What you can do if you have been told to return to campus
If you have been told to return to campus and you do not feel it is safe for you to do so, raise your concerns with you line manager. There is guidance on risk assessments, employers' legal duties and how to raise concerns on our website. ... See MoreSee Less
CONVERSATIONS WITH CEB AND CONTACTING THE WELSH GOV
We have received a reply from Cardiff University’s Executive Board to the motions passed at our September General Meeting, outlining the branch’s position on return-to-campus and face-to-face teaching (see our letters in our email to members). The UEB has asserted that they plan to go ahead with face-to-face teaching even when this could be conducted online and that they are following UK and Welsh Government guidelines. We have written to the Welsh Government Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams, outlining our concerns.
Our meetings with university management have not led us closer to any agreement that the campus is safe to re-open, or that face-to-face teaching will be safe. We have also not been able to reach agreement on other matters we have been putting forward since the beginning of the pandemic, including meaningful consultation on risk assessments, financial support for home working, addressing increased workload, halting the dismissal of staff on fixed-term contracts and protecting postgraduates who teach.
While we understand that students have been given the expectation to receive face-to-face teaching, this commitment was made several months ago, without union agreement and without an understanding of what the situation would be at the start of the teaching term. We should not be paying the price for these irresponsible decisions, made in the context of marketised Higher Education in which a tuition-fee based system leads to poor management. ... See MoreSee Less
