Open Letter to the University of Leeds Management

Sent on 21 February to the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vic-Chancellor, Head of Human Resources and Head of Finance.  The response from the Vice-Chancellor is copied below.

The undersigned, all professorial staff at the University of Leeds, call upon the University management and UUK to re-open negotiations to resolve the current pensions dispute.

As academics at this university, we are committed to the highest quality teaching and research possible, but we will not accept the erosion of our pensions, set to diminish by an average of £10,000 per annum. Further, we do not accept that our current defined benefit scheme be replaced by a defined contribution scheme in which pensioners bear all the risk and potentially may end up with even greater losses than currently projected by USS.

We support the strike action called by the UCU. We support the strike action as senior members of the University not only for our own future pensions but to make sure that our educational profession is an attractive one for the range of committed staff that make it up now and, in the future, from early career academics, academic support staff, through to part-time staff and Research Fellows.

Finally, we reject attempts by the University management to try to force colleagues to undertake the recuperation of classes and seminars cancelled through strike action. We have a legal right to strike and we will protect this. The strike was the decision of 87% of Leeds UCU members who voted in a legal ballot. There must be no pressure placed on staff to recoup lectures lost to the strike and no sanctions against those who adhere to the industrial action.

Professor Malcolm Povey, Professor of Food Physics
Professor Michael Allis, Professor of Musicology
Professor Steven French, Professor of Philosophy of Science
Professor Bridget Bennett, Professor of American Literature and Culture
Professor David Buckley, Professor of Medical Physics
Professor Ray Bush, Professor of African Studies and Development Politics
Professor Andy Challinor, Professor of Climate Impacts
Professor Martyn Chipperfield
Professor Hugo Christenson, Professor of Crystallisation Physics
Professor Richard Cleminson, Professor of Hispanic Studies
Professor Alexis Comber, Professor of Spatial Data Analytics
Professor Mark Conner
Professor Tony Crowley, Professor of English Language
Professor Darren Shickle, Professor of Public Health
Professor Graeme Davies, Professor in International Security
Professor Rik Brydson
Professor Louise Dye, N8 Agrifood Chair in Nutrition and Behaviour
Professor Sam Falle, Professor of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics
Professor Leslie Firbank, Professor of Sustainable Agriculture
Professor Steven French, Professor of Philosophy of Science
Professor Mark Gilthorpe, Professor of Statistical Epidemiology
Professor William Gould, Professor of Indian History
Professor Walter Gregory, Professor of Statistical Methodology in Clinical Trials
Professor Irena Grugulis, Professor of Work and Skills
Professor Simon Hall, Professor of Modern History
Professor David Hesmondhalgh
Professor Marion Hetherington, School of Psychology
Professor Sally Hines, Professor of Sociology and Gender Identities
Professor Ruth Holliday, Professor of Gender and Culture
Professor Ian Hope, Professor of Invertebrate Developmental Genetics
Professor Chris Inglehearn, Professor of Molecular Ophthalmology
Professor Elwyn Isaac, Professor of Comparative Biochemistry
Professor Catherine Karkov, Chair of Art History
Professor Matthew Kieran, Professor of Philosophy and the Arts
Professor Serguei Komissarov
Professor Joan Loughrey, Professor of Law
Professor John Mowitt, Professor and Leadership Chair in the Critical Humanities
Professor Mark Priestley, Professor of Disability Policy
Professor Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science
Professor John Rodgers, Professor of Behavioural Pharmacology
Professor Paul Routledge
Professor Ingrid Sharp, Professor of German Cultural and Gender History
Professor Maxim Silverman, Professor of Modern French Studies
Professor Asipu Sivaprasadarao
Professor Martin Speight, Professor of Mathematics
Professor Steven Toms, Professor of Accounting
Professor Pekka Vayrynen, Professor of Moral Philosophy
Professor David Watling, Centenary Professor of Transport Analysis.
Professor Janet Watson, Chair of Language at Leeds
Professor Edward White, Professor of Cardiac Physiology
Professor Paul Wignall, Professor of Palaeoenvironments
Professor John Wood, Professor of Differential Geometry

Response from the Vice-Chancellor on 22 February:

From: Alan Langlands
Sent: 22 February 2018 15:31
To: Malcolm Povey <M.J.W.Povey@food.leeds.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: USS Dispute

Dear Malcolm,

I acknowledge receipt of this letter and note the points you have made. Thank you for taking time over this and, as you probably know, my position on these points is either already on the record or has been discussed with UCU representatives in the past twenty four hours.

Best wishes,

Alan.