As discussed in previous posts, members face TWO strike ballots this month:

1. Pay & Equality (UK ballot, 15^th Jan-22^nd Feb): Negotiations made no progress on the issues of wages, tackling the gender pay gap, reducing casualization, and impossible workloads. UCU nationally, and the Cardiff UCU Executive Committee recommend that you vote ‘YES’ in favour of strike action and ASOS.
2. Protect jobs (local ballot, 1^st-22^nd Feb): There is a threat of compulsory redundancies at Cardiff University. Our VC has refused to provide assurance there will be no compulsory redundancies as part of the Transforming Cardiff campus redevelopment scheme. Cardiff UCU Executive Committee recommend that you vote ‘YES’ in this local ballot favour of strike action and ASOS to protect our jobs.

You can read more about each ballot, along with the reasons we think you should vote “Yes” to both industrial action and ASOS in both in the FAQ.

You can also download our bilingual flyer/poster about these ballots (please print them out, or pick up some copies from the UCU office, to stick up around your departments).

What can you do to help? Let us count the ways…

• Vote in both ballots, vote early, and vote for action (even if you don’t support industrial action, please vote – if you don’t, we are less likely to make the punitive, anti-union 50% threshold for industrial action);
• Join our join our “Standing Together”: Meditation Demonstration at 12:30-1pm in the VJ Gallery (Foyer) of the Main Building on Tuesday 12^th February. This is a powerful act of silent protest and solidarity;
• Help us “Get Out The Vote”, by volunteering to ring members to remind them to make their voice heard in both disputes – evidence from other branches shows that personal communication with members is essential to meeting the 50% threshold for action) – we’ll support you with guidance and a phone-banking script. It’s dead easy, and would make a great difference (email ucu@cardiff.ac.uk or ring the branch office to find out more/volunteer)
• Drop in on the regular, Monday lunchtime, informal gatherings in the Main Building Foyer (12.30-1.30pm) to learn more about the local and national disputes, offer each other support and solidarity; and/or
• Discuss, share, and publicly complain about the ballots and the issues we’re campaigning on. These emails aren’t read by all members, so we need to be vocal in getting the message out face-to-face and digitally. If you’re on social media share our Facebook and Twitter posts, and write about the issues (use the hashtags #WeAreTheUniversity and #VoteYesYes or post photos of you posting your ballot paper under the Twitter hashtag #HowDidYouPostYours).