Please see statement below in support of sacked UCU Branch Official David Muritu, Sandwell College, as agreed at our June Delegate Meeting
Sheffield TUC says “Reinstate David Muritu Now”
Sheffield TUC calls for the immediate reinstatement of sacked UCU Official David Muritu. His dismissal by Sandwell College is a clear case of union victimisation and must be reversed.
The case against him is simply that he wrote “racist”on a PREVENT poster at his place of work. The Government’s controversial anti-extremism policy PREVENT has been widely criticised for unfairly targeting innocent Muslim/ Back/Asian individuals including children. Educators such as teachers and university lecturers have been placed in the invidious position of having to “spy” on students, causing a crisis of confidence and a breakdown in trust between teacher and students. Quite rightly there is justified opposition to PREVENT by many public sector workers and their trade unions.
David Muritu’s action was a political statement of protest against PREVENT and should not have led to his dismissal by his employer. Using this minor act of defiance as pretext for sacking an elected union representative is disgraceful and says more about the employer’s attitude to trade union representatives than anything else.
We call for the immediate reinstatement of David Muritu.