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Doubt remains over AUT marking boycott Restructuring plans alienating junior staff REBECCA LAWRENCE Deputy Editor
AUT lecturers at UEA are
awaiting news from their annual conference before celebrating a possible end to the assessment boycott after assurances on future pay secured from university employers last Thursday fell throqh within 24 hours. At the conference in Scarborough members will vote whether to suspend their action if talks with the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) can be set-up again. Members of the Association of University Teachers (AU11 took action short of strike when pay packages were offered which would significantly reduce their lifetime earnings. end national bargaining, and give a significantly small pay increase. On Thursday the AUT thought it had reached
a deal with employers, although details were not confirmed, for a pay increase from the original 6.4% to 12.2% over two years, and national pay bargaining to be retained. Acting departmental AI.IT representative for EAS Sean Matthews said it seemed the employers had made concessions in all three areas AUT members were concerned with. "We can't legally stop the assessment boycott until a decision is made at conference next week, but in practice, people will say we have got much of what we wanted. I'm very pleased. I think employers had this in their pocket all along, and were trying to see how strong we are, and we've shown them." But it is not all good news for lecturers as Or Matthews explained路 saying AUT members at UEA are extremely disappointed with the actions of Vice-Chancellor
David Eastwood during the course of the dispute. "He didn't even send a letter to people involved until very late in the day, and there was no official comment to students. He took far too long to address the issues and the letter he sent to staff was wholly inadequate and when he did write he failed to include part time and contact staff, or support staff (all of whom are concerned) in his circular letter. He said it was the best deal we could get and we should accept it. It's extremely disappointing to have an institution who hasn't seen fit to talk to people about the Issue" Head of Philosophy Rupert Read added that he very much hoped strike action could be called off. "I hope that the deal the AUT thinks it has achieved with the national employers will be going ahead. Cont. page 2
REBECCA LAWRENCE Deputy Editor
THE UNIVERSITY is facing a possible crisis as many lecturers are considering leaving UEA because of the attitude of the ViceChancellor and his management team during the AUT dispute. The anger towards the management has been brewing since lecturers felt left out of the consultation process towards the restructuring of the University, set to take place from August 1. An anonymous source said that in one school alone, 800Al of junior colleagues are looking for, or have applied for new jobs. "It shows the amount of distress caused by the restructuring and the anger felt at the way the dispute has been handled by the senior management. We've been kept in the dark as to what Is going on.
"They've appointed four members of staff that they think people will trust to encourage support. A lot of staff are concerned about the changes." EAS lecturer Sean Matthews said the management was not giving enough information to lecturers. "They are imposing a top down managerial pattern. Even the consultants have said the restructuring Is not itself going to solve the problems- it needs a shift in management culture. The restructuring has been accepted with so little detail it's frightening. "No-one Is against making things better, but Professor Eastwood has managed to make opposition to it seem as if you are against restructuring full-stop . He has missed the point that we are angry. There Is little evidence of how this will save money. Do we trust the managers even though we
are deeply anxious? The very consultants the management has employment have indicated there needs to be changes in the management culture." The summary report to the University 2004 produced by consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers said "While we consider the move to a four Faculty model to be justlfted by the evidence we have collected together over these months, they are not in themselves sufficient to guarantee the achievement of the three University aims established at the outset." Despite David Eastwood claiming in an interview with Concrete last year that the consultative process was good value for money, many lecturers believe the contrary. Head of Philosophy Rupert Read said he believed the consultation process was Cont. page 2