Category Archives: Campaigns

International staff survey

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UCU University of Leeds international staff surveyPlease promote this link to international colleagues at University of Leeds, whether or not they have joined UCU yet. We’re delighted to announce the launch of our International Staff Survey. By international staff we refer to both EU and non EU academic, academic related and postgraduates who do paid teaching for the university. We would like to encourage all international staff to please fill out the anonymous survey and get in contact with us if you would like to take part in our international staff activism here at Leeds (contact Laura Loyola Hernandez). This survey has come out of our Equality working group lead by Dima Chami, if you are interested in joining please contact her. We would like to point out that the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, (dis)ability and being part of the LGTBQ+ community exacerbates the experiences of being international at the University of Leeds, so please include any comments at the end of the survey if relevant. You can complete the survey here: https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/leeds  It will take approximately 10 minutes to answer. Most of the questions are tick box and a free text question where you can comment on any … continue reading

UCU anti-casualisation claim submitted to University of Leeds

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UCU regional official Julie Kelley has formally submitted our anti-casualisation claim on behalf of the union. The claim sets out clearly what we want the university to do to end job insecurity at the University of Leeds. We have requested formal talks with the university senior management. The text of the claim is available in full below or to download as a PDF Full text of our anti-casualisation claim University and College Union: University of Leeds Casualisation – formal heads of claim 1.             Introduction The issue of the use of insecure contracts in the higher education sector now has a very high public profile. This is an issue of national priority for the University and College Union, and for this branch at the University of Leeds. We believe that we have a common interest in improving the contractual terms of employment of staff in higher education. While a few individuals are likely to find them appropriate to their circumstances, the truth is that for the majority insecure contracts have a seriously detrimental effect on the wellbeing of university staff. In a UCU survey of staff on insecure contracts 42% said that they had struggled to pay the bills. More than … continue reading

Pensions Update: plain language explanation of where we are on USS

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This post follows on from the email we received from UCU HQ yesterday, and seeks to explain that as part of a plain language summary of where we are. As we approach the end of an incredible year for the union, it is time to reflect on what we have achieved and how we take this strength forwards into a new year. 2018 saw us come together for the unprecedented “Great USS Strike” 14 day action to defend our pension scheme, through which we highlighted significant issues with the assumptions at work in the way USS has been valued and how our employers were responding to this. Our incredible, solid strike action won us a number of things, including the creation of the Joint Expert Panel which was convened to examine what is really going on with our pension scheme, and to interrogate whether the changes proposed by Universities UK (UUK) were justified. This, and associated negotiations and meetings, has been a complex process with multiple players. The Joint Expert Panel came up with some recommendations that indicated we needn’t pay too much more for our pensions, and can keep the same pension structure we had, instead of the changes that … continue reading

Members agree new policies at general meeting

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Members meeting on 10 December passed 8 motions deciding branch strategy, policy and decisions: Motion 3: USS pensions Motion 4: Motion of no confidence in University of Leeds Council USS decisions Motion 5: Supporting Vicky Blake’s Candidacy for UCU Vice President Motion 6: Continuing consequences of the IT reorganisation Motion 7: Responding to the Proposed Centralisation of Timetabling Motion 8: Anti-casualisation claim Motion 1: Re-affiliation and resubscription to Labour Research Department Motion 2: Re-affiliation to Leeds Trades Unions Council Motion 3: USS pensions Leeds University UCU notes that individual employer responses to USS consultations are now in the public domain.We are disappointed that the University of Leeds management has consistently positioned itself amongst the ‘hawks’ in this respect.We are embarrassed that our employer continues to maintain this untenable approach, notably on the critical issue of ‘risk’, in the face of contrary findings published by the Joint Expert Panel (JEP). Motion of no confidence in University of Leeds Council USS decisions University of Leeds UCU branch notes That as the governing body of the University, the Council has a responsibility to act openly, transparently and in the best interests of staff and students and other stakeholders. The University of Leeds Council … continue reading

Might USS scrap the 2017 valuation, and replace it with a 2018 valuation?

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You will have received an email recently from Jill Nimmo, forwarding a USS communication in which they offer a brief summary of the cost-sharing consultation with members that took place over the summer, and which was in effect eclipsed by the publication of the JEP report in September. They refer to the JEP by all but name in a second paragraph headed ‘Alternative Proposals’, and point out that a subsequent survey of employers indicated that employers are broadly willing to adopt the JEP recommendations. They then point out that they intend to run a new valuation, dated at 31 March 2018. The implications of this new valuation need then to be consulted upon, and they explain that this will then mean that any new payment arrangements which could be agreed will be too late to be implemented, and the first tranche of the emergency increase in employer and employee contributions will come into effect in April 2019. This will mean an increase in member contributions from 8% or salary to 8.8%, and an increase of employer contributions from 18% to 19.5%. We presume that any subsequent agreed change to contributions as a consequence of the March 2018 valuation and  related … continue reading