This motion was agreed by the branch at a general meeting 8 March 2022

This branch notes that:

• members have been partaking in sustained ASOS and branch advice on ASOS has so far encompassed “working to contract; not covering for absent colleagues; removing and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action; not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action; not undertaking any voluntary activities” (HE Dispute FAQ updated December 2021)
• there is potential to escalate ASOS and make it more publicly visible;
• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) is frequently used by the university to ‘diversity wash’ and promote itself as a fair employer, usually relying on staff voluntary and goodwill 
• the resignation of external examiners has been a publicly visible ASOS strategy

This branch believes that:

• escalating ASOS and making it publicly visible can embolden others to participate ;
• EDI policies, including those developed through Athena Swan and race equality charter, are meaningless without a commitment to improving the structural working conditions of staff in relation to pay (including pensions), gender and race inequality, casualisation and workloads

This branch resolves to:

• advise members to withdraw from voluntary (non-workloaded) roles, targeting those related to the university’s EDI agenda (e.g.  ‘Decolonising the curriculum’; ‘Research Cultures’; ‘EDI Delivery Groups’)
• encourage members to make their withdrawal from EDI work publicly visible by posting on social media
• call for a nationally coordinated boycott of institutional EDI accreditations, including Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charter
• encourage external examiners to resign from their roles and publicise this on social media

Proposed by Asiya Islam and Xanthe Whittaker, moved by Asiya Islam, seconded by Kate Hardy, motion carried

This page was last updated on 31 March 2022