Monday 30 March 2009

UNISON Annual General Meeting Thus 2nd April, 12.30-2.00pm



UNISON Annual General Meeting

Thursday 2nd April 2009
1pm - 2pm
Tower Building Room TM201




Buffet Lunch from 12:30pm Holloway Road (see http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/about/tower-building.cfm )

Please note coach will be provided on the day and department to North Campus at 12 noon sharp outside 16 Goulston St, Law Building (see: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/about/goulston-street.cfm )

This is a UNISON Annual General Meeting -- for members only (unless otherwise invited). See agenda sent out separately by email. If you join this week, come with a a colleague who can vouch for you, that you are a member.

Jeremy Corbyn (photo, left) has confirmed he will be attending and will report back on his recent meetings with HEFCE.

It is vital that members try to attend this meeting. It is reasonable for you to want to attend this meeting, and you should arrange with your line manager the time off as necessary to attend (arrange cover etc). Any problems with attending this meeting, contact Unison directly.

The rally at UCL, 'Defend jobs and education' is at 6-8pm and UNISON members are welcome to attend. See here for more details.


Read the full post with comments!

Negotiations according to UCU and UNISON

Bob Aylett, interim (temporary) VC at London Met since Roper resigned, has recently emailed all staff at LMU once again attacking both unions. He included our email addresses and those of our officials, in an attempt to divide staff and turn them against us (see also our initial posting on Aylett including an article where he talks openly about his plans to cut staff way back in April 2008). His email is having the opposite effect, with more workers here joining both UCU and UNISON, and emailing us to find out what is really going on, which we're happy to do. Here is the official response (follow link to 'full post'). Please pass this link on to anyone not yet a member/ on our mailing list.



Dear all,

We are taking this opportunity to respond to some of Bob Aylett’s recent
email. In it he complains that we are holding up their rush towards
redundancies. In a sense, this is right. It is our job to subject their
proposals to scrutiny: this is precisely why the law provides for a 90-day
consultation period! We are all (management included) meant to be working
a) to avoid all redundancies b) if this proves impossible, to reduce the
number and c) to mitigate the impact of any that do take place. So far
management have been consistently obstructive by:

• Cancelling the last consultation meeting at the eleventh hour
• Refusing to take the process seriously
• Sending documentation at the last minute
• Trying to rush things past us: they seem to think that it is
reasonable to ‘discuss’ 20-odd reports in 90 minutes!
• Refusing to consider our proposals. We have put forward serious
suggestions for savings that would allow the university to avoid
redundancies; their answer is to insist on speeding up the process.
• Blocking our reasonable request that trades union representatives
be given some time away from their normal duties to fit in this extra
workload (another provision covered by the law on redundancies)

Bob Aylett knows all these points as well as we do. His email is
therefore both disingenuous and an attempt to divide staff. We have
explained why we think it dangerous to rush into a voluntary redundancy
scheme (see www.savelondonmetuni.blogspot.com). and are happy to do so
again.

Our concern is to save this university from terminal decline. Cutting
staff indiscriminately, outsourcing services and making the university
less attractive to students is a recipe for disaster. especially when it
may not be necessary. According to the Chair of the Board of Governors,
following the sudden and unexplained departure of Brian Roper we can
expect a new, interim, Vice Chancellor within weeks. Now is clearly not
the time for precipitate, untested and controversial changes.

Finally, a word about the Staff Unrepresentative Council. At the time it
was established, both unions argued that it would be used to attack the
trades unions when they represent members. Management are doing just
that. A brief reminder:

• The vast majority of people who sit on it are unelected. Their
motives
are undoubtedly good but they represent no-one
• There is no mechanism for members to report to or consult their
‘constituencies’. We have no idea what they are doing or saying.
• In the case of the redundancies, they have no access to support,
advice or legal opinion when they listen to management’s views. It is not
surprising, therefore, that they reflect those views back to management.
• We have every sympathy for people trying to contribute to the
university when management have systematically blocked all other avenues
and suppressed staff views but we believe that members of the SRC are out
of their depth and being placed in an invidious position.

