UCU: Accountability for misconduct across institutions

Motion

Motion text: Sector conference notes:
1. Endemic:
• discrimination, bullying, boundary crossing and sexual violence within
and between institutions.
• abuse of early career researchers including plagiarism of ideas by
academics in secure staff positions, encouraged by funders
recommending seniors lead on early career ideas.
2. Institutional policies protecting staff who abuse collaborators from other
institutions.
Sector conference believes:
a. The right to freedom from abuse at work is universal.
b. Abusers should not be immune to claims from outside their institution.
c. Cross-sector policy change will produce culture change, reducing
discrimination and abuse.
Sector conference resolves:
i. HEC to pursue shared policy across HE to handle cross institutional
misconduct.
ii. UCU to negotiate with employers for policy change protecting collaborators
from other institutions.
iii. UCU to lobby for funders to start independent investigations within 3 months
of institutions not taking sufficient action, and to remove funding from
abusers.
iv. UCU to maintain a public register of offences including naming institutions.