Our Kent UCU ballot opens today (Friday 23 February)! You should receive your ballot papers by Monday 26th or Tuesday 27th at your home address.
- Staff recently voted to ballot for industrial action to defend the 58 colleagues formally put ‘at risk’ of redundancy due to proposed course closures.
- This is also a ballot to defend your research from cuts planned by senior management, including in areas that are not ‘at risk’ of redundancy. Research cuts could be the first step in reducing staff in these areas too.
- The best chance of defending jobs and research is to prove to senior management that it will not be worth the industrial & financial risk to make cuts. If they see a low ballot turnout, they are far more likely to cut as much of your research and/or jobs as they can.
How to save your research time
- You must post your ballot as soon as possible. Ballots are won or lost in the first week. Last time, we won the ballot by two votes: if you don’t vote, you are very likely lose the ballot and your job and/or research time is far more likely to be cut.
- Check Kester’s email for the link to notify us when you have posted your ballot. This is important for targeting votes.
- Click here if your ballot hasn’t arrived by Tuesday 27th to get a replacement.
Other issues & enquiries
- Click for the latest update on the situation at Kent
- Complete this short form if you have received correspondence from HR formally placing you ‘at risk’ of redundancy and need one-to-one UCU support. Due to the volume of enquiries, emailing another UCU contact about this matter may cause delays. Here is some basic guidance for affected members.
- For all other enquiries – such as questions about the current situation, or campaigning ideas – email Matt (m.howard@kent.ac.uk). He is triaging and forwarding all enquiries as appropriate to ensure those needing urgent support are not missed. You may also wish to be in touch with these colleagues who volunteered to be UCU contacts in your department. Please note however that one-to-one support and your elected committee should be accessed via the routes above.