Threatened workers put case to Cambridge University Press governing
body
6th March 2009
A delegation from the Cambridge University Press (CUP) workforce
threatened with redundancy is putting their case directly to the
Syndicate - CUP’s governing body - on Friday, 13 March.
More than 150 jobs at CUP are under threat, despite the
world-famous institution making a profit. Alarm at the job losses
has been expressed by Cambridge City Council.
The delegation from CUP’s threatened printing division and the
publishing education group will address the syndicate in
Cambridge.
Unite/GPMU national officer, Ann Field, said: "The delegation
will be making the case that CUP is still a profitable organisation
with a hard-working and dedicated work force - and that jobs should
not be axed unnecessarily during a recession.
"In recent years, staff have lost their final salary pension
scheme; experienced a three-year wage freeze; and its print members
had increased productivity by 80 per cent."
Unite highlights poor control by the university over management
decisions in two parts of the institution (CUP and Cambridge
Assessment), which resulted in the loss of the five-year £50
million Cambridge Assessment contract, which now threatens to end
425 years of continuous CUP printing in the city.
Unite said that if the CUP and university had ensured that
adequate measures were taken, including a one-off £300,000
investment at Duxford, near Cambridge, it would have met the
‘secure environment’ demand of Cambridge Assessment, which is
Europe's largest assessment agency incorporating three major exam
boards.
ENDS
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS:
http://www.unitetheunion.org/cup
for the latest campaign information from Unite and the online
petition to save CUP jobs.
Ann Field - 07831 676 587; Shaun Noble, communications officer
(third sector) 020 7420 8951 or 07768 693 940
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