simultaneously denies resources to the very staff who are the backbone of our educational efforts
• to resist efforts that are couched in the language of “efficiency” and “excellence”, while engaging in lowest common denominator resources for the core functioning of the university
• that if there are attacks on jobs or conditions including redundancies, the branch committee, will coordinate a university-wide response so as to draw on our collective strength
• that the branch will not leave individual departments or functions to fight on their own against well-coordinated and well-resourced efforts by senior management that undermine our jobs, terms and conditions.

Motion 2: Solidarity with striking branches in Scotland

This branch notes that

• Dundee UCU are now in week 3 of five weeks of strike action.
• Dundee UCU have now been joined by Edinburgh UCU, in their own five weeks of strikes.
• Staff are taking action against threatened compulsory redundancies, as Scottish Higher Education is embroiled in a governance and funding crisis.

Reading UCU believes

• that these disputes are important battles for the whole union.
• the employers will be watching what happens.
• the absence of a national fightback by UCU leaves branches to fight on their own and reduces pressure on government bodies to step in to stop the cuts.

Reading UCU resolves

• to send messages of solidarity to all Scottish branches in dispute.
• to donate £300 to the hardship fund of Dundee UCU
• to advertise public meetings, events and protests organised by branches under attack.
• to continue to support the policy position agreed at UCU Congress to ensure prompt and meaningful industrial pressure on all decision-makers so as to prioritise and defend staff and students.

Motion 3 – Potential de-recognition of Brighton UCU

This branch notes that:

• Brighton University senior management is threatening to engage in extreme union-busting by threatening UCU with de-recognition while re-negotiating their local recognition agreement.
• such behaviours are a response to Brighton UCU’s strong record of opposing gratuitous redundancies and resisting poor management.

This branch resolves to:

• Send a message of support to Brighton UCU and add our voice to the efforts for recognition of their local dispute as one of national significance.
• advertise and support public meetings, events and protests organised by the branch