We are delighted to hear from staff and have long been soliciting their
views. Since management are now so keen on this, it is regrettable that
they do not allow us to communicate with staff directly. Please could you
help the process by passing this email round as widely as possible?


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MASS PUBLIC RALLY Defend Jobs - Defend Education


Defend Jobs - Defend Education
Mass Public Rally
Thu 2nd April, 6-8pm
ULU, Malet Street, London WC1

Download flyer as a pdf but the time is incorrect. The rally starts at 6pm not 4pm - click on the 'read full post link' below for text:
http://www.lmuucu.devisland.net/resources/defend_jobs_flyer.pdf


defend jobs, defend education
no to academic vandalism




Massive staff cuts in higher education

In the university sector thousands of jobs are threatened despite national funding settlements well above inflation. London Metropolitan University propose to axe at least 500 jobs – one quarter of the work-force. At Liverpool University, three depart¬ments face closure, with another five facing review. At Reading, while the local community cries out for more trained social and health workers, the university wants to close the department which trains them.

College restructuring hits further education jobs too In further education too, jobs are at risk. Doncaster College alone has announced plans to restructure with a loss of up to 300 jobs.

Specialisation means less staff and fewer courses Universities and colleges are responding to the government's agenda of specialisation, which means they will fund only those who tick all the funding boxes and pass the discredited assessment criteria present across post-16 education. This Alice-in-Wonderland logic allows universities to shut departments which actually generate surpluses, like Social Care at Reading, boost participation, like London Met, or have excellent teaching and research, like the departments threatened at Liverpool.

UCU believes:
  • making teachers, lecturers, researchers and those who support them redundant is an act of academic vandalism at any time but is an obscenity during a recession
  • the government's specialisation agenda is destroying the diversity of post-16 education, cutting off access to education for thousands of potential learners
  • universities and colleges should be expanding provision to meet the needs of our communities and our country during a recession, not reducing it.

UCU wants to defend education. We will do everything we can to protect jobs and courses, but we need your help.

Come to the mass public rally

Thursday 2 April, 6–8pm University of London Union Malet Street
London WC1E 7HY

Speakers include:
  • Sally Hunt, General Secretary, UCU
  • Christine Blower, General Secretary, NUT
  • Representatives from London Met, Liverpool University and Doncaster College


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UNISON Labour MPs signed EDM 575

London Met UNISON Branch recently wrote to all UNISON MPs in Parliament asking them to sign our EDM 575, (text to follow). It is clearly having an effect, as several more have recently signed...

See the latest list of MPs here. If you're in UNISON and you've already written to your MP/ David Lammy, then why not write to those MPs on the list who haven't yet signed. The following letter (click below for 'full post') was sent from Allan Pike, London Met UNISON Branch Secretary, on Friday 13th March:


NAME OF MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA


Dear NAME MP,

RE: Crisis at London Metropolitan University, EDM 575

I am writing to you from London Metropolitan University (LMU) UNISON branch. I gather from our union’s website that you are part of the UNISON sponsored group of MPs, so I assume our dispute here will be of interest to you.

UNISON Group of Labour MPs at Westminster


If you are already familiar with the crisis at LMU, then perhaps you’re not aware of the EDM 575 tabled by Jeremy Corbyn, which we urge you to sign today. I would also ask that you write to the Governors of London Metropolitan University (via the Chair of Governors, Peter Anwyl: Executive Director, International Students’ House, 1 Park Crescent, London W1B 1SH) as a matter of urgency calling on them to ensure that management work with staff and the trades unions to avoid cutting jobs. If you’re not already familiar with our situation, please read on.

