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More strikes at University of Salford in row over sackings

22 May 2015

Staff at the University of Salford are set to take part in a four-day strike next week (Tuesday 26 May to Friday 29 May inclusive) in protest at the treatment of two colleagues who were put on forced gardening leave, sacked and refused any appeal.

UCU members who work in the school of nursing, midwifery, social work and social sciences will be on strike. That four-day strike will be followed by a week-long walk-out (Monday 1 June to Friday 5 June) by UCU members who work in the school of marketing and student recruitment.

The sacked pair, both union members who worked in the school of marketing and student recruitment, had raised concerns about a restructure. They were placed on forced gardening leave the day before the restructure was announced. Their contracts of employment were then terminated.

They were not given the opportunity to be part of a redundancy selection pool, were not consulted on how their redundancies could be avoided and were not allowed to appeal against their job losses. UCU said the treatment of the individuals flew in the face of agreed procedures on how the university should carry out redundancies.
 
The union believes the employees may have been targeted as a result of their role in the union where one of them took the position of local representative. Despite axing both members of staff, apparently as a cost-cutting exercise, new posts have since been advertised internally in their department.

The union has also lodged a complaint on behalf of both members of staff at the employment tribunal.

UCU regional official, Martyn Moss, said: 'Staff at the University of Salford are showing a fierce determination to support their sacked colleagues whose treatment they found abhorrent and unacceptable in the modern workplace.

'No institution should be allowed to ride roughshod over agreed procedures and violate its employees' rights in this way. In the meantime, UCU is still committed to achieving a negotiated settlement through talks.'

UCU members at the University of Salford took a day's strike action in support of the pair on Thursday 23 April. Three-quarters (75%) of UCU members who took part in the ballot for industrial action voted to strike.

Last updated: 10 December 2015

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