What’s on at today’s Teach Out – Monday 2 December

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Full teach out programme is here

Disabled people and employment

(for day of action on disability equality in education)

Jo Ingold with Liz Oliver

1pm – 2pm, Quaker Meeting House

The Mathematics of Voting

Rob Sturman

1pm – 2pm, Quaker Meeting House (upstairs room)

Healthcare and the Pharmaceutical Industry: What Is To Be Done?

Dan Howdon

2pm – 3pm, Quaker Meeting House (upstairs room)

Student mental health and the role of academics – an open conversation

Rachel Muers

2pm – 3pm, Quaker Meeting House

Opportunity for conversation between academics and students about academics’ role in relation to student mental health problems. This is a discussion & sharing of ideas facilitated by a non-specialist.  

Building a coalition for climate action @Leeds

Gabriella Alberti

2pm – 3pm, Fenton pub

How do we do action short of a strike? UCU Researchers @Leeds

Drasko Kascelan

3pm – 4pm, Fenton pub

Training Sawbones: A (slightly) ghastly history of teaching doctors in Leeds

Guided walk around Leeds. Meet in the Grand Arcade’s exit to Vicar Lane, LS1 6PG. We’ll finish near the LGI.

Polina Merkulova

1pm – 3pm.

How did people become doctors in Leeds? Why were some students expelled?Who were the teachers? Who and how could access medical help? What does architecture have to do with all of these? While wandering around the city we will answer these and many other questions, talk about student pranks, learn the history of some of Leeds’ iconic buildings and step into the lives of medical students, teachers and patients from the early 19th century onwards. There will be “hard facts”, curious anecdotes, urban legends and gruesome stories of disease, blood and broken bones. No prior knowledge is needed and all are welcome! The walk will take approximately 2 hours and will be around 2 miles long with frequent stops. There is a nice pub nearby where we can warm ourselves and chat about Leeds’ medical history a little more after the walk.

Out of Office: Foraging and Feminist Reading in Meanwood Park

Elspeth Mitchell with Asa Roast

2pm – 4pm.

Meet at the entrance to Meanwood Park Café

Part reading group, part mushroom foraging, part holly and ivy gathering expedition. Bring your mushroom ID books, mushroom knives and baskets — or just yourself! We will provide copies of extracts from two texts, (‘Nose Hair: Love it or Leave it? the lovecidal of bodies that filter’ by Xin Lui and ‘Unruly Edges: Mushrooms as Companion Species: For Donna Haraway’ by Anna Tsing) which we will read and discuss while foraging for fungi. As it is quite late in the season for mushrooms, Asa will share with us the best spot for ivy in the park. The walk will last at least two hours and you are welcome to join us for a drink afterwards. Please dress warmly and wear suitable footwear. To register your interest and for any questions contact: elspethrosemitchell@gmail.com

What’s on at today’s Teach Out? Thursday 28 November

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Full teach out programme is here

Migrant Detention These Walls Must Fall (North West)

A talk by migrant support grassroot group. We hope to organise this in collaboration with student societies, for example Leeds STAR, and use it to help kick-start activism against immigration detention by students and staff

Lauren Cape-Davenhill

1pm – 2pm, Quaker Meeting House

Decolonising the University: A Jewish perspective

Joshua Alston

1pm – 2pm, Quaker Meeting House

Short workshop aimed at how we can decolonise the university and what Jewishness can bring to the discussion. No knowledge of Judaism or academic decolonisation required.

The medieval mediterranean, race, and religion

Jonathan Jarret, Francesca Petrizzo, Eva Frojmovic

2pm – 3pm, Quaker Meeting House

Migration control and crises in the neoliberal economy

Richard Cleminson, Deirdre Conlon, Glenda Garelli, Louise Waite

2pm – 3pm, Quaker Meeting House

Short conference style presentations: ‘migration, crises, and European borders’, ‘UK/US immigration detention economies’, ‘the case of modern slavery in the neoliberal economy: migrant ‘illegality’ and exploitative work’; “Black Lisbon”: Anarchism, Anti-colonialism and the Portuguese-speaking world (1920-1940); followed by open discussion.  