I am writing to you to raise my very major concerns about the situation facing London Metropolitan University at the moment. As a direct result of poor financial decisions made by the management, London Metropolitan University, one of London’s newest universities specialising in education for a diverse population (thus significantly involved in the government’s policy of widening participation), is now threatened with significant staff redundancies. .

HEFCE has reduced London Metropolitan’s teaching grant by £18m / year and is clawing back £38m in over-payments as a result of inaccurate returns on student completion rates. London Metropolitan’s management are now insisting on 550 job losses (mostly in the form of redundancies) across the university within 15 months,. If this is in proportion to the number of part-timers who work at the university, 8-900 people (25% of all staff) would lose their livelihoods. This figure has risen inexplicably in the past six weeks and may rise further.

So far, they have failed to consult meaningfully with staff or unions about the crisis or the future of the university. There appears to have been no attempt to look for alternative ways of dealing with the crisis.

Our branch is greatly concerned that these job cuts throw the future viability of the university into doubt. Reductions in staffing will erode London Metropolitan University’s ability to offer high quality education to Londoners and will inflict damage on the prospects of the students who pursue their studies, often at great cost. This is nonsensical: in a recession, the government should be investing more, not less, in education. If billions of pounds are available to bail out private banks and their rich shareholders, then there is certainly funding available for education. We call on the government to step in to save the university so that staff and students do not pay for the incompetence of others through job cuts and course closures.

I would once again ask that you write to the Governors of London Metropolitan University (via the Chair of Governors, Peter Anwyl: Executive Director, International Students’ House, 1 Park Crescent, London W1B 1SH) as a matter of urgency calling on them to ensure that management work with staff and the trades unions to avoid cutting jobs. I would also ask you to support the EDM, no. 575, tabled by Jeremy Corbyn on 26.01.09 and to raise these concerns with ministers with a view to securing funding for London Metropolitan’s future.


Yours sincerely,


YOUR NAME
London Met University Branch

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Thursday 26 March 2009

THES: London Met offers reassurances...

London Met offers reassurances to staff after v-c's sudden exit

'No threat' to the university's future, says chair of the board of governors. Rebecca Attwood reports

Staff at London Metropolitan University have been told there is "no threat" to the long-term wellbeing of the institution, after the sudden departure of its vice-chancellor.

On 19 March, the university announced that Brian Roper had decided to step down "to take up the opportunity of early retirement and to pursue other interests".


Read the full article here. You can comment on THES articles, as you can on our website, but keep in mind our guide on writing letters here. Much more to follow soon.


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Independent: Leading Article: How about a vc pay freeze?

Leading Article: How about a vc pay freeze?

Thursday, 26 March 2009

The news that vice-chancellors earn an average of £194,000 a year, almost as much as the Prime Minister, is embarrassing to higher education at a time when the rest of Britain is having to tighten its belt. Is the boss of a university really worth this amount? Universities UK believes that such pay reflects the responsibilities of running a multi-million-pound organisation, and it is certainly true that vice-chancellors earn roughly the same as bosses of quangos in the public sector.

But vice-chancellors don't operate in the same kind of marketplace as the chief officers of private companies, although they do live in a world that has become increasingly competitive. They have to try to balance the books, but their institutions aren't allowed to go bust because the Government makes sure that they survive by merging with other institutions or by being given special help. In extremis, however, a vice-chancellor will have to resign, as happened last week over the troubles at London Metropolitan University.

A better question to ask is whether vice-chancellors' pay is performance-related. Perhaps university bosses should set an example and freeze their own pay while the recession lasts.

You can comment on this article, as you can on our website, but keep in mind our guide on writing letters here. Much more to follow soon.



