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The comments by London Metropolitan University vice-chancellor Brian Roper that "life continues as normal" and "the alleged academic boycott is having no effect whatsoever" shows how out of touch he is. Life is far from normal and the loss of contact with colleagues in other academic institutions has severely disrupted whole areas of our work.

Academic staff at London Met cannot understand why the management refuses to negotiate a contract with our elected representatives but persists in the fiction that we are on the contract that they are unsuccessfully trying to impose.

Management does not appear to have the courage to dismiss those of us who have rejected an imposed contract and, given this, they would be better off trying to resolve the issue by negotiation with our trade union. If Roper thinks that the situation at the university is "normal", then I would suggest that he has a peculiar idea of normality.

Steve Cushion
Senior lecturer London Metropolitan University
Natfhe National Executive member