Vice Chancellor Karen Cox and the Kent Executive Group (EG) have ripped up the guarantee of ‘No compulsory redundancies as a result of the Arts & Humanities review’.  This was their statement:

“Karen and the Executive Group wish to provide a further specific commitment to all Arts and Humanities staff that there will be no  compulsory redundancies as a result of the current review.” - 19th October 2022

On the 1st June 2023 52 academics in the Arts and Humanities (A&H) were placed formally “at risk” of compulsory redundancy. The University of Kent is now one of the few employers in the history of the sector to shred a public commitment of this nature. Some members of EG no longer respect the basic rules of industrial relations.

The guarantee of no compulsory redundancies was made in October last year in response to UCU opening a ballot for industrial action. The union did not pursue industrial action because of this commitment. Therefore this broken promise has prevented members from having the opportunity to defend their livelihoods.

The EG members who pushed to renege on the jobs guarantee have destroyed all trust with the union - and a substantial number of non-members to whom the deal also applied. How can we ever trust in them again? 

Alongside this broken promise to staff in A&H, over a hundred professional services (PS) staff have also been put ‘at risk’ of redundancy under the guise of ‘Effectiveness and Efficiency.’ PS staff are overworked and under-resourced - cutting their jobs will only make the university more dysfunctional. 

But there is still time for VC Karen Cox and the EG to keep their promises and ensure that CRs do not occur in A&H, or anywhere else across the university. No hardworking staff should face the sack during a cost of living crisis. Sign the petition to say: no to compulsory redundancies at Kent University!