Category Archives: Equality

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 call leads to reimbursements for international staff

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University of Leeds has agreed to UCU’s requests to reimburse staff for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ applications and tier 1 visa applications. Senior management say they will reimburse staff for applications made after 8 November 2018. The university will also reimburse the cost of applying to the EU settlement scheme. This article was edited 3 December to include the 8 November 2018 application date and the link to the university website UCU members from outside the EU have complained of a gradual ramping up of fees and costs as working in the UK becomes less and less affordable. The reimbursements the university has agreed to make are significant improvements for international staff.  We’re glad the university has listened to our concerns, but we urge them to move on all the areas we raised. UCU called on the university to reimburse the cost of tier one visas, which they have now agreed. The university already reimburses tier two visa application costs. We have asked for clarification on whether the university reimburses tier four to tier two conversions. UCU also called on the university senior management to reimburse the visa costs for dependents, and for the costs of the (increasing) Immigration Health Surcharge … continue reading

Disability Equality in Education: day of action Wednesday 21 November

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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

Report from UCU higher education sector conferences 7 November

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Last Wednesday our elected Leeds delegates had a double dose of special Higher Education Sector Conferences (HESCs) which had been called to decide the next steps for UCU in two higher education disputes: Quick summary 1. The Pay and Equality dispute (Wednesday morning) It was decided to have a UK-wide re-ballot in the new year, highlighting the casualisation, equality, and workload aspects of the dispute alongside pay.  See more detailed Pay & Equality report below. 2. The Pensions dispute (specifically what next after the JEP report on USS) (Wednesday afternoon) After the Joint Expert Panel Report and recent revelations about USS valuation methods, the conference advised UCU to negotiate for no increase in our USS contributions and and end to so-called “de-risking”. See more detailed Pensions dispute report below. The Higher Education Committee of UCU and our union negotiators will take forward these decisions and advice. 1. Pay and Equality dispute The first HESC, on the Pay and Equality dispute, was quorate, which means that its decisions complement, confirm, or supersede those taken by the Higher Education Committee (HEC) the previous week.  Decisions taken at the meeting (including amendments) can be downloaded via this link: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/9939/HESC-1118-pay-decisions/doc/UCU9057Nov18_-_Decisions.doc All the original motion texts can be seen … continue reading

EU Settlement Scheme pilot

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Please see advice below from UCU head office in relation to the extension of the pilot scheme: We have received queries this morning about the government plans to extend the EU Settlement Scheme pilot to EU citizens working in universities across the UK. The first stage of the pilot had previously been run in Liverpool institutions and health services. It is now being extended to all licensed UK higher education institutions. UCU has received mixed feedback from many members who have used the service so far. The purpose of the scheme is to enable EU citizens resident in the UK and their family members to obtain the necessary UK immigration status they require in order to live and work in the UK after the end of the planned EU exit implementation period. During this pilot phase, only those employed by HE institutions are eligible to apply, but the scheme will open to all eligible applicants including family members by 29 March 2019. Applicants to the pilot phase must be a resident EU passport holder or, if they are the non-EU family members of EU citizens, a biometric residence card. The fee to apply for settled status is: £65 if you’re … continue reading