Introduction to Permaculture

A design science for sustainable livelihoods. a.k.a. Revolution disguised as organic gardening.

Alexander (Sandy) James

3pm – 4pm.

Max 12 people.

Hyde Park Source, 2 Rosebank Rd, Leeds LS3 1HH



News on negotiations, the digital picket line, hot breakfasts and more

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Text from branch president Ben Plumpton’s email to members 27th November

Negotiations

The most important thing to tell you is that our UCU negotiators on pay and conditions met with UCEA, the employers organization, on Tuesday. See UCU’s statement about that meeting.  This is really important, because it shows it only took one day of solid striking and record breaking pickets to get UCEA to do what they should have done weeks ago; sit down and talk. However, they are still not willing to talk about pay. We need to push them harder on this, because stopping pay erosion is central to our claim and low pay is one of the issues which creates pay gaps and which exacerbates the already impossible position of casualised staff.  UCEA are now consulting with university leaders. We need to send our Vice-Chancellor a clear message that our claims are urgent and that we won’t settle for anything other than substantial change. 

  • For those striking, please stand firm. We need to sustain our action. We want to make our pickets (physical and digital) bigger, louder and clearer, so help us make some noise over the next few days.
  • If you are not yet striking, please come out with us now – this is an important dispute which we can win if we stand together. You will be very welcome.
  • We’ve had 50 new members join UCU in the last couple of weeks which is great. Keep encouraging colleagues! New joiners to the strike at this stage make a huge difference.

You are wonderful

What fantastic pickets you are – arriving early and standing around in the damp, and then willingly singing in the rain and cheering at our rallies!  Thank you thank you.  Don’t forget, it’s OK to take some time for yourself, you don’t have to come every day.  If you’ve been picketing with a group of colleagues, you could organise yourselves a rota so everyone gets a rest day.
Big thank you to people new to picketing – more are joining us every day – it’s quite an experience isn’t it? 
We’re picketing every day from 7:30 (come to the pink gazebo near the main entrance) followed by a rally on Parkinson steps at 11:30.
If you want to picket and have particular needs, we are keen to provide support and adjustments so that you can join us. Please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk and let us know how we can make that work for you.

Key links

Respect the digital and non-campus picket line

Remember that striking includes not working from home, not dealing with your emails (*except UCU emails of course, please keep reading those!),  no work-related social media, and generally not doing anything that counts as work, wherever it might be done. Hope you manage to do some enjoyable stuff during this time!

Hot breakfasts on Monday 2 December

Our friends in Unison have very kindly offered to provide us with hot breakfasts on the first day of the second week, starting at 8 am. We’re keen to start the second week with really impressive picketing, so hopefully this will encourage everyone along!

More solidarity from (and with) our sister unions

We’re pleased that the Unison and Unite branches at the university have advised their members not to pick up work which would normally be done by UCU members.  This of course makes our strike more effective and we are grateful for their support. It also means that, when are back at work and doing Action Short of a Strike, we will need to be careful not to put extra workload on these colleagues.

Reminder: Benefit gig Friday 29 November 7 pm

At the Chemic Tavern, 9 Johnston St, LS6 2NG. Pay what you can, in aid of our Hardship Fund.  More details here.  Pass the word around, bring your friends, let’s have a great evening celebrating our first week of strike action!

Reminder: Climate march Friday 29 November 12:30 Parkinson steps

This is entirely separate from the UCU strikes, but lots of staff and students, including UCU members, will be marching down to town to support the next big Youth Strike for Climate event.  Our strike rally will finish about noon, followed by some climate emergency speeches, and then the march leaving Parkinson steps at 12:30.

Thankfully it’s looking like the weather will improve on Friday and for next week…
Keep on tweeting and Facebooking and everything (use #UCUstrikes and tag @leedsucu) – we love seeing your photos.

In solidarity,

Ben Plumpton
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
University of Leeds UCU President