LeedsUCU Podcast episode 1

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

If you’d rather get your branch news in your ears, we’re experimenting with using a podcast as an alternative channel to sending branch news by emails, website and social media.

In today’s episode:

  • New university social media policy
  • Proposed changes to IT organisation
  • The big USS pensions win
  • Where we are with the pay and conditions dispute
  • What do we want in a new university vice chancellor?
  • Ways of working (home working, campus working)
  • Coming up soon:
    • General meeting 25 January
    • General secretary election hustings
    • UCU cradle to grave policy conference
    • national meeting of academic-related professional staff
    • national meeting of staff on casualised contracts
    • vacancies on the branch committee

You can listen on Spotify now and we will get it to other platforms in time.

Transcript of the episode

Rachel

Welcome to the Leeds UCU podcast for members of the University of Leeds branch of the University and College Union. I’m Rachel Walls, one of your podcast hosts. I’m also a UCU department Rep for the Lifelong Learning Centre, Branch, Committee member and saxophone and clarinet player. In our occasional picket line band Orchestrike!

Alan

And I’m Alan Smith, co-host for this podcast, and the branches administrator and organiser. We thought it might be useful for members of the UCU branch to have an alternative channel for getting your local news because reading long emails or website posts is not everyone’s first choice.

Rachel

So we’re here to be a friendly voice from the UCU University of Leeds branch to keep you better in touch with what’s going on. Such as what the elected officers are working on and what opportunities there are for you to get involved in UCU discussions, socialising, activism and decision making.

Alan

So with us today, we have Aisha Walker, who’s the branch president and hi, Aisha!

Aisha

Hi, Alan. Hi, Rachel. Hi everyone.

Alan

So first thing we want to talk about is the social media policy. There’s been a lot of talk about that. Can you tell us a bit about what’s going on?

Aisha

I think it would be fair to say that we have a lot of concerns about the social media policy. The social media policy has gone on to the university website. It has not been negotiated with trade unions and all of the campus trade unions have concerns about it, although it says in the policy that it’s not part of our terms and conditions, it also says that people can be subject to disciplinary action if they breach the policy. So we are really quite worried about it and about it restricting people’s freedom of speech, which of course is protected by law and there are new laws in place about freedom of speech. We need – the university needs to be very careful that members of staff and of course students still have the right to free speech and to say what they believe and feel is appropriate on social media, as as long as of course that it doesn’t actually break the law because in this country there are things that you’re not allowed to say, but we don’t want to see the university placing restrictions on our right to freedom of speech.

Speaker 1

So where are?

Alan

So where are we with the – erm – I mean you said that it has there hasn’t been consultation and it’s now in place. Is there anything going on with it? Is it just there and we have to sort of tackle it as as issues arise or is there still some kind of collective action going on?

Aisha

I’d just like to, uh, distinguish between consultation and negotiation so the university management did bring it to an informal meeting with the trade unions. So the university management may argue that trade unions have been consulted. However, it was not brought to trade unions before it was passed by council. And it hasn’t been negotiated with trade unions, so we have not the trade unions and there I’m talking about all three campus trade unions have not agreed to the policy it’s been put on the website. It’s been announced. At the moment, we are going to continue to try and talk to the university about it, we’ll put it on the agenda for our Joint committee meeting in a couple of weeks. But we also have to work with it and deal with cases as they arise. So please, if you find yourself getting into any kind of difficulty over the social media policy, if your manager comes to you and says you put this on Facebook or you put this on X, formerly known as Twitter, and it’s against the university’s social media policy, please do let us know. E-mail ucu@leeds.ac.uk and we can find a caseworker for you.

Alan

OK, thanks. That’s great. And yeah, obviously, we’ll, we’ll let you know if there any developments on that. And so next up and I understand the unions have been consulted over potential changes to organisation within IT. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Aisha

Yes, this was brought to one of the – we have regular informal meetings with HR, they happen once or twice a week, and this was brought to one of those meetings. So we’ve heard a full explanation of what’s happening in IT and how it is being reorganized. We have been assured that there will be no redundancies as part of this reorganisation, but I think what’s really important to say is that if you are in IT and you have any concerns about what’s going on, about what might happen to your line management, to your responsibilities, to the way that IT works, please talk to your UCU Rep – you have an excellent departmental Rep in IT, Andi Rylands, who will be very happy to hear from you if you have any concerns.

