Members of UNISON, UCU and the Students Union were gathering signatures on our United for Education petition today, the Day of Dissent.

Over 200 signatures were collected on the United for Education petition as we leafleted members of staff entering a ‘midsummer party’ thrown for all staff by our new Vice Chancellor, Malcolm Gillies.

Although Malcolm was invited to sign the petition (see photo below), he asked to have a bit more time to ‘consult further’ … we welcome the good natured exchange and thank Malcolm for coordinating his party with our day of action!

UNISON members invited all staff to sign the petition on the way in to the party, to take leaflets and then wear a sticker with the ‘UNITED for EDUCATION’ logo on it to show their support for the campaign…. and of the 450 people in the party, over 200 signed up, many wearing the stickers too.

VC Malcolm Gillies considers signing the 'United for Education' petition

Max Watson, Unison Chair, said:

“UNISON is one hundred percent committed to standing up for education. It is vital that no more cuts are made if we are to get out of the recession. Our members have seen enough colleagues leave our university through redundancies already, and many are now very stressed with too much extra work to cope with due to the losses. Our message to the government today is loud and clear – no ifs, no buts, no education cuts.”

Claire Locke, Students’ Union Communications Officer, said:

“It’s great to see the majority of people are interested in protecting  education.”

Mark Campbell, UCU Chair, said:

“At a time of recession we should be investing in education not contemplating further massive cuts across Further, Adult, and Higher Education. It is economic madness to be denying around 250,000 qualified students places at university, while at the same time considering pricing many more out of higher education by increasing fees. This at a time when we already have over one million 18-24 year olds languishing on the dole, and the UK has dropped from 7th to 18th place for higher education participation rates across OECD countries. The question should not be ‘can we afford education?’ but rather, ‘can we afford not to educate our children?’.

Cliff Snaith, UCU Secretary, said:

“Response and support for the day of dissent at London Met from UCU members was very positive. Virtually no London Met academic refused to sign the petition supporting our action and against cuts in education. UCU joins with UNISON in calling for all groups including the VC and managers to stand up in defence of London Met and against cuts.”

For those who couldn’t sign the petition today, please sign it online: United for Education.

On 8th June, we took our full, 1 hour, lunch break to highlight the (unpaid) overtime staff take every day to launch our anti-stress campaign. It was a great chance to hear from UNISON Senior National Education Officer, Jon Richards, about the United for Education campaign against cuts and for decent pay in education: “Now is the time to dissent”. Watch the film (part 1 of 2):

In part two, Max Watson talks about the stress campaign, and about our support for the United for Education Campaign, which kicks off on the 21st June with a Day of Dissent. Watch the film (part 2 of 2):

Go to our Anti-Stress campaign page for more and sign the petition to defend education. Contact us to get involved and check out our Youtube channel for more of our films.

Rain may have forced the Unison picnics indoors, but it didn’t dampen the spirit of over 75 people who attended in order to enjoy a rarely-taken one hour lunch break, and highlight the important issue of health and safety and work-related stress.

Organised  to launch London Met UNISON’s anti-stress campaign, the picnics at both campuses brought staff together from all departments and grades, and some non-members who came went away with new membership forms, and all left with full stomachs and lots of UNISON material.

Speaking at the City picnic, Jon Richards (UNISON Senior National Education Officer) emphasised the duty of employers to take stress and workload issues seriously: ‘This lack of thought to basic health and safety by the employer is short sighted. Taking short cuts and ignoring duties is hugely counter-productive, as the mounting pressure will adversely affect staff and impact on the university. In the current economic climate it’s more important than ever that employers’ look to maintain quality – in HE this is based on staff  – so London Met needs to address stress levels and improve the working environment for all their employees.”  Also discussed was the miserly pay offer (0.4% consolidated) and the need to reject the idea that public sector workers should pay for the banking crisis.

We received lots of ideas about how to take the campaign forward.  Megan Redmond and UNISON officers Harry Lister and Denise Bertuchi spoke at North campus about the different ways staff could make use of their lunch hours.  Ideas suggested include encouraging use of the university’s facilities such as the gym and libraries, setting up a lunchtime walking group and taking advantage of a deal – just brokered by London Met UNISON and local cafe owners in Holloway – to offer London Met staff a 10% discount.

Petitions calling for the university to provide decent staff common rooms in each university building were eagerly signed by members, and we will collect more signatures in the weeks to come. We also raised the idea of going to Gillies’ Mid-summer party to highlight the need to defend Higher Education. We are going to raise the issue of further cuts in the sector, petition against these, and give people badges/ stickers to wear to take into the party on 21st.

Both events were a real success. One member commented: ‘I am glad that the rain did not spoil this wonderful opportunity to meet with other Unison colleagues from the university and enjoy the good food that was provided for us.’ And we won praise from UNISON HQ. Denise Bertuchi, said: “Despite the weather your branch was able to create a beautiful pastoral vignette right in the heart of the metropolis… it was an inspiration.”

Reflecting on the events, Max Watson, Chair, said: “The rain kept us indoors – you cannot predict the weather. You can, however, predict the political climate under the new government and the forecast is for severe warnings of cuts to public services. These events brought staff together to de-stress, relax, and share experiences with each other. We want to re-build the support networks that our union has – we look after each other in UNISON and we are developing that sense of camaraderie that people at London Met lament losing over the last few years – and if the cuts around the corner do come our way, we’ll already better prepared to resist them.”

See a slideshow of photos from the picnics here.

Every year UK businesses lose £26 billion and 70 million working days because of workplace stress related illness. The recent stress survey conducted by the London Met unions highlighted the unacceptable effects that restructuring has had on staff health and safety. 

Jon Richards, UNISON Head of Higher Education, stated:

"This lack of thought to basic health and safety by the employer is short sighted. Taking short cuts and ignoring duties is hugely counter-productive, as the mounting pressure will adversely affect staff and impact on the university. In the current economic climate it's more important than ever that employers' look to maintain quality - in HE this is based on staff  - so London Met needs to address stress levels and improve the working environment for all their employees."

Join us on 8th June for a free picnic lunch at the city campus (Altab Ali park, Whitechapel High St) and the north campus (Highbury Fields, near the tree sculpture) between 1-2pm to highlight this important issue, and make sure you take your proper lunch break!

For more information on the picnics see our article on stress on the Campaigns page here, or email Assistant Branch Secretary Gail Cameron: gail.cameron@londonmet.ac.uk