↓
 

University of Leeds UCU

  • Home
  • Join UCU
  • My UCU
  • Support
  • About UCU
    • Joining the union
    • Branch office contacts
    • Committee members 2020-2021
    • Department representatives
    • Working groups and action group
    • Calendar
    • Local rules
    • Standing for election to the UCU committee
    • Useful resources and agreements
    • Other campus unions
    • Making UCU branch general meetings work better
    • Dashboard
    • Mobile Dashboard
  • Campaigns
    • Anti-casualisation
    • Gender pay gap
    • Pensions
    • Casualisation, equal pay, workload and fair pay negotiations
    • Workloads
    • Migrant members
  • Calendar
join today online or by phone 0333 207 0719

Post navigation

<< 1 2 3 4 5 … 22 23 >>

Grow the Action, Build the Strike, Win the Dispute

Posted on 24 February 2020 by Alan Smith24 February 2020

Negotiations are at a crucial stage. We need pickets out in great numbers. Thank you so much for all the strength you have put into the action over the last few days. The weather has been shocking, public transport a nightmare, and yet we have seen lots of cheerful and, most importantly, determined picketers every day – and many more a visible presence online. We need to keep up the pressure and grow the action. Because of what we have done so far, UCU’s negotiators were back in negotiations with the employers’ body UCEA today, on the anti-casualisation, workloads, equal pay and pay dispute. They are back in ‘without prejudice’ talks which means they are not able to share details about what was discussed, but we understand the meeting went on much longer than it was supposed to, which has to be a good sign!  The next couple of days are, therefore, crucial. Please come out to picket if you can – if you don’t live in Leeds you can give support to a picket at a university closer to you. Here’s the picket sign-up form (for University of Leeds branch). If you can’t picket, please be as loud and … continue reading

Posted in Anticasualisation, Dispute, Dispute advice, Equality, Gender pay gap, Pay, Pensions, Workload

To our students, from Leeds University UCU

Posted on 10 February 2020 by editor115 February 2020

We want to start by saying how grateful we are for all the support we have received from University of Leeds students. Every supportive email or kind word to striking staff; every signature on open letters or email to the Vice-Chancellor; every student joining us at rallies, speaking out on Twitter or coming to speak to us in person, supports us in our action. We stand firm because of you and your support and we are determined to win this dispute in order to provide you with the learning environment you deserve. We regret that, whilst negotiations have moved forward as a result of our action in November and December, we are not yet close enough to that win to call off action. As a result we have called strike action in February and March, on these dates: Week one – Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February Week two – Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February Week three – Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 March Week four – Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 & Friday 13 March We very much hope that the employers will continue negotiating with our national negotiators … continue reading

Posted in Anticasualisation, Equality, Pay, Pensions, Workload

USS statutory consultation

Posted on 6 February 2020 by Alan Smith6 February 2020

You’ll have received an email on 24th January entitled “Important: Notice of statutory consultation in relation to the Universities Superannuation Scheme”.  This is the result of a win negotiated by the UCU negotiating team.  The main part of the USS scheme remains a Defined Benefit scheme, but above a certain salary threshold, contributions go into the Defined Contribution part of your pension. That threshold is currently £58,589.70, and was not going to increase beyond March this year. Were it to remain static, more and more members would gradually find themselves paying into the DC element as salaries gradually rise.  UCU have negotiated that the threshold will rise for at least the next 5 years in line with inflation (CPI), which maintains the balance of defined contribution and defined benefit closer to how it is currently configured. Because this is effectively a change to the scheme, USS are obliged to go through a statutory consultation so that all USS members have an opportunity to comment on the change. This is a useful win, and your union recommends that you respond to the consultation by saying you support this change – email EmployerConsultation@uss.co.uk by Monday 23rd March.

continue reading
Posted in Pensions

Further strikes announced

Posted on 5 February 2020 by Alan Smith6 February 2020

You’ll have seen from your email on Monday from the UCU general secretary Jo Grady that UCU have announced 14 more days strike action during February and March. Our negotiating team and elected Higher Education Committee think that, despite some real progress in the negotiations, the employers are holding back and are not taking the concerns of staff seriously enough. Leeds University UCU is therefore called to strike on these dates in pursuit of two legally distinct disputes: USS, and #FourFights (see:  https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10621/UCU-announces-14-strike-days-at-74-UK-universities-in-February-and-March ) The dates are: Week one – Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February Week two – Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February Week three – Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 March Week four – Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 & Friday 13 March This is such a crucial moment for higher education in the UK, and every member is needed to make this action successful. Employers have moved a bit in negotiations as a result of our actions so far. We need them to move further, and to put decent, trustworthy offers on the table to resolve these disputes. We know some VCs are already shifting. We need … continue reading

Posted in Anticasualisation, Black members / BME, Campaigns, Dispute, Dispute advice, Equality, Gender equality, Gender pay gap, General Meetings, Pay, Pensions, Workload

Members make dispute decisions at Extraordinary General Meeting

Posted on 22 January 2020 by Alan Smith22 January 2020

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

Posted in Anticasualisation, Campaigns, Dispute, Equality, Gender equality, Gender pay gap, General Meetings, Pay, Pensions

Post navigation

<< 1 2 3 4 5 … 22 23 >>

Jeremy Toner

Posted on 20 January 2021 by Alan Smith20 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.)

continue reading
Posted in Branch | 13 Replies

Formal dispute lodged over Medicine and Biological Sciences potential redundancies

Posted on 18 January 2021 by Alan Smith18 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 Smith18 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)

continue reading
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
Four years free membership for research students who teach
Sexual harassment helpline 0800 138 8724

Campaign updates

  • Anti-casualisation
  • Workloads
  • Pensions
  • Gender pay gap
  • UCU national website

Latest updates

  • Jeremy Toner
  • Formal dispute lodged over Medicine and Biological Sciences potential redundancies
  • Petition against redundancies in Biological Sciences and Medicine
  • No to all job cuts at the university!
  • Supporting schoolteachers by reducing university workloads

Updates by subject

  • Branch
    • Administration
    • Dispute information
    • Elections
    • General Meetings
    • Getting involved
    • Members emails
    • Minutes
    • Newsletter
    • Open meetings and events
    • Solidarity
  • Campaigns
    • Anticasualisation
    • Equality
      • Black members / BME
      • Disability
      • Gender equality
      • Gender pay gap
      • LGBT+
      • Mental health
      • Migrant members
    • Government
    • HE green paper
    • Health and safety
      • Covid19
    • Opposing privatisation
    • Pay
    • Pensions
    • Postgraduate
    • Prevent
    • University operational issues
      • Annual leave
      • Capability
      • Conduct and disciplinary
      • Grievances
      • Lecture capture
      • Working from home
    • Wider campaigning
      • Brexit
      • Environment
      • Migration and refugees
    • Workload
  • Consultations and negotiations
    • Car parking
    • Feedback
    • IT
    • Recruitment
    • Redundancy
    • REF
    • Statutes
  • Dispute
    • Dispute advice
  • Joining UCU
  • Support
    • Sexual harassment
  • UCU democracy
  • UCU levy
  • Uncategorized
  • University Democracy
  • Website archive
    • University of the Year

Search this site

Follow @leedsucu
find us on Facebook
Four years' free membership for postgraduate research students who teach
Four years' free membership for research students who teach - join the academic trade union
Four years' free membership for research students who teach - join the academic trade union

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
©2021 - - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