Category Archives: LGBT+

Minutes of general meeting 28 April 2020

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In the event of difference between the web version and the minutes agreed at the branch general meeting 14 May, the latter is the correct version. (Formatting is the most likely difference.) General meeting Tuesday 28 April 2020, 1pm – 2pmVideo meeting Minutes Chaired by branch president Ben Plumpton Agreed to restrict speeches to 3 minutes for movers and 2 for debate. Minutes of the previous meetings 7 November 2019 EGM. Minutes agreed. 22 January 2020 EGM. Minutes agreed. 2 March general meeting. Minutes agreed. Local update Update on local discussions with university senior management. We are meeting with HR regularly. We’re concerned about how frequently we’re being informed about decisions rather than being consulted on them. We’re not being involved in the decisions of the university executive group (UEG) – we’re being frozen out of decisions about how the university proceeds. Fixed term contracts is a priority – we’ve asked for extensions for all staff. The university made a minor extension to the end of May for most but we are trying to impress upon them the urgency of extensions for all staff as soon as possible particularly while the job market is frozen. There has been confirmation about … continue reading

Motions for Wednesday’s extraordinary general meeting + other news

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Text of email sent to all members 5 July. (Agenda not published on the website; if you’re a member and haven’t received the agenda please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk) Extraordinary general meeting 12pm Wednesday 10 July The committee called this ‘EGM’ for all members because of a load of urgent issues going on now which they think members should have the opportunity to take a collective position on. It’s 12pm – 1pm on Wednesday 10 July in Michael Sadler seminar room LG15 The attached agenda includes all motions on those subjects for members to decide if they agree these should be branch policies/strategies. The meeting was called to discuss: USS pensions dispute Pay and Equality dispute Head of School appointments Misuse of lecture capture by the university UniForum (another round of collecting benchmarking data on “the efficiency and effectiveness of administration and support services”) Discussion boards for in-course feedback Timetabling (which includes a motion on workloads negotiating principles) Centralisation of admissions Please update your details before the strike ballots If you’re moving institution or changing jobs, or if you’re a postgraduate student who will start doing paid teaching so be eligible for full (free) voting membership, or you want to get your … continue reading

Council of Europe LGBTI survey / Enquête de l’EU sur les LGBTI

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From UCU’s nation Equality and Participation Unit: The EU Fundamental Rights Agency is undertaking a survey to look at experiences of LGBT+ people across Europe. The survey takes around 20 minutes to complete and you cannot skip questions. Some of the questions that are asked vary from UCU practice / policy for expressing LGBT+ identities and experiences. There is a free text box at the end of the survey should you want to leave any comment about your experience that may not have been fully reflected in the survey. One thing to be aware of is that in the drop down boxes the United Kingdom does not appear under U and is located somewhere near the middle of European countries. The survey is looking for responses from anyone who considers themselves to be LGBTI, who is aged 15 years and above and lives in the European Union, Serbia or North Macedonia as candidate countries.  The survey can be found on www.lgbtisurvey.eu The survey asks respondents about their experiences of discrimination and hate crime or harassment, as well as about their daily lives, problems and challenges they face in having their rights respected, protected and promoted. The results will feed into … 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

Our motions to UCU Congress 2019

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These are the motions proposed by members of UCU University of Leeds branch and agreed by all members at our general meetings which are on the agenda to be debated by all branches at UCU Congress 2019. Composite motions are composited by the congress business committee from two or more similar motions proposed by different branch, so these may not reflect the exact wording agreed by members of this branch but ought to reflect the intent. Motion 9 – Composite: Representation of migrants in UCU structures (University of Leeds, The University of Manchester) Congress notes: 1.     migrants, defined as non-U.K citizens, constitute a large demography within UCU’s membership 2.     UCU’s structures currently do not represent migrants, thereby leaving them vulnerable to discrimination, harassment, surveillance and other forms of oppression Congress believes: a.     all workers should be treated equally independent of immigration status b.   racist and anti-migrant sentiments are fuelled by policies such as Hostile Environment and discourses surrounding Brexit c.   there should be no place for targeted racism and legal discrimination within our sector d.   only direct migrant representation can advance UCU policy and organising strategies on matters specific to migrant members such as mobility rights, visa fees, NHS surcharge, social security. Congress resolves to:                    i.       recognise migrant … continue reading