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One in four jobs at London Met under threat: Newsletter #01 page 1


Front page of the Save London Met newsletter #01 that you should have all seen by now. If not, email to ask for printed copies. Click on images for larger view, Page 2, Page 3 and Page 4 to follow in posts below.
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Voluntary Redundancies -- why the rush? Newsletter #01 page 2


Page 2 of the Save London Met newsletter #01 that you should have all seen by now. If not, email to ask for printed copies. Click on images for larger view, Page 3 and Page 4 to follow in posts below. Front page above.
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Local MPs are with us & No Outsourcing: Newsletter #01 page 3

Page 3 of the Save London Met newsletter #01 that you should have all seen by now. If not, email to ask for printed copies. Click on images for larger view: page 4 to follow in post below. Front page above and Page 2 also above.
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Get involved: join the campaign Newsletter #01 page 4


Page 4 of the Save London Met newsletter #01 that you should have all seen by now. If not, email to ask for printed copies. Click on images for larger view:Front page above -- Page 2 and Page 3 also above.
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Q&A from UNISON for LMU staff

The following is the text of a leaflet that went out recently, early March, to UNISON members, and is currently being updated in light of further untrue attacks on the unions positions and our elected representatives. Please leave any comments and questions below.

Management have recently sent out some misleading emails to all staff at London Metropolitan University about the union’s positions. Below are some facts about UNISON's stance on the threatened redundancies:

1. When did UNISON know about the problems with HEFCE’s funding of LMU?

We were aware last summer that there was a problem with student returns. Both UNISON and UCU questioned management about it. The University then put its strategic plan to HEFCE on how it would deal with both the year on year reduction in funding and the repayment of the over-funding. This plan was rejected by HEFCE at the very end of last year.

2. What has happened since then?

On 8th January Brian Roper wrote a letter to staff outlining the financial crisis this had created and warned of potential redundancies. Soon after it was confirmed that this would amount to 320 posts, two thirds of which would fall on support staff. Two very brief meetings were held with UNISON and the UCU in January instigated by management to discuss the re-opening of the voluntary redundancy scheme. At the second of these meetings the unions demanded that a formal notice (a Section 188 notice) of redundancies must be issued in order to begin formal consultation over a period of 90 days. Most importantly this notice would have to detail where the redundancies would take place. Only, - this needs to be stressed- ONLY when this information is known would the unions be prepared to re-open the voluntary redundancy scheme as one of the principle ways in which to avoid compulsory redundancies. Opening the scheme before then would be chaotic and divisive.

An S188 notice was then issued to the unions on 17th February but this failed to contain the critical information of which posts were under threat of redundancy; it simply listed them as falling in every department of the University. What it did however, was to come up with wholly new figures of the number of posts under threat: 250 by end of this July and a further 300 by the end of July 2010, giving a combined total of 550.

3. Has the 90 day consultation period started?

The unions are challenging the University on the basis that the redundancy notification doesn’t reach the basic requirements as set down by law and therefore the consultation period hasn’t started. Letters confirming the basis of this legal challenge have been sent essentially saying the 90 day period can only begin once the unions have received the detailed information the University is required to provide under S188.

4. Are the trade unions blocking voluntary redundancies (VR)?

No. While we accept that there may be a need for voluntary redundancies as stated above, VR can’t and shouldn’t be considered until the redundancy notification has been properly submitted. These objections were ignored by the University, with staff being invited to apply for voluntary redundancies. In response both unions have declared a local dispute with the intention of stopping this ill-conceived process. The time for opening up the voluntary redundancy scheme might well come but that time is not now.

5. What else is UNISON doing?

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis has written to HEFCE. Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North and also a UNISON member, is to meet with HEFCE next week; and will be meeting with Higher Education Minister and local MP for neighbouring Tottenham, David Lammy, and Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills John Denham, over the next week or so. On 5th March a meeting was held at Holloway Road site attended by 60 plus UNISON members and addressed by Jon Richards, UNISON’S Senior National Officer for Higher Education; Jeremy Corbyn and Harry Lister UNISON’s Regional Officer for London Metropolitan University, where members concerns were raised and addressed. A similar meeting will be held in the City campus in the near future.

