A General Meeting has been called by LUSU President Ste Smith to discuss the proposed changes to the management of the College Bars and commercial services.
The meeting will be held on Monday Week 1 in George Fox Lecture Theatre 1 at 6pm.
It comes after LUSU’s new YourVoice online democracy forum saw a significant number of students come forward to voice their disapproval towards the proposed changes. The discussion thread is currently the most popular on the website by a significant margin.
Smith said in a statement: “Change is necessary to ensure that [the bars] are vibrant spaces for students and University staff alike but we need to be certain that the changes are positive, and have student input. It is for this reason that I have made the decision to call a General Meeting.”
It is expected that University staff will be in attendance to speak about their intentions with the bars.
LUSU have asked the University to keep the consultation period regarding this new structure open until after the General Meeting, so that students can provide their thoughts.
The proposal would introduce a structure consisting of one Retail Manager, who will oversee the work of three Venue Managers. Between them, the venue managers will run all campus bars and food outlets such as the Staff Lounge, The Venue, The Hub and Café 21.
Smith confirmed in his statement that no staff have yet been told that they have lost their jobs. In addition, no official appointments have yet been made for the roles of Venue Manager or Assistant Venue Manager.
He revealed: “There are currently six bar managers and I believe that they have all been issued with a notice that declares that their jobs will cease to exist if the restructure is successful. These bar managers are all currently employed and should have the option to take a redundancy package if they no longer wish to work for the University or they will have the opportunity to apply for the new jobs and go through a period of redeployment.”
Smith’s full statement is available at the LUSU website.
