We just wanted to give you a quick update after Tuesday’s CAC hearing of our complaint against the University of London over its handling of the recent ICE request.

The hearing went extremely well, thanks to the hard work of our legal team, both of whom were very generously donating their time and expertise to the IWGB pro bono.

This stands in contrast to the University of London’s legal eagle, who will have charged an estimated £8-10k for this day’s work! He did his best with a very weak hand, using the old lawyer’s trick of ‘forgetting’ to submit his statement in advance, and dredging up an obscure case to use as precedent – though sadly it turned out this applied to a different regulation than the one under discussion…

The verdict will be delivered before the end of the month, and although the panel seemed positive there are obviously no guarantees. The University have already indicated they are likely to appeal if things go against them, which will presumably incur another £10k or so of fees for David Reade. It seems incredible that they are prepared to spend all of this time and money essentially stopping UoL staff from having a free choice as to who represents them at a negotiating meeting – money that we are always told is not there when pay rises or London Weighting is discussed…

We’ll keep you posted!