6. What can the unions do about the threat of compulsory redundancies?

Once the redundancy notification has been properly submitted the 90 day consultation period will begin. It is during this time that the Unions will enter into meaningful discussions with management to explore what the alternatives are to compulsory redundancies.

7. I have a concern. Who do I go to?

If you have any concerns please speak to your local union rep. Do not sign anything without first getting it checked out with your union rep. We will be sending out regular bulletins and updates over the next few weeks.



• Email London Met Unison Branch: unisonlondonmet@googlemail.com

• See the website of the Save London Met University campaign for latest news and updates: http://www.savelondonmetuni.blogspot.com/

• Call UNISON with any queries, our Branch Sec, Allan Pike: ext 0207 320 3017
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Wednesday 25 March 2009

Negotiations according to Bob Aylett

A worrying article has been found in the University World News. For anyone at London Met concerned about our new interim VC, Robert Aylett, the following might send shivers down your spine:

"Nothing and nobody is sacred and you can't cut deals with your favourite staff; you have to be ruthless while smiling," he says.

Read the whole thing here if you can stomach it.

Meanwhile, the comments on last week's article on THES are raging. If you want to have your say, remember some guidelines we've posted here.
Read the full post with comments!

Saturday 21 March 2009

Resignation of Brian Roper


The VC of London Met, Brian Roper, resigned suddenly this week. Below
is a statement from both unions:

London Met UNISON and London Met UCU note Brian Roper’s resignation as Vice Chancellor of London Metropolitan University. However, we regret that no one has yet taken formal responsibility for the current financial difficulties of the university.

UNISON and UCU further note the intention to announce a successor as Vice Chancellor. We presume that any immediate appointment would be made on a temporary basis pending external advertisement. We hope that this will be the first step in a process towards creating a more collegial university environment in which management and staff are able to engage in meaningful dialogue about the operation of the institution.

We call, therefore, on London Met management to suspend all current proposals with regard to the finances of the university, including all threats of redundancies. We invite them to enter a process of genuine, collective discussion with staff and students in order to devise a recovery plan for London Met that has a real chance of success.

Both unions look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue with HEFCE and with representatives of the London Met Board of Governors concerning the future of the university and its mission.




Below is the text of the original email from Peter Anwyl, Chair of the Board of Governors:


Dear Colleagues


We are sorry to announce that Brian Roper, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive has decided to leave the University to take up the opportunity of early retirement and to pursue other interests. Brian has made a significant contribution to the University and on behalf of the Board of Governors we would like to pay tribute to his energy and determination in delivering the University’s mission and to thank him for his support and efforts in his time here.


Although Brian will not be leaving the University until the end of December 2009, he has stepped down from the role of Vice Chancellor with immediate effect. We will communicate details of Brian’s successor in due course.


Please join me in wishing Brian well in his future endeavours.


Peter Anwyl

Chair of the Board of Governors


Feel free to leave your farewell messages to Brian below in the comments section.

See the ´London Met Crisis´ for the media response here:
http://thelondonmetcrisis.blogspot.com/2009/03/media-reacts-to-news-of-brian-ropers.html

In January, calling for demonstration against the cuts, we said:

If anyone should go, it ought to be Brian Roper and his team. Sack the managers -- they got us into this mess, not us staff who keep LMU going.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a fresh start for London Met. See here for more ideas on what we mean by that :

http://savelondonmetuni.blogspot.com/2009/03/fresh-start-for-london-met-leaflet-to.html

More coming soon...
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Thursday 5 March 2009

UNISON Group of Labour MPs

The following list of MPS below have NOT (yet) signed the EDM 575, despite being part of the UNISON Group of Labour MPS:

UNISON Group of Labour MPs at Westminster

Judy Mallaber, MP for Amber Valley, and Kelvin Hopkins, MP for Luton North, are the co-chairs of the Parliamentary group.

