Category Archives: Workload

Newsletter – summer 2019

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University of Leeds University & College Union USS Pensions There seems to be no comfortable end in sight for the USS dispute. USS have proposed three options as solutions to the ongoing valuation, all of which mean members and employers paying more, and none of which implement the Joint Expert Panel’s recommendations. Employers prefer option 3 which would increase member contributions to 9.6% with possible imposed additional increases after later valuations. It has recently been revealed, after whistleblowing from a USS trustee, that USS misled employers and members about the 2018 valuation, claiming wrongly that The Pensions Regulator had said the JEP recommendations would be too risky. UCU believes we can’t trust these people any longer, has called for the resignation of USS CEO Bill Galvin, and is exploring the possibility of legal action against the USS Trustee Board. We reject any members’ contribution increases, we call on UUK to pick up any imposed extra costs, and we plan to ballot on industrial action in September if they do not agree. See leedsucu.org.uk/pensions What’s happening on pay? 2019 pay negotiations with the employers began in early May and the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) offered 1.8% (increased to 3.65% … continue reading

Minutes of general meeting 13 March 2019

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Wednesday 13 March 2019, 12pm – 1pm Roger Stevens lecture theatre 11 Minutes and matters arising from previous meeting not elsewhere on the agenda Including updates on gender pay claim and anti-casualisation claim Request for reps in schools without reps. Minutes agreed. USS pensions: update on website, will have a members meeting about this soon. IT: took to Senate and in discussion with HR Timetabling: some departments resisting (successfully). Meeting with HR today. Gender pay claim: claim submitted in August. Not had a diligent response form the university. First working group the university didn’t provide us with any data. We’re going to say we can’t meaningfully meet with them until they provide us that data. Anti-casualisation claim: first negotiating meeting 26 March. Would like to organise some more anti-casualisation meetings before then, ideally next week. Recent media controversy about a job ad pulled, which was indicative of a culture of Election of Congress delegates: Dima Chami, Laura Loyola Hernandez, Chloe Wallace, Megan Povey, Arunima Bhattacharya. Reserves: Gabriella Alberti, Ben Plumpton, Tim Goodall. Motion 1: Amend Congress Standing Order 18 Moved by Ben Plumpton, seconded by Nigel Bubb. Carried unanimously Motion 2: Representation of migrants in UCU structures Moved by Dima … continue reading

Important UCU updates: Ballot + General Secretary + Leeds general meeting + elections

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Text of email sent to all members 25 February 2019 by branch president Vicky Blake In this email: ·        2 important updates: ballot result and General Secretary resignation ·        Your feedback for future UCU strategy ·        Reminder of very important UCU General Meeting (13 March) + motions deadline (5 March) INCLUDING call for Congress delegates + motions! ·        Thank you Leeds UCU Updates: Ballot:We received [news] on Friday that the UCU UK-wide aggregated ballot of higher education members came out strongly in favour of taking action and action short of strike (ASOS), but that this result has again been stymied by anti-democratic, anti-trade union laws. We are very disappointed that we are unable to take action at the UK-level at this time, but we are also very determined to make progress in our local work over our formal Anti-Casualisation claim for which negotiations will begin in March, over the gender pay gap claim we’re already pursuing, and on joint-unions work to address workload at Leeds. The Trade Union Act 2016 requires all ballots over industrial action to reach 50% turnout, which is a greater restriction than is placed on turnout for the election of politicians who make these decisions. Prior to 2016, we would … continue reading

Strength in numbers: don’t be silenced

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Text from email to all members sent 19 February 2019 Dear Members, The message is very simple. We have even made another song to illustrate it: enjoy! We need you to vote in the current ballot, and we would ideally like you to vote “YES YES” in support of willingness to take strike action and action short of a strike in the pursuit of a decent offer from our employers on (click each heading for a link): Secure work Gender pay gapFair payWorkload If you have already voted, THANK YOU for helping to keep our union strong. Please help us to get the remaining votes out by spending 5-10 minutes talking to colleagues and friends in higher education to make sure they have too! We need all votes to be received by Friday 22 February, meaning Wednesday is the last “safe day to post (but if you find anyone yet to post on Thursday, it’s still worth it! If you have not yet voted, PLEASE dig out that ballot and get it in the post right now. This matters; it is a matter of our collective strength and standing up for one another. Every single vote, in every single branch, in every … continue reading

Dispute over casualisation, equal pay, workload and fair pay

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Your industrial action ballot paper should have arrived shortly after 16 January 2019. It’s vital for our union democracy that you use your vote. The vote has to be done by post because the government made it illegal to run industrial action ballots online. Please use your vote – democracy is important We need to know what the whole membership thinks about taking action, so please vote whatever your view. We’re asking you to tell us locally when you’ve voted (not how you voted) because this will help us get the 50% turnout. The ballot is open until midday Friday 22nd February. Why are we balloting again? Last October Leeds members voted clearly – 70% – to strike over casualisation, gender equality, workload and fair pay, with a turnout of 49%. It was the highest national turnout on a pay ballot in UCU’s history. Only the new anti-trade union law stopped us from striking. We think members should decide, not the government. We’re re-balloting to exceed the 50% legal threshold so that your decision counts. More on this in our Frequently Asked Questions page. We urge all members to vote Yes to strike and Yes to action short of a … continue reading