Alongside Goldsmiths UCU, we strongly condemn Goldsmiths University managements refusal to put money from saved wages during the strikes into the Student Hardship Fund like previous years.
Here's what we think of that:
Joint statement from GUCU and Goldsmiths SU
Goldsmiths UCU and Goldsmiths SU strongly condemn Goldsmiths SMT's refusal to meet GUCU's request that any revenue saved from unpaid wages while staff are on strike against redundancies be diverted into a student hardship fund.
This move would cost the University nothing, and would be a way of management acting on what it frequently declares is its grave concern for student welfare.
We are concerned that management's preference for using funds instead to improve Goldsmiths' 'long-term strategic future' will amount, in practice, to using revenue saved from unpaid wages to pay interest to Lloyds and Natwest bank.
We urge Goldsmiths SMT to prioritise the welfare of its students and staff over that of the banks.