To Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Principal, Somerville College, and Chair of Conference of Colleges,
To John Bowers QC, Principal, Brasenose College, and Deputy Chair of Conference of Colleges,

To Prof Sir John Vickers, Warden, All Souls College,
To Dr Nicola Trott, Senior Tutor, Balliol College,
To Dr Simon Smith, Senior Tutor, Brasenose College,
To Prof Dirk Aarts, Senior Censor, Christ Church College,
To Dr Mark Wormald, Senior Tutor, Corpus Christi College,
To Dr Chris Ballinger, Academic Dean, Exeter College,
To Dr Alison Stenton, Senior Tutor, Green Templeton College,
To Prof Lesley Smith, Senior Tutor, Harris Manchester College,
To Prof Claire Vallance, Senior Tutor, Hertford College,
To Dr Alexandra Lumbers, Academic Director, Jesus College,
To Dr Alisdair Rogers, Senior Tutor, Keble College,
To Dr Yasmin Khan, Senior Tutor, Kellogg College,
To Dr Anne Mullen, Senior Tutor, Lady Margaret Hall,
To Dr Jane Hovers, Senior Tutor, Linacre College,
To Dr Lydia Matthews, Senior Tutor, Lincoln College,
To Dr Mark Pobjoy, Senior Tutor, Magdalen College,
To Dr Helen Lacey, Acting Senior Tutor, Mansfield College,
To Dr Jane Gover, Senior Tutor, Merton College,
To Dr William Poole, Senior Tutor, New College,
To Dr Eleni Kechagia-Ovseiko, Senior Tutor, Nuffield College,
To Prof Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra, Senior Tutor, Oriel College,
To Ms Nancy Braithwaite, Academic Director, Pembroke College,
To Prof Seth Whidden, Senior Tutor, The Queen’s College,
To Dr Caroline Mawson, Senior Tutor, Reuben College,
To Dr Shannon McKellar, Senior Tutor, St Anne’s College
To Prof Christopher Gerry, Senior Tutor, St Anthony’s College,
To Prof Marc Mulholland, Senior Tutor, St Catherine’s College,
To Dr Joanna Ashbourn, Senior Tutor, St Cross College,
To Prof Robert Wilkins, Senior Tutor, St Edmund Hall,
To Dr Sarah Norman, Senior Tutor, St Hilda’s College,
To Prof Robert Vilain, Senior Tutor, St Hugh’s College,
To Dr Matthew Nicholls, Senior Tutor, St John’s College,
To Prof Mark Moloney, Senior Tutor, St Peter’s College,
To Dr Stephen Rayner, Senior Tutor, Somerville College,
To Dr Rebecca Bullard, Senior Tutor, Trinity College,
To Dr Andrew Bell, Senior Tutor, University College,
To Dr Michael Froggatt, Senior Tutor, Wadham College,
To Ms Emily Eastham, Senior Tutor, Wolfson College
To Prof Daniel Neyland, Senior Tutor, Worcester College

we, the undersigned, are writing to you as postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, casualised tutors, and stipendiary and non-stipendiary lecturers who teach undergraduate students for Oxford’s constituent colleges.

The collegiate university relies on underpaid and undervalued casualised academic workers. The basic rate of pay for a 1-1 tutorial increased by 41p between 20-21 and 21-22, from £27.65 to £28.06; the payment for a 2-1 tutorial increased from £34.56 to £35.08. These rates include payment for preparation, marking, and administration. With these duties factored in, the rate of hourly pay for tutors often falls well below the Oxford Living Wage of £10.31. We should be clear about what this means: Oxford’s “world leading” teaching provision is based on systematic wage theft by institutions with a combined wealth of nearly £6bn [https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/may/28/oxford-and-cambridge-university-colleges-hold-21bn-in-riches].

Postgraduates who teach for colleges are classed as “casual employees” but are often not issued with written contracts until after their role has started, or at all. Recent DPhil graduates are especially vulnerable to exploitation in this system: many find themselves piecing together multiple insecure teaching roles, for which they are classed as “self-employed” contractors.

Stipendiary lecturers (SLs) play a vital role in teaching, pastoral care, and admissions; they are equally vital to the research culture of their subject areas. The insecurity and poor pay associated with these roles is often justified by colleges and some senior academics on the basis that they are a way for early career academics to gain experience prior to their first permanent position. This has long been a dubious justification and it rings increasingly hollow in the context of the entrenched precarity faced by academic workers in Oxford and beyond. Conference of Colleges’ Register of Approved Payments states, without explanation, that the salary scale for SLs is “based on Grade 5 of the University’s salary scale structure", even though academic roles in the central University start at grade 6 and departmental lecturers are usually employed at grades 7 and 8.

Tutorials are at the heart of Oxford’s undergraduate teaching model. Insecurity, lack of contracts, and poor pay should not be brushed off as a fair price to pay for the “experience” of teaching. The COVID19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis, and the collapse of the academic job market make it even more important to address one of the key areas of casualisation at Oxford, to ensure that the pandemic does not accelerate or entrench existing levels of precarity at the university. We trust that you understand that teachers' working conditions are our students' learning conditions, and that all essential college staff--from cleaners and kitchen staff, to hourly-paid tutors and stipendiary lecturers--deserve fair pay and dignified work.

We are calling for:
1. A pay rise: hourly-paid tutors and stipendiary lecturers are long overdue a pay rise. In the case of SLs, we would like to see negotiations on a pay scale readjustment and the weighting of teaching hours  
2. Clear contracts and transparent recruitment processes
3. Paid training for all PGRs who teach

If you are a student, staff member, or alumnus who would like to support the campaign, please add your name to our solidarity open letter here: https://forms.gle/gzLowZqUMAVmU3cU8

Data privacy: This Google form and associated data is being managed by Tom White (Oxford UCU Anti-Casualisation Officer). If you have any questions about the form or would like your details to be removed at any time please contact us on oxfordanticas@gmail.com / ucu@ox.ac.uk