Dima Chami at end-of-picket rally 28 November 2019
Branch equality officer Dima Chami on fighting back against the hostile environment being imposed on migrant workers … continue reading
Category Archives: Migrant members
UCU vice president Vicky Blake at end-of-picket rally 25 November 2019
Vicky Blake’s rousing speech on why this strike is so important for us all. … continue reading
Leeds UCU are instrumental in changing UCU rules regarding migrant representation
In May we posted about why Leeds UCU committee believes it is crucial that migrant members have representation within the national UCU structure. At the UCU annual conference later than month, Leeds University UCU, along with UEA UCU, Manchester University UCU, Cambridge University UCU, Sheffield University UCU and the Black Members Standing Committee, moved and seconded the motions that made this happen. We are very proud to have been involved at this significant moment in UCU history and particularly want to thank our equality officer Dima Barakat Chami and committee member Laura Loyola-Hernandez for their hard work and passion in campaigning for this and introducing the motions at congress. Details of the motions passed by congress can be read here but in brief, congress resolves to: recognise migrant status as a protected characteristic under UCU equality structuresimplement rule changes necessary to ensure the representational gap is closedensure protection of migrant members is a priority for UCU The newly set up committee will be dedicated to addressing issues faced by migrant members. These issues can range from unfair visa fees (as of yet, not reimbursed by universities) to discriminatory practices which abound in the everyday life of migrants as they negotiate … continue reading
Motions for Wednesday’s extraordinary general meeting + other news
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 disputePay and Equality disputeHead of School appointmentsMisuse of lecture capture by the universityUniForum (another round of collecting benchmarking data on “the efficiency and effectiveness of administration and support services”)Discussion boards for in-course feedbackTimetabling (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 post or your emails to a different … continue reading
Why UCU needs a migrant members equality strand
UCU University of Leeds UCU is one of several branches with motions calling for a migrant members equality strand in UCU. We urge branches and delegates to UCU Congress to support our motions. Why is it so important? Three in every ten staff in UK universities aren’t British (29 per cent). Half of research-only staff (mostly postdocs) are from overseas (47 per cent). Migrants constitute a large demography within British academia (both in FE and HE) – and even while we make up a considerable proportion of UCU’s membership, our voice is not always heard. During the strikes, we were on the front lines with our colleagues, but our solidarity came at a price: migrant staff who took ‘unlawful’ absence from work for more than 10 days were eligible for having their contracts ended – in other words, if migrants took strike action for more than 10 days, they were at risk of deportation. It took considerable pressure, and very loudly voiced anxieties, from University of Leeds branch and others to bring this to the attention of UCU national officers who thankfully took this matter seriously. The right to strike is a human right, but the Home Office – until … continue reading