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Category Archives: IT

Decisions of general meeting 8 December 2020

Posted on 8 December 2020 by Alan Smith8 December 2020

Appointments to committee Equality officer: Lorraine Youds Anti-casualisation officers: Xanthe Whittaker and Joanne Armitage (role share) Committee member (lead on climate and the ecological emergency): Jennifer Fletcher The following motions were agreed: Motion 1: opposing redundancies at Leeds University Leeds UCU: Notes: Faculty of Biological Sciences management communication which hinted at compulsory redundancies if not ‘enough’ staff leave through the voluntary redundancy scheme. that UCU branches (eg. Heriot Watt, Brighton, Northumbria Universities) have recently won ballots for industrial action, despite the obstacles to campaigning during Covid-19 restrictions. Re-affirms our opposition to all redundancies. urges all members to sign the Leeds UCU petition opposing the ‘voluntary’ redundancies in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine. agrees to: demand a commitment from management that no compulsory redundancies will be proposed or made in FBS or SoM. call a dispute if management will not rule out compulsory redundancies. trigger the steps for an industrial action ballot if management pursues compulsory redundancies. Motion amended as above text and carried without opposition. Motion 2: Response to Funding Extensions for PGRs The Leeds UCU Branch notes that: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted many post-graduate research students (PGRs) because of their reduced ability … continue reading

Posted in Anticasualisation, Branch, Dispute, Environment, General Meetings, IT, Opposing privatisation, Postgraduate, Redundancy, UCU democracy

UCU paper for Senate on IT

Posted on 18 January 2019 by Alan Smith18 January 2019

Below is the content of the UCU paper on IT given to members of the university senate before their 16 January meeting. Below is a summary of comments from academics, IT staff and UCU Committee members, many of which have been raised multiple times at various meetings across the university. IT Reorganisation The IT reorganisation was undertaken without sufficient analysis of: the services IT needs to deliver the skills and resources required to deliver those services The predictable result is loss of service rather than the increased efficiency that may have been possible with a more professional approach This is why the £3million saving was not a saving – it was cutting costs without understanding or anticipation of the impact, for example: The number of ‘single points of failure’ within IT has risen significantly. This substantially increases the University’s risk profile. If a service goes down or a statutory obligation is not met as a result of the sole support being unavailable, the resultant cost could exceed that £3million ‘saving’. This implies overly simplistic risk evaluation and planning. Because these are potential costs rather than known recurrent costs, it is all too easy for management to disregard them.  Reorganising IT … continue reading

Posted in Dispute, IT

Members agree new policies at general meeting

Posted on 12 December 2018 by Alan Smith17 December 2018

Members meeting on 10 December passed 8 motions deciding branch strategy, policy and decisions: Motion 3: USS pensions Motion 4: Motion of no confidence in University of Leeds Council USS decisions Motion 5: Supporting Vicky Blake’s Candidacy for UCU Vice President Motion 6: Continuing consequences of the IT reorganisation Motion 7: Responding to the Proposed Centralisation of Timetabling Motion 8: Anti-casualisation claim Motion 1: Re-affiliation and resubscription to Labour Research Department Motion 2: Re-affiliation to Leeds Trades Unions Council Motion 3: USS pensions Leeds University UCU notes that individual employer responses to USS consultations are now in the public domain. We are disappointed that the University of Leeds management has consistently positioned itself amongst the ‘hawks’ in this respect. We are embarrassed that our employer continues to maintain this untenable approach, notably on the critical issue of ‘risk’, in the face of contrary findings published by the Joint Expert Panel (JEP). Motion of no confidence in University of Leeds Council USS decisions University of Leeds UCU branch notes That as the governing body of the University, the Council has a responsibility to act openly, transparently and in the best interests of staff and students and other stakeholders. The University of … continue reading

Posted in Administration, Anticasualisation, Consultations and negotiations, General Meetings, IT, Pensions

Support our IT services

Posted on 5 October 2016 by Alan Smith1 August 2017

As members of the University of Leeds community, we are concerned about the current IT reorganisation. We believe that: the loss of experienced IT staff and management focus on the reorganisation is contributing to problems with IT services research, teaching and administrative needs should drive IT planning, not cost-cutting there should be consultation with staff at all levels about IT plans experienced and skilled IT staff are extremely valuable to the university and should be supported and retained there should be no compulsory/forced redundancies and no downgrading of IT staff or roles as a result of the reorganisation there should be no further outsourcing of IT services and a review of those that are currently outsourced the spend on consultants is a drain on the budget

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Posted in Dispute, IT

Open meeting on University IT

Posted on 7 December 2015 by Alan Smith1 August 2017

We’re having an open meeting on university IT to discuss: Manchester University UCU’s vote to strike over major outsourcing of IT services. Dr Adam Ozanne, president of University of Manchester UCU, is coming over to talk to us about the background to their dispute and what they hope to do. Issues affecting IT staff and all IT users at Leeds. Monday 7 December 1pm – 2pm, Roger Stevens LT03 (7.03) Open to UCU members, all staff and students.

