Category Archives: Workload

Report from UCU higher education sector conferences 7 November

Posted on by

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

National Stress Awareness Day

Posted on by

At the UCU stall at the National Stress Awareness Day event, 7 November in Parkinson Court, we asked people what they thought were the causes of stress for them. Many staff said job security was the main cause of stress, and many staff and students said money was the main cause of stress. The overwhelming majority of staff and students said workload is the main cause of stress. Most people who participated said workload causes them stress UCU is campaigning to reduce workloads, but we’re facing opposition from senior management, some of whom are very dismissive, claiming they don’t think there is a widespread problem. We’re setting up a new network of UCU workload reps to investigate and provide more evidence to show university senior management that they need to reduce workloads for the sake of staff health and safety and so we can all have a rewarding life outside of work.  Find out who your UCU workload rep is, and, if there isn’t one, discuss with colleagues who would be a good UCU workload rep for your area: leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/departmental-representatives If your workload is too high and you would like support from UCU to try to reduce it, contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk to … continue reading

Pay + Equality: what next locally + nationally

Posted on by

Text of email from Branch President Vicky Blake Dear Members, Thank you to everyone who voted in the Pay and Equality Ballot, and all who helped us to get the vote out. As you will see from Matt Waddup’s email that has just gone out to members nationally, our historically high turnout in this postal ballot on pay and equality was not quite enough to break the 50% threshold set by the (anti-)Trade Union Act 2016. In this email: • Our result • What next in the pay and equality dispute • Local campaigning and action on gender pay and casualisation Our result Prior to 2016, we would be celebrating this turnout, and this result. At Leeds, members voted strongly for strike action (69.8%) and action short of a strike (77.7%). This government’s anti-trade union legislation has denied us our right to withdraw our labour despite our turnout of 49.2%. We only needed 15 more votes to break the threshold. (You may wish to note that, while advocating the 50% threshold’s introduction, Boris Johnson was in post as London Mayor having achieved… 31.8% turnout in his election.) What next? We remain in dispute over the joint unions’ pay and equality claim. … continue reading

Why you really do need to vote – from a reluctant striker

Posted on by

Chloe and colleagues outside the School of Law during the USS pension strike A personal post from new UCU committee member Chloe Wallace When I look back over our strike action in February and March, I have a lot of good memories: standing with friends old and new; the support of my colleagues and students; the feeling of empowerment and hope for the future. But all in all, it wasn’t much fun. Quite apart from the snow, the rain, and the pay deduction, there was disruption to the job I love and the students I’m committed to, anxiety in such an uncertain situation, and an ever-present feeling of guilt. When it was over, I breathed a sigh of relief; back to normal at least for a while.  So my heart sank when it became clear that we would have to ballot on striking yet again for a fairer deal on equality, casualization and pay. We, individually and collectively, have too much to do, and university staff and students don’t deserve more disruption after what we dealt with this year. We talked about fairness, equality and casualisation on the pickets and on #striketwitter throughout and beyond the action. We know they matter and that … continue reading

Calling for a £500 thank you for delivering for the university

Posted on by

The University of Leeds is the Times and Sunday Times University of the Year 2017. We’re proud of that, and we’re proud of the excellent work we do here. The three staff unions – UCU, Unison and Unite – wrote jointly to the Vice-Chancellor to ask for a thank you for all our hard work. We suggested a flat payment of £500 before Christmas would be a welcome way to thank staff for our collective achievement. The Vice-Chancellor subsequently emailed staff about giving an extra day’s annual leave as a thank you. If the university management had discussed this idea with us first we could have warned them that many people would be disappointed or even angered by the suggestion (as proved the case) because they already feel they have to not take all of their annual leave each year because of their workloads, or if they do take an extra day the work will still be there for them on their return. We have discussed the concerns members raised with us with the Vice-Chancellor. The three unions have agreed to ask all union members to sign a petition requesting a £500 bonus. Please sign!  You can sign on paper … continue reading