Stephen Hepburn MP Jarrow
Andy Burnham MP Leigh
Stephen Byers MP North Tyneside
Diana Johnson MP Hull North
Lyn Brown MP West Ham


Kelvin Hopkins MP Luton North
Des Browne MP Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Patrick Hall MP Bedford
Katy Clark MP North Ayrshire and Arran
David Heyes MP Ashton under Lyne
Mary Creagh MP Wakefield
Brian Donohoe MP Cunningham South

Adam Ingram MP East Kilbride
Sharon Hodgson MP Gateshead East and Washington West
Hazel Blears MP Salford
Linda Gilroy MP Plymouth Sutton
David Blunkett MP Sheffield Brightside


Charlotte Atkins MP Staffordshire Moorlands

Ben Chapman MP Wirral South
Angela Eagle MP Wallasey
Richard Burden MP Birmingham Northfield
Helen Jones MP Warrington North
Eric Joyce MP Falkirk
Jane Kennedy MP Liverpool Wavertree
Sadiq Khan MP Tooting
Andrew MacKinlay MP Thurrock
Fiona Mactaggart MP Slough

Judy Mallaber MP Amber Valley
Michael Meacher MP Oldham West and Royton
Gilly Merron MP Lincoln
Anne Moffat MP East Lothian
Laura Moffatt MP Crawley
Dan Norris MP Wansdyke
Albert Owen MP Ynys Môn
Greg Pope MP Hyndburn
Dawn Primarolo MP Bristol South
Andrew Reed MP Loughborough
Terry Rooney MP Bradford North
Martin Salter MP Reading West
Jonathan Shaw MP Chatham and Aylesford


Gerry Sutcliffe MP Bradford South

Paddy Tipping MP Sherwood
Paul Truswell MP Pudsey
Keith Vaz MP Leicester East

Alan Whitehead MP Southampton Test


We will delete each name from this list when they have signed our motion for debate in Parliament. Read EDM 575 and see who has signed up here. Please update us when they do sign up. And, if you're in UNISON, perhaps you'll want to write to those above who haven't yet, to ask them why not. See here for a model letter to UNISON Labour MPs.

The following MPs have signed our EDM, 575 so far (1st April - will be updated):

  1. Corbyn, Jeremy
  2. Cryer, Ann
  3. Spink, Bob
  4. Jones, Lynne
  5. McDonnell, John
  6. Simpson, Alan
  7. Cohen, Harry
  8. Dismore, Andrew
  9. Wareing, Robert N
  10. Campbell, Ronnie
  11. Caton, Martin
  12. Thornberry, Emily
  13. Drew, David
  14. Gerrard, Neil
  15. Palmer, Nick
  16. Flynn, Paul
  17. Galloway, George
  18. Strang, Gavin
  19. Vis, Rudi
  20. Kaufman, Gerald
  21. Dobson, Frank
  22. Abbott, Diane
  23. Austin, John
  24. Featherstone, Lynne
  25. Hoey, Kate
  26. Dhanda, Parmjit
  27. Hamilton, Fabian
  28. Clapham, Michael
  29. Wright, David
  30. Willott, Jenny
  31. Gibson, Ian
  32. Goldsworthy, Julia
  33. Borrow, David S
  34. Wood, Mike
  35. Walley, Joan
  36. Foster, Michael Jabez
  37. Singh, Marsha
  38. Anderson, David
  39. Baker, Norman
  40. Taylor, David
  41. McDonnell, Alasdair
  42. Cruddas, Jon




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Wednesday 4 March 2009

Jeremy Corbyn, MP confirmed to speak at UNISON members meeting tomorrow

Sorry for late notice if you haven't already seen this:

North Campus UNISON members meeting:

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

  • Jeremy Corbyn, MP (Lab)
  • JON RICHARDS, UNISON, SENIOR NATIONAL OFFICER
  • Harry Lister, UNISON Regional Officer

Come along and find out what is happening

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY A MEMBER PLEASE COME ALONG AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT US

Thursday 5th March
1-2pm TMG-58
(Tower Building, Holloway Rd)
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Tuesday 3 March 2009

A fresh start for London Met (leaflet to students)



Read the full post with comments!

