Emergency General Meeting – 10th May 2024 (reconvened)

The following motion was passed at a quorate Emergency General Meeting of the branch on 10th May 2024 (this meeting was reconvened from 2nd May 2024).

Motion: Declaration of the sanctity of education and life for all and a call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire (Ceasefire now and an end to ‘Educide’)

Southampton University UCU notes:

Southampton University UCU resolves:

  1. To call on and lobby our VC and University leadership demanding:
    (a) A call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire an end to the blockade of Gaza the release of all Palestinian and Israeli hostages.
    (b) They seriously consider the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings and take responsible steps to ensure that they are not risking complicity in Israel’s collective punishment and ‘plausible genocidal acts’ in light of the ICJ ruling.
    (c) Conduct a full review and disclosure of pension funds, investments, funding and partnerships. Identify and divest from companies that are complicit in genocide, apartheid, have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel’s militarised violence and oppression of the Palestinian people and withdraw from any Israeli holdings that are linked to breaches of international law. Divestment should include but not be limited to Barclays, BAE Systems, Boeing, Airbus, Thales, Ex Libris Group and BlackRock.
    (d) Statements are made condemning the killing of over 35,000 people, including over 5800 students, and at least 261 teachers/administrators and 95 professors, with more than 9000 other students and teachers injured during the ongoing attacks in Gaza to date.
    (e) A commitment to support the reconstruction and long-term rebuilding of the Palestinian higher education sector/institutions that have been destroyed and/or severely damaged by the Israeli military in Gaza.
    – This would include establishing links and partnerships with Palestinian universities in the form of twinning, exchange programmes and establishment/expansion of scholarships and hardship funds for Palestinian students and academic fellowships for staff who have seen their universities and educational opportunities destroyed. (Sources: Rebuilding Hope for Gaza | Education Above All FoundationPALS Travel Fellowship – FOBZU website)
    – Lobby the UK government and research bodies for specific funding to support Palestinian higher education and Palestinian refugees.
    (f) Declare support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and their own viable state, an end to oppression and wars, and see Palestinians and Israelis mutually agree their future relations, free of all coercion, and able to live in peace and prosperity.
  2. To support and promote students and UCU members in on-campus activities including sit-ins/vigils/webinars to promote information and education about the history and occupation of Palestine and demonstrate against apartheid, illegal occupation, settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing.
  3. To call on all staff to carefully consider their links to Israeli universities and sever ties with those complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
  4. To call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire an end to the blockade of Gaza the release of all Palestinian and Israeli hostages and respect for and the immediate and unconditional release of the dead on both sides.
  5. To support financial appeals for medical, educational, and humanitarian projects.
  6. To support free speech and academic freedom and the defence of voices for Palestine on campus.

 

For: 39

Against: 17

Abstentions: 7

Emergency General Meeting – 2nd May 2024 (to be reconvened)

The Southampton UCU branch held an Emergency General Meeting on 2nd May 2024, to give members the opportunity to submit motions to UCU’s Special HE Sector Conference, motion amendments to UCU Congress, and to discuss the motions that have been announced for Congress. We also considered the University’s proposed new Family Leave Policy, and passed a number of motions (see below). Branch voted to suspend the meeting, to be reconvened on 10 May 2024, to allow members more time to debate and vote on a motion concerning Gaza.

Family Leave Policy

Branch unanimously voted to instruct the Executive Committee’s JJNC negotiators to ratify the University’s Family Leave Policy. The votes cast were as follows:

For: 46

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Motion: Probation Justice for Staff on Fixed-Term Contracts

Branch notes:

  • the President’s verbal report on the issue of errors in the probation lengths assigned to many staff on Fixed-Term Contracts (FTCs);
  • that excessive probation periods for FTC staff can result in detriment, including increased job insecurity, difficulties with securing housing or loans, and limited or no access to the University’s redeployment register;
  • that while the University appears to be willing to address this issue for staff whose employment began on or after 1 August 2023, it has so far declined to commit to address this issue for staff who started before that date.

Branch believes:

  • that excessive probation periods for FTC staff are unacceptable and incompatible with the values of the University community;
  • that, while the University would be right to correct errors in probation length for FTC staff who started on or after 1 August 2023, it would be wrong to deny access to more favourable probation lengths to FTC staff who started before 1 August 2023, and whose probation periods extend well into 2025 in some cases.

Branch resolves:

  • to instruct the Executive Committee and Regional Official to include this matter in our ‘Modernising the Governance’ local dispute.

 

For: 44

Against: 0

Abstentions: 1

Motion: Congress Motion HE27

Branch resolves to guide its Congress Delegates to be supportive of motion HE27.

[NB: HE27 is a motion to be presented at the 2024 UCU Congress regarding staff-student relationship. Planned 2024 UCU Congress motions can be found at https://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu2122.html.]

 

For: 26

Against: 5

Abstentions: 9

Proposal to Suspend the Meeting

Branch resolved to suspend the Emergency General Meeting and to reconvene as soon as possible, to enable sufficient time for members to debate and vote on a motion about Gaza. The votes cast were as follows:

 

For: 32

Against: 2

Abstentions: 2