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