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Category Archives: Disability

Home working, equipment and health and safety

Posted on 7 April 2020 by Alan Smith7 April 2020

UCU national website has guidance on working from home and teaching online. The university advice on homeworking during the pandemic says “Working from home expenses, such as internet provision … will not be covered by the University.” UCU branch officers advise you contact your line manager or head of school or service if you need any equipment to work from home. The IT team is sending some IT equipment out by courier, according to the priorities set by heads of school or service. The university won’t give general approval for everyone to buy what they need and claim it back, so we are advising members that if you feel you need some equipment, you should get prior agreement from your line manager or head of school or service that the cost will be reimbursed, before you buy it, so you don’t risk being out of pocket. The home working arrangements are still being seen as “temporary”, which is why the university is saying not to complete the usual display screen equipment workstation assessment, but clearly we all need a decent set-up to work in which isn’t going to cause us health problems. Here’s the advice from the university’s Wellbeing, Health … continue reading

Posted in Covid19, Disability, Health and safety, Working from home

Disability Equality in Education: day of action Wednesday 21 November

Posted on 20 November 2018 by editor120 November 2018

Disability History Month runs 22 November – 22 December 2018. To launch it this year, UCU is holding a day of action for disability equality in education on Wednesday 21 November. See the short introductory video. Full details of the campaign are on the UCU day of action web page. We’re holding a local meeting open to all members and non-members on Wednesday 21 November, 1-2pm in [Michael Sadler seminar room LG16] to watch a 15 minute UCU film and to discuss what’s working at University of Leeds in disability equality, and where more action is needed. Nationally, UCU is hosting a parliamentary briefing for MPs on Wednesday 21 November in the Palace of Westminster, supported by NEU, NASWUT, TUC, UNISON, Unite the Union, ALLFIE and DPAC. If you’d like to support the campaign but can’t attend the meeting, you can join the social media initiative, if possible on the 21 November day of action. Download and take a photograph with UCU’s range of selfie posters or make your own and tweet your support to @UCUequality using the hashtag #IncludeUs (we’d like to get that hashtag trending on Twitter!).  You could tweet ‘I am supporting UCU’s Day of Action for Disabled People because…‘ with your own comment, … continue reading

Posted in Disability, Equality

National unity demonstration against fascism and racism: 17 November 2018

Posted on 12 November 2018 by Alan Smith12 November 2018

UCU is supporting a national demonstration of unity in London on Saturday in response to concerns of increasing racism and xenophobia and the rise of the far right. The demonstration is called by Stand Up To Racism, Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism and supported by the TUC. Locally there are coaches going from Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Sheffield and York. Members will be able to claim the coach fare back from UCU regional office (heyorkshire@ucu.org.uk) For details, including all the local coaches, see https://www.facebook.com/events/1887445111550804/

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Posted in Black members / BME, Brexit, Disability, Equality, Gender equality, LGBT+, Migrant members, Migration and refugees, Wider campaigning

Petition against redundancies in Biological Sciences and Medicine

Posted on 13 January 2021 by Alan Smith13 January 2021

Please sign and share this petition link with your contacts in Leeds and beyond. Anyone can sign – universities are for the whole community. University of Leeds senior management are insisting on reducing staff to cut costs in the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Biological Sciences, and they refuse to rule out compulsory redundancies. UCU reps have argued the widespread belief that the university’s opaque funding allocation model under-funds many STEM* subjects which are more expensive to research and teach, and called upon the senior management to be more open about the funding model and improve its approach, to properly fund all subjects instead of cutting jobs. More details (*Science, technology, engineering and mathematics)

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Posted in Redundancy

No to all job cuts at the university!

Posted on 13 January 2021 by Alan Smith13 January 2021

Email sent to branch members 11 January 2021 As you are probably aware, the university started a voluntary redundancy scheme in the Faculty of Biological Science and the School of Medicine last semester and the deadline for applications to the scheme has now passed.  For more on the history of this, see the leeds.ucu.org.uk article: http://www.leedsucu.org.uk/vls-in-fbs-and-medicine/    Here is what has happened since we wrote that article:  Our regional UCU officer wrote to the VC to ask that compulsory redundancies are ruled out  The VC replied to say that she was unable to rule out compulsory redundancies   Our regional UCU officer replied with a ‘failure to agree letter’ saying we will not accept compulsory redundancies and asking to pause the consideration of any further voluntary redundancies until we are out of the current COVID crisis and until we’ve been properly consulted with full financial information.  If an assurance cannot be given by the end of Monday, the regional officer will send a letter, entering into dispute with the university.  We’re planning a press release to make public that the university is planning to get rid of staff in some of the areas that might be considered most essential at this time.    We’ve also … continue reading

Posted in Redundancy

Supporting schoolteachers by reducing university workloads

Posted on 12 January 2021 by Alan Smith12 January 2021

The UCU branch committee sends our thanks and support to schoolteachers in the National Education Union whose refusal to work in dangerous conditions forced the government to move more quickly in moving most school teaching online. Their action has made us all more safe. The government has left continuing confusion about who should be working and who should be able to send their children to school, and what should happen when people who shouldn’t send their children to school are required to work. As a result, school attendance has been much higher than during the first lockdown meaning that teachers are less safe and the curb on the spread of the virus will be less effective, placing all our communities at further risk. It is vital that university staff with school-age children can play our part in keeping school attendance low. Therefore, the UCU committee has written to the vice-chancellor and spoken to senior HR managers about the need to reduce workloads and extend the availability of special leave for staff whose role is not critical for the health or wellbeing of students, staff or society. We have impressed upon HR that it is not enough to say, “Do what … continue reading

Posted in Covid19, Solidarity, Workload

New lockdown

Posted on 6 January 2021 by Alan Smith7 January 2021

Message from branch president Ben Plumpton sent to members Tuesday 5 January 2020 Happy New Year, and here’s hoping it is a better one than 2020… I’m writing to let you know that Leeds UCU is working hard on your behalf related to the current lockdown and with regard to the seriousness of the increasing pandemic. In particular, we have asked the VC to: Move everything possible (most teaching, research, support and administration) online again until Easter, i.e. going beyond the (current) Government guidance.  This would be the safest thing we could do for our students, our staff, and the wider community.  This university can do better than the government guidance, particularly considering how poor the government have been at taking on board scientific advice. And constantly changing arrangements are difficult for both students and staff.  Review the university provision to support parents and carers, to be more radical and generous in what is on offer, not expecting staff to care full time and work full time, and recognising that it should be OK for carers to do fewer hours and fewer things that they would normally do. (Full detail of our email on this copied below the email to members). We know that … continue reading

Posted in Covid19, Health and safety, Members emails

Please update your details in case we move to a ballot

Posted on 4 January 2021 by Alan Smith4 January 2021

Members voted in December to call a dispute if senior management won’t rule out compulsory redundancies in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine. It’s important all of us in this branch check and update our membership details in case we move to a ballot. Please check: You have the right employer and workplace. If you have moved jobs it’s important we only ballot those of us who are employed by the University of Leeds. Your home address and email address are up to date Your home address is your ‘preferred address’ for mailing unless you’re confident you will be working on campus even in a full pandemic lockdown Your membership type. If you do paid work for the university you should have full membership. If you’re a postgraduate student who does paid teaching* directly for the university that should normally be full free membership. (Full free membership is only for postgraduate students – if you’re no longer a student please upgrade to full paying membership.) If you’re a postgraduate student who doesn’t do any qualifying paid work you should choose student membership not full membership – you won’t be eligible to vote in the ballot. If … continue reading

Posted in Dispute, Dispute advice, Redundancy
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