The active dispute between Associate Tutors (ATs) and the management of Sussex University has now been ongoing for almost a month. Yet, despite a range of meetings, announcements and promises of a “Special Review”, nothing concrete has actually occurred to progress the situation, and more dishearteningly there has been little meaningful communication from any senior figures towards the Associate Tutors, or their representatives.
The purpose of this open letter is therefore to restate our position, and to make it clear that the current method of dealing with our complaints and issues is unacceptable, unprofessional and at times, verging on the insulting.
Firstly, our concerns with the pay changes & the effect of their implementation:
· The current changes manifest a pay cut for Associate Tutors, and the “multiplier” system in no way reflects the hours put in by ATs.
· The vast majority of ATs have been “graded” by the University at a level that in no way reflects the tasks undertaken by ATs. Attempted appeals of this grading to the HR department have so far met with brief responses that appeals will not be dealt with – an infringement of our employment rights, and against the University’s stated position.
· We are no longer remunerated for marking, no matter what the workload or number of scripts. This represents a change to our initial contractual arrangements even though we were never informed or consulted on the changes.
The result of all of the above is fundamentally that ATs are being asked to perform work they are not being paid for. If we were to “work to rule” we would not be able to teach our courses as expected, and the University seems to be relying on the fact that its own DPhil students will not jeopardise their positions by complaining too loudly, or undertaking any direct action. The term “Associate Tutor” covers a huge range of types of employee (DPhil, post-doc, visiting professor etc.) and types of work (from seminars, to lectures, to “demonstration” etc.) that is undertaken by experienced and qualified individuals. Yet the whole approach of the restructuring and pay changes has lumped together this disparate range into a single mass who can all be treated without distinction. We are being treated not as professional equals, but as casual and disposable labour that should be grateful for whatever crumbs are cast in our direction.
Since we have been making these complaints, there has been little or no response from the University. Whilst some individual figures within departments have been helpful and supportive, there is still no sense of whose responsibility this issue is, and the ATs therefore have no idea what chains of authority they should be looking to for answers. There has been no communication with us directly, and it seems that the University wishes to come to a solution behind closed doors so that it can avoid the repercussions of its shoddy management of the situation to date. This is misguided, and any attempted solution that is not born out of consultation with those affected by it will be as disastrous as the current pay changes have proved to be.
We are proud of our role within the university and particularly of our relationships with, and importance to the students we teach. We do not wish to damage any of this, but the situation is becoming increasingly untenable, whilst we ourselves are being excluded and marginalised. We demand not only empty words that refer to outcomes far in the future and only ambiguously relevant, but concrete changes to our situation. More importantly, we demand to be treated as valued professional members of the University of Sussex staff, and therefore be communicated with directly, clearly and openly, and with the respect that has so far been lacking.
SOCCUL & HUMS ATs.
