In the public domain

The Court Jester

Well. It's an interesting piece of logic... wrong but interesting none the less.

I've just (yesterday) been informed by Martyn Moss by email (Mr Moss is a UCU official for the North West region), that the UCU will not provide me with the TCM Group Report or the Executive Summary as requested. You may recall, I actually wrote to the President of the UCU Salford University branch and requested the documents from her.

The Report and Executive Summary deal with the issues of appointments and the appointment process in the Salford Business School. This of course is an issue that is directly pertinent to my Employment Tribunal tomorrow. I've asked my former employer via their lawyers for a copy of both to no avail. They seem a little less than forthcoming with all sorts of information these days including the TCM Report and this Summary.

What a fool believes

Of course my union, having received this damning evidence from the University would, you might believe, be tripping over themselves to provide this vital evidence to me on the eve of the Tribunal. Oh what a fool am I.

I have clearly been living in a parallel or some sort of inverted Carrollian netherworld populated by rotund twins and top-hat wearing rabbits with possible mental health issues. It is clear that I have got it completely arse-end upwards! How silly was I in thinking that when something is in the public domain it is actually in the public domain.

That Our Glorious Leader Chris Sheehy had had verbally delivered the ten page Executive Summary to UCU members at an Extraordinary General Meeting in the Salford Business School and UNISON reps who were in attendance, might suggest it is. That she had supplied copies of the same Executive Summary to reps that are available for viewing by UCU members, might suggest it is. Apparently not so.

According to Mr Moss who now speaks exclusively on behalf of OGL with regard to matters concerning my good self, informs me that access to this document is conditional and that 'it is not in the "public" domain'. Mr Moss also closes by suggesting that I 'should seek disclosure of pertinent documents from your former employer using the tribunal disclosure procedures.' Mr Moss also now considers 'this correspondence closed'.

I thought it wise to ask Mr Moss to elaborate on why he believed it's not in the public domain and I eagerly await his response.

A two-tier form of disclosure?

Now, forgive me Ms Sheehy and Mr Moss, but I feel the teensy-weensiest bit discriminated against by my own union. Why? Well it would appear that certain lay members of the UCU (those in the Business School) have privileged access to these document and while other UCU members do not. Do all our members have the right to know is the question here?

Now it doesn't look very good does it? Never mind, it'll all come out in the wash over the next few days.

Employment Tribunal

Dr G Duke v University of Salford

10:00am Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th September

Alexandra House

14-22 The Parsonage

Manchester