TRADE UNION VICTIMISATION AT UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

After 28 years of service at the University of Liverpool, our long serving UCU Equalities Officer, mother of four, Dawn Holdman has been made compulsorily redundant days before Christmas. To add insult to injury, the job we believe she has been made unjustly redundant from, School Administrator in the School of Medicine, has been advertised externally!

In a restructure involving 100s of members of staff, Dawn is the only member of staff to be made compulsorily redundant. She is also the only active Trade Unionist in that School. Other displaced members of staff were matched to similar roles without interviews. Dawn had to face a number of two hour interviews as a redeployee for roles, one of which is a supposedly downgraded version of her former role.

Dawn was told she was ‘unsuccessful’ in this interview despite having undertaken the School Administrator role for 11 years, including 5 years in the School of Medicine without any performance issues and despite attending interviews after a suite of personal difficulties which the employer was aware of.

Dawn has been a tireless campaigner and has represented countless members in the University of Liverpoool UCU branch. She gives unlimited time and energy to members who are at their lowest ebb and was part of our negotiating team for many years. Dawn made significant improvements to the Equality agenda at Liverpool.

The University of Liverpool UCU branch committee believe that Dawn has been dismissed from her job because of her Trade Union activity. An injury to one is an injury to all and we hope all members of UCU locally and nationally along with students will sign this petition to demonstrate solidarity with Dawn.

• We call on the University of Liverpool to reinstate Dawn.
• We call on UCU to escalate this local issue of TU Victimisation, to one of national significance in line with UCU policy.