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Supporting Youth Strike for Climate: 30-minute solidarity stoppage and march Friday 20th September

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We hope to see as many of you as possible outside the Parkinson steps by 12 noon so we can set off together at midday, with banners, flags, placards and alarm clocks, to join the Leeds Youth Strike for Climate event by 12.15 in Millenium Square. More details. The University agreed to our request for all staff to have a 30 minute paid stoppage for this on top of our lunch breaks, so we can all march down together and show the young people how much support they have from the university. We were pleased to see the recent University climate announcement especially about fossil fuel divestment, which students and staff have been campaigning about for years (e.g. here). We look forward to trade union involvement in turning the new climate principles into action. … continue reading

General meetings 2019-2020

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Here are the details of UCU University of Leeds Branch general meetings for this academic year. The meetings are for all members of this branch. They are the primary means for collective decision making. If you think the local UCU branch should take a particular position on an issue or should carry out a particular action you can submit a motion* to the meeting by the deadline**, your motion will be circulated to all members with the agenda, then all members who attend the meeting can vote on whether they agree. Please do come to as many general meetings as you can attend – the more people participate in our collective decision making the more effective the union is locally. Thursday 24 October, 1pm – 2pm Roger Stevens lecture theatre 16 (level 12) (links are to directions and accessibility information)Deadline for motions: 12pm Tuesday 15 October Tuesday 3 December, 1pm – 2pm Roger Stevens lecture theatre 16 (level 12)Deadline for motions: 12pm Tuesday 26 November Monday 2 March, 12pm – 1pm Roger Stevens lecture theatre 4 (level 8)Deadline for motions: 12pm Tuesday 18 FebruaryIf you want the branch to send a (non-emergency) motion to UCU Congress 2020, this is the … continue reading

Protests against proroguing Parliament

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If you’re angry about the prorogation of Parliament, you can join the upcoming protests in Leeds: This evening, from 5:30pm at City Square organised by Leeds for Europe https://www.facebook.com/events/2371865616404873/Saturday at 11am, Leeds Town Hall, organised by Alex Sobel MP, Leeds TUC and Another Europe is Possible, at which Vicky Blake will be speaking for UCU https://www.facebook.com/events/431073174172423/ … continue reading

USS update – Changes to your USS contributions

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Text from branch president Ben Plumpton’s email to members If you pay into a USS pension you will have received an email today from the university’s pensions manager, informing you that your pension contribution will increase to 9.6% of your salary from 1 October 2019 until October 2021. This is up from the current 8.8% and the 8% that it was before the USS pensions dispute began. This will impact on your take-home pay, erasing any uplift from the inadequate 1.8% pay offer, and the increased contributions will do nothing to increase your projected pension. The email from USS, forwarded by the university’s pensions manager, presents this as a decision of the Joint Negotiating Committee, but in reality the JNC was firmly split on the matter and it was the chair’s casting vote that set the new situation in motion. This response to the USS’s 2018 valuation is a wholesale rejection of the proposed solutions presented by the Joint Expert Panel last year. Your union’s position remains that the employers should shoulder any additional costs of maintaining our benefits. We will be balloting for industrial action on pensions soon.  When your ballot papers arrive, we would ask you to consider … continue reading

USS pensions – negotiations outcome

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From email to members from branch president Ben Plumpton Employers have voted (22 August) to increase our USS pension contributions from 8.8% of salary now (8% until recently) to 9.6% in October and 11% next October. They have rejected the key finding of Joint Expert Panel (which they set up with UCU) that there is no need to increase pension contributions to keep the scheme in good health. UCU has a brilliant negotiating team, chaired by our own Vicky Blake and including the great Sam Marsh from Sheffield, who worked long and tirelessly to avoid this outcome. They tried extremely hard to persuade the employers to compromise and listen to the evidence, but the employers seem determined to force staff to pay more. The ‘independent’ chair’s casting vote at the USS Joint Negotiating Committee enabled the increased contributions proposal to be pushed through. It seems that the only language employers will pay attention to is strikes. So UCU will be balloting for industrial action in September/October. A strong ‘Yes’ vote may be enough to pull the employers back to negotiating properly. I think the employers know that strikes would be effective, because apparently they tried to get UCU to agree … continue reading