Writing to the papers and commenting on websites

We had a lot of press coverage to begin with. Our story is important, but it has recently disappeared from the pages of the press. One way to get us back into the news is by getting our many supporters to write letters to papers and to comment on websites that mention our story.

And to comment on blogs, including emailing supportive bloggers, such as this supporter. There are more and more blogs that carry our news, some of them devoted to the Crisis at London Met or parts of it. Link on their comments section to our blog here, if they haven't already found us.

Some tips on writing letters to newspapers:
  • Keep your letter short (approx 200 wds max)
  • Stick to the point. Keep to just one or two points.
  • Reference the article you are responding to.
  • Write it straight away, while it's fresh in your mind. You'll meet the deadline for publishing letters and be the first into their inbox.
  • Include your name and address, tell them what you do and don't want published eg your full address, real name, etc.
  • Mark you letter clearly 'for publication' in the subject header.
  • Call up the paper if they haven't published it, ask them (politely) why not.
Some tips on commenting on websites and blogs:

Much the same applies, except you're automatically publishing yourself. But remember:
  • Don't rant.
  • Keep to the facts.
  • Don't make it personal, don't let people wind you up and get into abuse.
  • Link to this site for reference. The more people coming to this site the more people likely to take action to support our case.
  • Consider using a webname - London Met staff might want to avoid using their real names for fear of victimisation at work. It won't be the first time it's happened, so it's advisable to think of an original name and stick to it.
  • Don't get bogged down in circular arguments. You've made your point, now move on to getting that letter to Gordon Brown finished...
Some more letter writing tips coming soon (suggestions welcome). There are two great letters you can use on our website as examples. One here, and another here. More to follow.

Become a fully active media watch campaigner:

If you've started leaving comments on blogs and written letters to your MP, the Government, the editor of all the papers and everyone else you can think of, keep an eye out for more stories online. To become a media watch campaigner, you need to know every time there is an article about us online so you can leave a comment or write to the paper. Follow these steps:

  1. Do a Google search for "London Metropolitan University" in the 'news' part of google, like this
  2. At the bottom of the page, click on Create an email alert for London Metropolitan University
  3. Fill in your email and select your preference (eg everyday, every week).
  4. Click on 'Create Alert'.

You will now get reglular updates on news articles online about London Met sent to your email. If it's about the cuts, then click on it read it and leave a quick comment or write to the paper.

Send any links to good articles or letters to us so we can post them up. We may have missed them. Or put a link to those stories in to the comments section of this blog, below.

Finally, get your friends, students or staff, workmates and family members to do the same. Pass this on to them by clicking on the envelope symbol below to email this post... spread the word. We need to win the war of words, so get writing.
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Model Letter to MP (from student)

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Dear

I am a student at the London Metropolitan University. I am very worried by reports in the press.

The Guardian Newspaper reports that “A senior union official has described the financial crisis at London's largest university, where major mistakes in recording student drop-out rates have led to an overpayment of £56m in government funding, as "unprecedented in higher education". Up to 500 staff jobs at London Metropolitan University are now said to be at risk after its management proposed large-scale redundancies to balance the books.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/03/brian-roper

We have been told nothing by our university and in this vacuum rumours are rife. The latest news is that up to 800 members of staff may lose their jobs. We the students and our tutors have done nothing wrong. Yet we are presented with the suggestion that this, the largest university in London, may fall as a result of a dispute between the university’s management and Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).

This is wrong. Firstly we need to know the real truth of the situation and secondly we insist on the need for this matter to be resolved in such a way that it does not impact on students, tutors or their courses.