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Posted in IT

Petition against redundancies in Biological Sciences and Medicine

Posted on 13 January 2021 by Alan Smith13 January 2021

Please sign and share this petition link with your contacts in Leeds and beyond. Anyone can sign – universities are for the whole community. University of Leeds senior management are insisting on reducing staff to cut costs in the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Biological Sciences, and they refuse to rule out compulsory redundancies. UCU reps have argued the widespread belief that the university’s opaque funding allocation model under-funds many STEM* subjects which are more expensive to research and teach, and called upon the senior management to be more open about the funding model and improve its approach, to properly fund all subjects instead of cutting jobs. More details (*Science, technology, engineering and mathematics)

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Posted in Redundancy

No to all job cuts at the university!

Posted on 13 January 2021 by Alan Smith13 January 2021

Email sent to branch members 11 January 2021 As you are probably aware, the university started a voluntary redundancy scheme in the Faculty of Biological Science and the School of Medicine last semester and the deadline for applications to the scheme has now passed.  For more on the history of this, see the leeds.ucu.org.uk article: http://www.leedsucu.org.uk/vls-in-fbs-and-medicine/    Here is what has happened since we wrote that article:  Our regional UCU officer wrote to the VC to ask that compulsory redundancies are ruled out  The VC replied to say that she was unable to rule out compulsory redundancies   Our regional UCU officer replied with a ‘failure to agree letter’ saying we will not accept compulsory redundancies and asking to pause the consideration of any further voluntary redundancies until we are out of the current COVID crisis and until we’ve been properly consulted with full financial information.  If an assurance cannot be given by the end of Monday, the regional officer will send a letter, entering into dispute with the university.  We’re planning a press release to make public that the university is planning to get rid of staff in some of the areas that might be considered most essential at this time.    We’ve also … continue reading

Posted in Redundancy

Supporting schoolteachers by reducing university workloads

Posted on 12 January 2021 by Alan Smith12 January 2021

The UCU branch committee sends our thanks and support to schoolteachers in the National Education Union whose refusal to work in dangerous conditions forced the government to move more quickly in moving most school teaching online. Their action has made us all more safe. The government has left continuing confusion about who should be working and who should be able to send their children to school, and what should happen when people who shouldn’t send their children to school are required to work. As a result, school attendance has been much higher than during the first lockdown meaning that teachers are less safe and the curb on the spread of the virus will be less effective, placing all our communities at further risk. It is vital that university staff with school-age children can play our part in keeping school attendance low. Therefore, the UCU committee has written to the vice-chancellor and spoken to senior HR managers about the need to reduce workloads and extend the availability of special leave for staff whose role is not critical for the health or wellbeing of students, staff or society. We have impressed upon HR that it is not enough to say, “Do what … continue reading

Posted in Covid19, Solidarity, Workload

New lockdown

Posted on 6 January 2021 by Alan Smith7 January 2021

Message from branch president Ben Plumpton sent to members Tuesday 5 January 2020 Happy New Year, and here’s hoping it is a better one than 2020… I’m writing to let you know that Leeds UCU is working hard on your behalf related to the current lockdown and with regard to the seriousness of the increasing pandemic. In particular, we have asked the VC to: Move everything possible (most teaching, research, support and administration) online again until Easter, i.e. going beyond the (current) Government guidance.  This would be the safest thing we could do for our students, our staff, and the wider community.  This university can do better than the government guidance, particularly considering how poor the government have been at taking on board scientific advice. And constantly changing arrangements are difficult for both students and staff.  Review the university provision to support parents and carers, to be more radical and generous in what is on offer, not expecting staff to care full time and work full time, and recognising that it should be OK for carers to do fewer hours and fewer things that they would normally do. (Full detail of our email on this copied below the email to members). We know that … continue reading

Posted in Covid19, Health and safety, Members emails

Please update your details in case we move to a ballot

Posted on 4 January 2021 by Alan Smith4 January 2021

Members voted in December to call a dispute if senior management won’t rule out compulsory redundancies in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine. It’s important all of us in this branch check and update our membership details in case we move to a ballot. Please check: You have the right employer and workplace. If you have moved jobs it’s important we only ballot those of us who are employed by the University of Leeds. Your home address and email address are up to date Your home address is your ‘preferred address’ for mailing unless you’re confident you will be working on campus even in a full pandemic lockdown Your membership type. If you do paid work for the university you should have full membership. If you’re a postgraduate student who does paid teaching* directly for the university that should normally be full free membership. (Full free membership is only for postgraduate students – if you’re no longer a student please upgrade to full paying membership.) If you’re a postgraduate student who doesn’t do any qualifying paid work you should choose student membership not full membership – you won’t be eligible to vote in the ballot. If … continue reading

Posted in Dispute, Dispute advice, Redundancy
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