Salford Uni UCU Branch Secretary Suspended

[bellyscratch]

Just got this in an email


Gary Duke, who has been UCU Branch Secretary at Salford University for three weeks, has been suspended by email.


This is apparently on the basis of wholly unsubstantiated and outrageous allegations about a satirical pamphlet.



Gary denies all allegations and has not received anything in writing.
He has heard nothing about whether he will be paid or not
.
Salford Vice-Chancellor Michael Harloe was awarded a massive 10 per cent pay rise last year - taking his salary to £240,000.



In a memo to staff, Harloe said the pamphlets could amount to gross misconduct and lead to dismissal.



The fact that Gary has been leading the fight against 150 redundancies is, of course, not connected to this management action, which is completely out of procedure.


Gary has been banned from speaking about the suspension and is barred from University premises.


Staff and students believe that this is bullying and harassment of a UCU officer in an attempt to destroy UCU organisation at the University.


Please send messages of support (and requests for further information) via the Salford University Defend Education Press Officer, Gary Leese [email protected] ([email protected])

([email protected])
And feel free to share your feelings with the Vice Chancellor – [email protected] ([email protected])

[Bitter Ashes]

How can he be banned from talking about his suspension? What are they going to do? Suspend him? This totaly stinks. Even if he was involved then what's it the buisness of the uni? They pay him to adhere to thier rules of conduct while he's in work. They dont pay him anything to adhere to them in his free time, therefore even if his contract says that has to behave in a certain way, it's invalid seeing as though it's based upon the times that the contract states he's working for them. No money = no compliance.

As for speaking against his employers for the redundancies, well, I have serious doubts that there's anything his contract that demands him to accept his employers as omnipitant and beneveolant. Once again, the bourgeois, who are very happy to reffer to employment contracts to get thier own way, think that these pieces of paper dont flow two ways. Both parties signed a contract. This guy kept his end of the bargin, the employers didnt and it's the employers who are getting away with it!

What exactly was on these pamphlets anyway?

[bellyscratch]

All I know is what I quoted from the email. Ulster Socialist might know more...

[Dr Mindbender]

All I know is what I quoted from the email. Ulster Socialist might know more...

Sorry, I've not spoken to him for about 5 years.

I cant imagine it'll be like GD to take this lying down though.

[Rimbaud]

As in all these cases the situation is complex but basically Duke wrote a letter on email to a friend in which he pointed out how much money the University were spending on free drinks for senior staff, palatial accomodation and the fact that in one school a person appears to be or have been in a relationship with the person who appointed them - ceraintly something that needed to be reviewed and a matter of public interest. Duke has been railroaded - there were two allegations in his disciplinary hearing that he wrote the leafler (the person he sent it to obviously sent it on to others who then made hard copies available) and that he published it. Amazingly on no evidence Duke was found guilty of publishing the document and the Disciplinary Hearing accepted his admisstion that Duke wrote the leaflet. So what was he found guilty of - well a charge that was not made clear 'bringing the university into disrepute.; The charge of harrasment and bullying was not backed up by any evidence whatsoever indeed the University singularly failed to even provide copies of the victim statement that they were supposed to provide, additionally there was no formal complaint by anyone. So in a desparate attempt to find Duke - a socialist trade union thorn in the side of the managment - they found him guilty of bringing the univeristy into disrepute.

Worse than the above is that it now transpires that the Chair of the Disciplinary Panel was an interested party to the charges as he was at one of the free drinks meetings Duke had written about (so the Chair had a personal interest in the case) the Chair did not understand the rules on his own admission (so how could he hear the case) and again on his own admission had taken seceret advice from Human Resources (bit like naming the extermination squads the Care Unit) as to the conduct of the case (which advise was not only prejudicial to Duke but also totally wrong), the Chair when questioned at the Appeal Hearing when asked specific questions lied and then when confronted with the evidences (minutes of the meeting he Chaired) had to recant. Of course this was all a fair impartial disciplinary process wasn't it?

There are far too many other examples in this case of University of Salford black arts not least the attempt to besmirch Duke by calling him a racist - anyone who knows Duke knows of his long and honorable history of anti-racism - but hey libellous statements from senior members of Salford Univeristy seek to be stock in trade if your a socialist trade unionist they want to get rid of.

If you want to help and I implore you to help - then do visit the various web sites and register your anger at this anti democratic action by Salford University - make it clear that potential students should think twice about applying to this bastion of free speech!

Fraternally

Rimbaud