For students about the UCU strikes

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

As you probably know a many university staff will be on strike for eight working days (Monday 25th November – Wednesday 4th December).  This includes lecturers, researchers, librarians, IT staff and student support staff. The strikes are about precarious employment (‘casualisation’), excessive workloads, pay inequality (there are substantial pay gaps for women and black and ethnic minority staff), reduced pay and threats to pensions. Staff feel conflicted about this – we don’t want to harm your education, but our union has tried incredibly hard to negotiate on these issues and it now seems the only thing university employers will listen to is strikes. These are national disputes and 60 universities across the UK will see strike action (unless the university employers come back to meaningful negotiations first). What are the strikes about? You can read some background here. The National Union of Students supports the strikes, see this joint statement and watch this short video.   What to expect All activities during the strike action are potentially at risk; Teaching will be cancelled on strike days; Other activities such as emailing and marking will also be delayed. Strikes and picketing Staff who are on strike don’t work and don’t get … continue reading

Joint unions meeting on pay 15th October

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The pay, casualisation, equality and workloads dispute is a joint one with the other Higher Education trade unions. At the University of Leeds, we have two sister unions, Unison and Unite, who represent support staff, and all three unions are balloting for industrial action in this dispute. We’ve organised a joint meeting to discuss the issues on Tuesday 15th October, 12 – 1, in Chemistry lecture theatre D (G35). Hope to see you there! UCU refers to this dispute as the ‘Four Fights’ (pay, casualisation, equality and workloads) – these four issues are interlinked. The detailed claim includes: A pay increase of RPI plus 3% or a minimum increase of £3,349 (whichever is greater). A 35 hour working week for all. Action to close the gender pay gap, and to work on closing the ethnic pay gap, taking account of the ways in which intersectionality affects pay and grading. A framework to eliminate precarious employment practices by universities, including ending zero hours contracts and moving hourly paid staff onto fractional contracts. Nationally-agreed payment to recognise excessive workloads. You can read the unions’ claim to the employers in full here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10185/UCUBAN54-HE-pay-claim-2019-20/pdf/UCUBAN54.pdf UCU has urged the employers to stop spinning and start … continue reading

Two ballots – vote now!

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Your ballot papers should have arrived – look out for a white A4 envelope with the UCU logo. If you can’t find it, request a new one at www.ucu.org.uk/ballotrequest  (deadline Wednesday 23 October 12 noon). For queries about the ballot process please check our ballots FAQ. LAST DATE TO POST YOUR BALLOTS IS MONDAY 28 OCTOBER to get there by the deadline Wednesday 30 October. Best to post them before then to be safe. Please vote – don’t let that envelope disappear under the piles on your desk! It’s really important to have your democratic say, and your union needs to know what you think. The two disputes are linked. Inequality and casualisation in employment lead to inequality in retirement. Pay stagnation will reduce our incomes in retirement as well as squeezing us right now. Increased pension contributions mostly wipe out the tiny pay increase that has been imposed. Four fights dispute We were not impressed by the employers response to our annual pay and conditions claim. Pay inequality, casualisation, and excessive workloads are all significant problems at Leeds, as elsewhere. We had hoped that this year, the employers’ side (represented by UCEA) would negotiate sensible national agreements on these issues … continue reading

Newsletter – summer 2019

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University of Leeds University & College Union USS Pensions There seems to be no comfortable end in sight for the USS dispute. USS have proposed three options as solutions to the ongoing valuation, all of which mean members and employers paying more, and none of which implement the Joint Expert Panel’s recommendations. Employers prefer option 3 which would increase member contributions to 9.6% with possible imposed additional increases after later valuations. It has recently been revealed, after whistleblowing from a USS trustee, that USS misled employers and members about the 2018 valuation, claiming wrongly that The Pensions Regulator had said the JEP recommendations would be too risky. UCU believes we can’t trust these people any longer, has called for the resignation of USS CEO Bill Galvin, and is exploring the possibility of legal action against the USS Trustee Board. We reject any members’ contribution increases, we call on UUK to pick up any imposed extra costs, and we plan to ballot on industrial action in September if they do not agree. See leedsucu.org.uk/pensions What’s happening on pay? 2019 pay negotiations with the employers began in early May and the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) offered 1.8% (increased to 3.65% … continue reading

Report on UCU Congress 2019

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UCU’s annual congress is its supreme policy making body and it met this year over the May Bank Holiday in Harrogate. This report is an attempt to summarise three very full days of intense and important debates on the various areas with which UCU is concerned. Motion numbers are included in brackets for reference: a full account of all motions with decisions can be found here: www.ucu.org.uk/Congress2019 Congress business is ordered according to the business of various committees: equality; education; recruitment, organising and campaigning (ROC) and strategy and finance. There was a further section on democracy and rule changes. On the second day of congress, delegates divide into a Higher Education Sector Conference and a Further Education Sector Conference. The agenda was very busy indeed. As a result, some motions could not be debated. Those relating to rule changes will be sent to the special Democracy Conference to be held in November; the rest are remitted to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for decision. Leeds University UCU sent five branch delegates to Congress: Arunima Bhattacharya; Dima Chami, Laura Loyola, Megan Povey and Chloe Wallace. In addition, Lesley McGorrigan attended as delegate from the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Committee, and Vicky … continue reading