Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
We as students at the University of Birmingham stand shoulder to shoulder with staff and UCU and recognize that the real disruption to our education is being done by the very damaging cuts, in the form of over 200 job losses, being pushed by the vice chancellor David Eastwood.
On the 17/02/11 University of Birmingham academic staff received an email concerning the UCU strike ballot. Sent by the university managers and signed by the Vice Chancellor David Eastwood and other members of the executive, it urged them to vote against UCU to minimize the "effects on students".
We find this emotive play by university management to be obscenely hypocritical language against academic staff who care a great deal about their students' education, an attempt which serves to prevent staff from expressing very pressing concerns.
This is made especially hypocritical when considering that the university mangers have not taken steps like refraining from pay bonuses at the top. The Vice Chancellor David Eastwood has just accepted an 11% pay rise to £392,000, despite his present salary of £352,000 already being 13 times the UK average. This year alone the executive pay roll was raised from £13.3 million to £14.7 million, an average increase of 10.5% per manager.
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will shortly be balloting on taking industrial action. In support of the UCU's fight against a real terms 4.6% pay cut to staff and against the regressive changes to the staff pension scheme.
We as students support UCU and their fight for education, fair wages and pensions. We will not be confused by university management doublespeak to paint potential strike action as the real threat to students' education. We recognize that the cuts to staff wages and departments at the University of Birmingham are the largest factor in the deterioration of higher education which will really deprive thousands of students of life opportunities.
Find out more about the stike ballot here: http://birminghamstudentsagainstcuts.blogspot.com/2011/02/students-shoulder-to-shoulder-with.html
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Updates
February 23, 2011
I have spent the morning drafting a formal letter that outlines our specific objections to the proposed job cuts and the executive pay increases. This document will be delivered to the university management office by the end of the week to ensure our position is officially recorded.
February 23, 2011
The administration is now monitoring our output and I have secured a meeting with the university executive next week. I am currently finalizing a formal briefing document to leverage this momentum before we proceed to that discussion.
6 Comments
Solidarity with our staff. They are the ones actually teaching us not the executives collecting massive bonuses.
Ridiculous that they talk about disruption when they are the ones handing out massive pay rises to themselves. Support the staff!
11% pay rise for him but cuts for everyone else? fix your priorities uob
my lecturers work so hard for us. seeing management try to pit us against them is honestly pretty gross
so tired of this. we pay enough tuition already and they just waste it on top management salaries while cutting the people who actually make this uni worth it.
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
We as students at the University of Birmingham stand shoulder to shoulder with staff and UCU and recognize that the real disruption to our education is being done by the very damaging cuts, in the form of over 200 job losses, being pushed by the vice chancellor David Eastwood.
On the 17/02/11 University of Birmingham academic staff received an email concerning the UCU strike ballot. Sent by the university managers and signed by the Vice Chancellor David Eastwood and other members of the executive, it urged them to vote against UCU to minimize the "effects on students".
We find this emotive play by university management to be obscenely hypocritical language against academic staff who care a great deal about their students' education, an attempt which serves to prevent staff from expressing very pressing concerns.
This is made especially hypocritical when considering that the university mangers have not taken steps like refraining from pay bonuses at the top. The Vice Chancellor David Eastwood has just accepted an 11% pay rise to £392,000, despite his present salary of £352,000 already being 13 times the UK average. This year alone the executive pay roll was raised from £13.3 million to £14.7 million, an average increase of 10.5% per manager.
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will shortly be balloting on taking industrial action. In support of the UCU's fight against a real terms 4.6% pay cut to staff and against the regressive changes to the staff pension scheme.
We as students support UCU and their fight for education, fair wages and pensions. We will not be confused by university management doublespeak to paint potential strike action as the real threat to students' education. We recognize that the cuts to staff wages and departments at the University of Birmingham are the largest factor in the deterioration of higher education which will really deprive thousands of students of life opportunities.
Find out more about the stike ballot here: http://birminghamstudentsagainstcuts.blogspot.com/2011/02/students-shoulder-to-shoulder-with.html
Updates
February 23, 2011
I have spent the morning drafting a formal letter that outlines our specific objections to the proposed job cuts and the executive pay increases. This document will be delivered to the university management office by the end of the week to ensure our position is officially recorded.
February 23, 2011
The administration is now monitoring our output and I have secured a meeting with the university executive next week. I am currently finalizing a formal briefing document to leverage this momentum before we proceed to that discussion.
6 Comments
EASTWOOD NEEDS TO GO. Nobody should get a raise like that while frontline staff are losing their jobs. Absolute disgrace.
Solidarity with our staff. They are the ones actually teaching us not the executives collecting massive bonuses.
Ridiculous that they talk about disruption when they are the ones handing out massive pay rises to themselves. Support the staff!
11% pay rise for him but cuts for everyone else? fix your priorities uob
my lecturers work so hard for us. seeing management try to pit us against them is honestly pretty gross
so tired of this. we pay enough tuition already and they just waste it on top management salaries while cutting the people who actually make this uni worth it.
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EASTWOOD NEEDS TO GO. Nobody should get a raise like that while frontline staff are losing their jobs. Absolute disgrace.