How is it possible that Hefce accepted these returns in the past without checking? Why were these errors (if there were any) not picked up by the University’s financial departments, their auditors or by Hefce themselves? Why is the government not rescuing the university if it has the means to pay billions of pounds to bail out private banks?

If errors have been made then the guilty parties should be punished, not the blameless students or our tutors.

I wish to protest at my own situation and that of “2,300 (full-time equivalent) staff and 34,000 students” (figures from the Guardian.) I seek reassurance that the position of my university and its staff is secure.
Yours faithfully
Signed .........................................
Address .........................................
.........................................
.........................................
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Model Letter to (Minister for Higher Ed) David Lammy

Rt Hon David Lammy
Minister of State for Higher Education
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA


Dear Mr Lammy,

London Metropolitan University is the largest university in London and I study there. It has 35,000 students and the equivalent of 2,300 full time staff. Press reports on the BBC, in the Evening Standard, Guardian, Independent, Times Educational Section and the local press are really frightening.

They tell us that the university will have to pay back £50 million (Independent on Sunday) and that 700 members of staff could lose their jobs (Times Higher Education). Clearly this would be the end of our university. What will become of my course, my tutors, my university and me?
I have planned my life around my study and I am deeply anxious that the University will not be there if these cuts go ahead.

Whoever made mistakes in funding it wasn’t me or my tutors. Surely if mistakes were made then those who made the mistakes should pay – not me or my fellow students.

In any case surely the funding authority has some responsibility? They accepted these figures for three years and now want to claw back the money.

At a time when universities are being encouraged to widen their educational base it seems utterly crazy to scrap the careers of 35,000 students and 2,300 full time staff in central London. If your government has billions of pounds to spend on banks and pay-offs to rich bankers, why can it not rescue the university?

The press is aware of the problems and we will not go quietly.

Please confirm that my university will be allowed to continue and prosper with or without its current management.

Yours faithfully,

Signed .........................................
Address .........................................
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Model Letter to MP (from staff)

House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA



Dear

I am writing to you to raise my very major concerns about the situation facing London Metropolitan University at the moment. As a direct result of poor financial decisions made by the management, London Metropolitan University, one of London’s newest universities specialising in education for a diverse population (thus significantly involved in the government’s policy of widening participation), is now threatened with significant staff redundancies. .

HEFCE has reduced London Metropolitan’s teaching grant by £18m / year and is clawing back £38m in over-payments as a result of inaccurate returns on student completion rates. London Metropolitan’s management are now insisting on 550 job losses (mostly in the form of redundancies) across the university within 15 months,. If this is in proportion to the number of part-timers who work at the university, 8-900 people (25% of all staff) would lose their livelihoods. This figure has risen inexplicably in the past six weeks and may rise further.

So far, they have failed to consult meaningfully with staff or unions about the crisis or the future of the university. There appears to have been no attempt to look for alternative ways of dealing with the crisis.

As well as fearing for my own future, I am greatly concerned that these job cuts throw the future viability of the university into doubt. Reductions in staffing will erode London Metropolitan University’s ability to offer high quality education to Londoners and will inflict damage on the prospects of the students who pursue their studies, often at great cost. This is nonsensical: in a recession, the government should be investing more, not less, in education. If billions of pounds are available to bail out private banks and their rich shareholders, then there is certainly funding available for education. We call on the government to step in to save the university so that staff and students do not pay for the incompetence of others through job cuts and course closures.

I would ask that you write to the Governors of London Metropolitan University (via the Chair of Governors, Peter Anwyl: Executive Director, International Students’ House, 1 Park Crescent, London W1B 1SH) as a matter of urgency calling on them to ensure that management work with staff and the trades unions to avoid cutting jobs. I would also ask you to support the EDM, no. 575, tabled by Jeremy Corbyn on 26.01.09 and to raise these concerns with ministers with a view to securing funding for London Metropolitan’s future.

Yours sincerely,
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