On Thursday, March 14th, ARU UCU met with ARU management for the third time for negotiations to resolve the ongoing official dispute about last year’s October proposal to evict colleagues from their offices in the Helmore building on the Cambridge campus.
UCU welcomes the commitment of the university to reset and restart the consultation process about the shape and viability of the proposed development of the Creative Quarter, the building project which has given rise to the proposed restructuring of workspaces.
However, thus far we have yet to hear concrete proposals from University management to address the full range of concerns our members expressed about the proposed eviction. We are also concerned that the decision of the university to forge contracts with developers and establish timetables for work to commence, prior to reaching agreement with UCU, is exposing our community to costs which we can ill afford. Nevertheless, we are grateful that, at yesterday’s meeting, university management denied categorically the claim that UCU is somehow responsible for the delays in consultation and development, along with the consequent loss of revenue which will follow.
Our negotiators have made it clear that we are open to compromise. As we have said before, UCU is not in the business of subsidising failure. It is imperative for our community at ARU that this dispute is resolved as quickly as possible.
As acknowledged by senior leaders in the university, the status quo will prevail until such point as a resolution is found.
UCU ARU Branch Executive
