Many of you will have already heard that, at yesterday’s well-attended EGM, QMUCU decided that – due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic – we would cancel physical picketing and associated activities (e.g. teach-outs) on the final four days of the current strike action. It is imperative to note that this does not change the fact that we are on strike until Thursday 19 March. We will use an array of digital methods (emails, social media, etc) to keep up the pressure on management, whilst also setting an example by not risking the health of our members through physical pickets (and the commutes that many members make to participate in these).
Management’s response to the fast evolving Covid-19 situation has been completely inadequate, taking risks with the health of staff and students and cascading responsibility down the chain to line managers and ordinary members of staff. Attendees at the EGM yesterday decided unanimously to call for the cancellation of all face-to-face teaching and associated activities, with immediate effect. We also decided to demand that staff be given adequate time to prepare for a move to online teaching. For staff returning from strike action this would be a week from their return to work on Friday 20 March.
We call on members to resist the pressure coming from management to take on ever more unreasonable workloads to deal with the present crisis. Management have not involved QMUCU in their response strategy to Covid-19 and, once again, they are proving their complete disregard for staff welfare in their responses to date. The current situation is only a further reminder of why we have been forced to take the ongoing strike action in the first place.
We will post further updates online and via email over the coming days.
Stay safe and stay healthy.
Solidarity.
qmucu.org 