Category Archives: Anticasualisation

Vote! Pay + Equality Claim (UCU consultative ballot)

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(Text of email sent to all Leeds UCU members on 8 June 2018) You will have had (or should shortly receive) a very important email from UCU entitled “UCU Pay and equality consultation”. (If you have not received it, please click [here] for a replacement). This is a vital UCU internal consultative ballot (the stage before an ‘official’ ballot which, by law, would need to be conducted by post). As ever, we ask all members to vote by the 27 June deadline. Turnout matters and is a way of showing and building strength in itself. We are also asking members to observe the recommendations on which the national negotiators, the Higher Education Committee, and the annual Higher Education Sector Conference last week are united… Key Information (in brief):  Even conservative assessments (including [Michael Otsuka’s]) show declining real-terms pay, and that’s before you factor in casualisation, discrimination, the effect of workload inflation, etc. Therefore: Please vote to REJECT the pay offer in question 1 Please vote YES to taking sustained industrial action if that is needed in question 2 (See attached picture) The proportion of university expenditure spent on staff has fallen to just 54.7%, while reserves held by institutions have increased by 259% and capital expenditure by 34.9%. It’s about time money was … continue reading

The Precarious Postdoc: Interdisciplinary Research and Casualised Labour in the Humanities and Social Sciences

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This important piece of work by Catherine Oakley, UCU University of Leeds member, and Sophie A Jones shows the mess of precarity facing postdocs, specifically in Humanities and Social Sciences but notes many of these bad practices started in Stem subjects, and proposes how faculty research leads, funding bodies and university senior management teams can fix these problems. The local UCU committee and UCU anticasualisation reps will work hard to try to get these recommendations implemented at the University of Leeds. We all deserve job security. http://www.workingknowledgeps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/WKPS_PrecariousPostdoc_PDF_Interactive.pdf   … continue reading

Anti-casualisation update

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PGR open meeting Monday 9 April, 9–11am, 28 University Rd, LT G.23 This meeting is for all postgraduates (members and non-members) and is an important step in building the campaign for fair pay, terms and conditions for all postgraduates who teach or who work in paid research and related roles at the university. It will cover three main areas: Focus on postgrad elements of the Uni of Leeds UCU branch anticasualisation claim: what do postgrads want and need? Building on the energy of the recent strikes (and what the strikes tell us about casualisation!) Recruitment and the free postgrad membership (reminder: www.ucu.org.uk/free) There will be vegan cake too! Members are asked to let all postgrads know about this meeting and the free postgraduate membership offer. Please email with suggestions for agenda items/questions about the meeting (k.l.zezulka@leeds.ac.uk) and please share with PGRs in your school. Anticasualisation campaign and roadshow planning As part of the open meeting on 9 April, we will be discussing organising a UCU anticasualisation roadshow. We will be organising a local event to discuss, debate and explore issues related to casualisation and precarity in HE and FE. There is lots of information on the UCU Stamp Out webpages … continue reading

Open meeting: casualisation and gender pay gap

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Wednesday 8 November, 1pm – 2pm Baines wing 1.13 As part of our work putting together a claim on the gender pay gap at the University of Leeds and tackling the casualisation of jobs at the University of Leeds we’d like to invite you and any other staff to a meeting on Wednesday to discuss these issues. Please pass this on to any colleagues who may have an interest in these issues (and who doesn’t have an interest in equal pay and permanent jobs?!). This meeting is open to non-members as well as members. Concerned about the gender pay gap? Fixed term? Hourly paid? Agency? Variable or Zero hours? All of the above? We want to hear about the experiences of staff at Leeds on these kinds of contracts. Permanent, salaried member of staff? This meeting is also for you to learn more about issues facing your colleagues & to share ideas. UCU is committed to equal pay and to fighting the abuses faced by staff on casualised contracts within further and higher education. We hope that all members will support these campaigns and stand with colleagues on casual contracts to put an end to such abuse. Casualisation + Gender … continue reading

Valentine’s day report

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Many staff enthusiastically joined in writing their valentine messages on heart shaped stickers for the Vice Chancellor on Friday 12th February. Here’s the inside of the Valentine’s card towards the end of the lunchtime session: The card, and a lovely chocolate heart inscribed with the words “We’d love a pay rise” were taken to the VC on Friday afternoon. Sadly, he was too busy to see us, but we understand he likes chocolate, and we hope he enjoyed reading your messages. The serious point of course is that university staff have suffered real terms pay cuts for some years, and it’s time we caught up. It’s been in the news recently that many Vice Chancellors have seen considerable pay rises, so it seems only fair their staff are treated similarly. UCU hopes that university employers, including our own university management, will see the sense of this and agree to a fair pay rise in the imminent 2016 pay negotiations. For more about pay, read our short leaflet Fair pay in 2016. … continue reading