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Category Archives: Support

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UCU Strike: Fighting Fund + Local Hardship Fund

Posted on 21 February 2018 by admin415 June 2018

UCU Hardship + Fighting Fund Scenarios: These scenarios illustrate the ways in which our Local Hardship Fund and National Fighting Fund work together, and should help members resolve most queries they have about these schemes. Please also read the wording of the motion we passed at the 15 February General Meeting which explains how the National Fighting Fund and the Local Hardship Fund work. That’s here: http://www.leedsucu.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Emergency-motion-hardship-fund-1.docx Additional guidance (to be taken in conjunction with advice on this page) is [here] and [here]. Content: Member McStrike: Hourly paid (e.g. but not limited to a Teaching Assistant) Member O’Union: Fixed term contract, concerns over impact of financial deductions especially given the contract end date is soon / no definite extension or further solid job offer Member Solidarity: Part time, permanent contract; financial concerns given reliance on part time income Member Great-Placards: Permanent contract, financial concerns over strike deductions But how do I apply? But when do I apply?   Hourly paid (e.g. but not limited to a Teaching Assistant)   The first 3/5th of a week’s pay (so three days for anyone full time / salaried) would usually need to have been lost for someone to claim from the national Fighting … continue reading

Posted in Dispute advice, Support

Rights of EU27 citizens after Brexit

Posted on 13 December 2017 by Alan Smith13 December 2017

On 12 December the European Commission published a memo with questions and answers based on the common understanding of the rights for citizens following the recent negotiations. We’re linking to this here not as legal advice but because we know this will be of interest to many members and because it hasn’t been widely publicised in the UK. “Questions and Answers – the rights of EU27 and UK citizens post-Brexit, as outlined in the Joint Report from the Negotiators of the European Union and the United Kingdom Government” You may also be interest in the response of the campaign group the3million to the latest negotiations. For UCU members there both general and individual legal advice available – see Guide to working in the UK for EEA and non-EEA nationals.

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Posted in Brexit, Equality, Support

Postgraduate students –membership and support

Posted on 30 October 2017 by editor13 November 2017

Postgraduate students who do some teaching or carry out other paid academic work are entitled to free membership of UCU, for up to 4 years. This confers full employment support from the union, and the right to vote in union elections and industrial action ballots. For more details see https://www.ucu.org.uk/free-faqs You can join online or by phone – see https://www.ucu.org.uk/join  (in the online form, choose ‘Standard full membership’ to activate the free membership offer option, and then tick the ‘yes’ box for ‘Eligible for Free Membership’). There is also a free student membership category available for any student considering an academic career, but this doesn’t give employment support or voting rights. This membership is suitable for students who don’t carry out paid academic work for the university. We are actively campaigning (in conjunction with Leeds University Union) for improvements to conditions and contracts for postgraduate students who teach and undertake other paid work at this university. If you have concerns regarding PGR pay and working conditions, or if you’d like to get involved with this work, please contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk. If you can display a poster encouraging postgraduate students to join UCU, you can download a selection from the UCU website or … continue reading

Posted in Joining UCU, Support

Personal finance newsletter for UCU members

Posted on 15 September 2017 by Alan Smith27 September 2017

You may be interested in a newsletter for UCU members from Lighthouse Financial Advice: LFA – UCU Affinity MoneyTalk Autumn 2017 (PDF download) For more on what Lighthouse Financial Advice provides for UCU members, see ucu.org.uk/financialadvice

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Posted in Support

Legal advice available on working in the UK for EEA and non-EEA nationals

Posted on 17 August 2017 by Alan Smith17 August 2017

UCU advice on working in the UK for members who aren’t UK nationals is available through the UCU support centre web pages. As well as general advice explaining terms and processes, individual legal advice is available for members through the support centre. For problems relating to the University of Leeds it may be best to request a local UCU caseworker first by emailing ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

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Posted in Migrant members, Support

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Library staff receive no reply from VC about safety concerns

Posted on 27 January 2021 by Alan Smith27 January 2021

On 18 January over 100 library staff at University of Leeds wrote to the vice chancellor about the decision to keep library study spaces open when the risk from covid-19 is so high. Following a weekend which has seen thousands more students return to Leeds, they have still not had a reply, other than: “Thank you for your email.” Email to the vice chancellor Subject: Concerns about keeping study space open in the Libraries Dear Professor Buitendijk, The two unions representing Library staff, UCU and Unison, have jointly written a letter to you setting out our concerns about the use of the Libraries as study space during this national lockdown. We believe Library staff are being put at risk by the decision to keep study spaces in the Libraries open, when there are opportunities to provide safer un-staffed study spaces elsewhere on campus or in halls of residence. The decision to keep the Library study spaces open is putting enormous pressure on Library staff and is taking its toll on staff mental health and wellbeing, due to the stress and worry about being infected with the virus while at work. Over 110 Library staff members have signed this letter, plus … continue reading

Posted in Covid19, Health and safety

Jeremy Toner

Posted on 20 January 2021 by Alan Smith26 January 2021

With great sadness I’m writing to inform you of the awful news that Jeremy Toner has died of cancer after a short illness. Jeremy was our first openly-gay local president, then our treasurer; he was one of the activists who transformed Leeds AUT/UCU into a branch that actively fought back against managerialism, marketisation, casualisation and injustice. Above all, Jeremy was a truly kind and considerate person, loved and respected by many and he will be greatly missed. In sadness, Ben PlumptonBranch PresidentUCU University of Leeds Branch We have opened this post for comments in case you wish to leave a message or memory. (There will be a delay before your comment appears.) Update: Donations in Lieu of flowers to St Gemma’s www.st-gemma.co.uk/in-memory-donation

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Posted in Branch | 30 Replies

Formal dispute lodged over Medicine and Biological Sciences potential redundancies

Posted on 18 January 2021 by Alan Smith25 January 2021

UCU has formally lodged a dispute with University of Leeds over potential redundancies in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the School of Medicine. Full text of the dispute letter: Declaration of dispute Professor Simone BuitendijkVice ChancellorThe University of LeedsLS2 9JT 15th January 2021 Dear Professor Buitendijk Re: Declaration of dispute – Risk of Potential Redundancies in the School of Medicine & Faculty of Biological Sciences I wrote to you on 7th January registering a failure to agree on the following issue(s): Failure to rule out the need for compulsory redundancies. Failure to provide full financial transparency and disclosure regarding the need for financial cuts in the School of Medicine and Faculty of Biological Sciences and opportunities to consult about alternative strategies that could protect jobs. Failure to provide information about roles/areas that may be in scope of redundancy and the proposals that are being considered for the future work and operation of the two areas.   In order to resolve this failure to Agree, UCU are requesting the following immediate action: That the University commits to no compulsory redundancies That after the outcomes of the current VLS exercise are communicated no further action is taken by the University during the … continue reading

Posted in Dispute information, Redundancy

Petition against redundancies in Biological Sciences and Medicine

Posted on 13 January 2021 by Alan Smith25 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. Update: UCU has sent a formal letter to the VC to register a dispute with the university. You can read the full text of the letter here. 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 Smith25 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: 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
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