Category Archives: Dispute

Members make dispute decisions at Extraordinary General Meeting

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Members of UCU University of Leeds Branch met today (22 January 2020) to discuss and make decisions about the current disputes. Members agreed on the following motions: USS pensions dispute and ‘Four fights’ dispute Motion 1 This branch acknowledges the need to fight back against increasing casualisation, damaging workloads, antiquated gender and race pay gaps and a decade long erosion of our pay. This branch notes the decision of the HEC to coordinate ballot distribution and strike days for the Four Fights and USS disputes. This strategy allowed for UCU’s most successful ballot turnout results on pay ever and led to eight days of impactful strike action which is empowering our national negotiators. This branch recognises the need to increase pressure at this point and that in order to win we have to move towards escalating our industrial strategy. This branch supports this existing strategy towards our two ongoing disputes in HE, and believes that strike action in pursuit of the Four Fights should continue to escalate simultaneously with action over USS, beginning with the 14 days endorsed by HESC in December 2019. Motion 2 Motion about the Formulation of Strategy for the Next Round of Industrial Action This branch … continue reading

Extraordinary general meeting 22 January: disputes + organisational change policy

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The branch committee has called an extraordinary general meeting to discuss a number of urgent issues which won’t wait until the next scheduled general meeting. The meeting will be: 12pm – 1pm on Wednesday 22 January Roger Stevens lecture theatre 16 (which is on level 12). Members are invited to submit motions on the subjects on the agenda. These should be received by 2pm on Tuesday 14 January, after which the motions received will be circulated to members. The agenda will be: DisputesUSS pensions dispute‘Four fights’ dispute (pay, anti-casualisation, equal pay, workloads)Organisational change policy Please send any relevant motions to the branch administrator Alan Smith using ucu@leeds.ac.uk. (The next scheduled general meeting, open to motions on any subject, is Monday 2 March.) … continue reading

Open letter to research funders

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Leeds UCU has written an online Open Letter to research funders, explaining the two current HE disputes (on USS pensions and on the Four Fights) and asking them to: Write to the Senior Team of Universities UK (UUK) and to the Board of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and urge them to engage in meaningful negotiations over pensions, and pay and equality (respectively) with UCU.Write to the Vice-Chancellors of institutions at which they have awarded scholarships, grants, or bursaries with the same request. Furthermore, demand respectful behaviour towards the staff and graduate students participating in ASOS and no financial deductions of their salary for working to contract.Make a public statement in support of the staff and graduate students taking industrial action and ASOS and call for an urgent resolution of the disputes.Offer to extend application and reporting deadlines in order to accommodate the time lost by researchers taking strike action and ASOS. We will collect signatures on this letter and will forward copies to each of the research funding bodies in the new year, with the signatures of the researchers funded by them. Please sign this letter here including your name, position, funder and institution, following the layout … continue reading

Reporting strike action, and guidance on Action Short of a Strike

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Reporting strike action On Thursday 5th December, or on your first day back if you don’t work Thursdays, you should report that you took strike action, via ESS or by email to industrialaction@leeds.ac.uk, as set out in the email from HR on 18th November. You should also report that you are taking ASOS. If you are on a visa, it’s extra important that you are recorded as having been on strike, otherwise it could count as unauthorised absence which could affect your visa – you might like to report by email and ask for confirmation that your report has been recorded. Guidance on ASOS We will be doing the ASOS which was set out in the voting papers for the ballot, and which you voted overwhelmingly for. We are asking you to: work to contractnot cover for absent colleaguesnot reschedule lectures or classes cancelled due to strike actionnot undertake any voluntary activities Your committee, with the help of the packed General Meeting on 3 December, has put together the a document containing local ASOS guidance, available here: www.leedsucu.org.uk/asos-guidance-from-leeds-ucu/ Also see the national FAQ at www.ucu.org.uk/he-action-faqs Note in particular that our university management have softened their approach compared to 2018 – … continue reading