kclucu.bsky.social
Official account of King's College London University and College Union. The purpose of a union is to empower members with voice + votes at work. Our values are democracy, equality, inclusion, fairness and justice.
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Our new findings would be of particular interest to @sussexucu.bsky.social @kclucu.bsky.social @umucu.bsky.social and @cardiffucu.bsky.social
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Members should have received a unique link to their UCU-registered email from [email protected]. If you can’t find this, email us at [email protected]. Vote in solidarity: for freedom of academic expression and freedom for Palestine
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The e-ballot is open until July 8th. VOTE NOW and tell your rep!
kcl.web.ucu.org.uk
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We NEED members to vote in our consultative e-ballot on academic freedom to give our negotiators the leverage they need and to show management the depth of concern among staff. This ballot does not commit the branch/members to any form of industrial action now, but we need your support
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We NEED KCL UCU members to come together NOW as a community in defiance of intimidation and institutional indifference
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Our negotiators are demanding that KCL take immediate steps to conclude investigations into harassers, protect staff, publicly condemn this harassment, and launch an independent review into the handling of politically-motivated complaints and systems like ‘Report and Support’
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We are in formal dispute with KCL because the institution has failed in its duty of care. Investigations into events have been delayed and onerous. In some cases, investigations have targeted our members causing severe distress, including those with direct family experience of the genocide in Gaza
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Our members have had their social media content investigated and policed by KCL, in flawed and onerous investigations that have included material posted up to almost a decade PRIOR to their employment by the university
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Targeted harassment at KCL has often involved the mis-use of Report + Support to silence people. Since October 2023 the number of reports made through this anonymous system have more than doubled. Many cases have been baseless but the investigations have created enormous amounts of labour and stress
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At the same time, pro-Palestinian, BAME and Muslim students have been swiftly suspended and excluded, often without any clear justification. This is a racist double standard which needs addressing
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None of the members of the KCL community who have been involved in perpetrating these serious incidents have faced disciplinary action. Not even a formal warning. These individuals walk freely around campus, reportedly using KCL as a base to relaunch Betar UK. No accountability, complete impunity
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Photos have also been taken of staff and students without consent and shared with far-right groups, leading to harassment off campus, including on public transport
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In particular threats were made that pagers would be brought to these events, referencing Israel’s use of booby-trapped pagers in Lebanon in 2024 that killed at least 42 people and injured thousands www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...
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Members of the KCL UCU Executive have also been physically assaulted by the same groups during walkouts. The fascist Zionist group Betar has also threatened other public events at KCL, including the visit from UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
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Far-right Zionist groups - such as Betar - have rallied outside KCL calling for our colleague to be banned and deported. Again, KCL management has failed to publicly condemn this targeting or take adequate steps to protect staff safety
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One of our colleagues in particular was singled out for abuse. Posters were distributed with a photo of her face - crossed out. This colleague is a Palestinian academic from Gaza who whose family has faced bombardment, killings, kidnappings and displacement
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Subsequently, attacks increased on campus. Staff were placed on lists labelling them “terror professors” for actions such as informing students about solidarity walkouts, teaching Middle Eastern history, or exploring Palestinian culture
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KCL did NOT defend colleagues or make any public statements backing their staff. In some cases, KCL discouraged staff from filing complaints and opened investigations against the targeted staff themselves
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This material was also sent to hostile media outlets, with staff and students quoted directly in targeted hit pieces. The smear campaign continued in outlets like GB News and the Daily Mail. Students were given platforms by figures like Nigel Farage to discredit staff by name
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Seminars - which are supposed to be a confidential safe space - have been audio/video recorded and transcribed without consent. The material was sent to KCL management and the police - who took no action as there were no legal breaches
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Politically-motivated intimidation - designed to silence us - has overwhelmingly targeted women and non-binary people, BAME and junior colleagues + branch union activists. This is a racist and misogynistic campaign threatening the personal and job security of often precariously employed colleagues
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@rosesrebellion.bsky.social sorry about this. Do we have the correct email for you? Can you reach out to [email protected] and we can try to resolve this. Thanks so much
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You may not have meant it but you have an established reputation in colour matching events! 🩷
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Meanwhile we share this article setting out a human rights perspective on why universities should not seek to remove student protesters by @DaniellaLock and Alex Benn: politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/univers...
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Tomorrow we will share a solidarity statement that we have written about our shared demands with the encampment students, and collaborative efforts over the last year to hold talks with management about divesting from companies contributing to genocide and rebuilding HE in Gaza