Rachel

Thanks for that, Aisha. So, the next thing we wanted to ask about was the pensions win. Hopefully members will be aware of what’s happened, but maybe you could just give them a brief reminder and let us know where we can find out more.

Aisha

Yay, the pensions, we’ve got our pensions back! So our benefits will be increased and our contributions will be reduced and you can find out more from USS. There’s also press releases on the UCU website. There will be some one off payments, so it’s best to go and look up the details for yourself, but one thing I would like to say is there’s a motion at our general meeting on Thursday. I think it probably will have happened by the time that you actually hear this podcast, but we have a motion going to the general meeting, which I hope will be passed, encouraging people to donate to our hardship fund, because the pensions win has come about as a result of our industrial action and that’s taken a long time. So we started the pensions fight in 2018 and we’ve been on strike – we’ve had strikes in every year since 2018, not just over the pensions, over terms and conditions as well. But this has meant the loss of a lot of pay, a lot of people have lost money fighting for the pensions. You will see the difference in your pay packet this month because your contributions will be reduced. So if you can donate a small part of that to the hardship fund to build up for the next fight, that will be really helpful and it will be a real show of solidarity for everybody that gave up time and pay in the fight for pensions, and I’d like to particularly thank for Leeds, Mark Taylor Batty, who is one of our committee members and also one of the national pensions negotiators. He’s done a great job keeping us informed about what’s going on, but also fighting for us, for our pensions rights in the national negotiations. So thank you, Mark. Fantastic. You’ve been doing a brilliant job.

Rachel

Absolutely. And of course, the other thing we’ve been striking over for the last few years is pay and conditions. And so I wondered where we’re at at the moment, what the local focus of the for the branch is?

Aisha

Yes, there’s a sort of different focus for the branch and nationally, because I think nationally we’re waiting for the next round of pay negotiations and as you know, we didn’t, we didn’t gain a mandate in the last ballot. But we are still in dispute locally over issues including casualization and pay and grading because the university has some discretion in terms of how it organises pay within the national framework, and we had a meeting in before immediately before Christmas over this, there is a bit of movement which I think you will get more information about today. I think the university will be sending communications about that on Wednesday the 24th, but I’m not 100% sure about that, but we are expecting to have more meetings scheduled. Again, this affects all three unions and we have all emphasised the need for this to to have visible progress, so to make sure that we get meetings in the diary with management, but I’m very pleased to say that this is happening, and again, Members, this is down to your action. So we got the university to agree to this review of the pay and grading structure as a result of our marking and assessment boycott in 2022, we agreed to call off the marking and assessment boycott on condition that the university engaged in this process. It’s taken a long time. It’s taken a very long time, but I’m pleased to say that, thanks to your work and your sacrifice, it is actually underway.

Alan

Thanks Aisha. I think one of the other things which unions have been having some discussions with the university management about is the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor. So can you tell us a bit about that?

Aisha

Well, I think there’s not a lot of that I can say because obviously the process is underway, but the three campus unions had a meeting with the recruiters Perrett Laver last week where we were able to say with, I would say, some frankness what we want to see in a new Vice Chancellor. Obviously the meeting was confidential, so I can’t give you the details of what was said, but what I would say is that Perrett Laver are organising meetings with staff across the university, so I think it’s really important that you go to those meetings and that you say what you think the university needs in the next VC, because obviously things have been difficult over the past few years. I think we really all want to see a fresh start and we know what what it is that we need to get the university back onto an even keel and to see us moving forward together.

Alan

Thanks. And the the last thing we’ve got on on the recent updates is the Ways of Working. There’s been some discussion about – this is the coming back into offices, to what extent you need to go back into the office, to what extent you can work from home, that kind of thing. So there’s been some updates around that hasn’t there?

Aisha

This is, yes Alan, this is something else that’s causing concern. Again, not just us. It’s causing concern amongst all three unions. You may have heard that you’ll you, you may have been told by your managers that you need to come into the office for a certain amount of time, three days a week has been bandied about as something that you might have to do and we know that people are very worried about this. Again, this is something where we are in active discussions again with management the proposal from management is that people should be expected to be on campus more often than not. So for more than 50% of your time. And obviously four full time staff members, that does equate to three days a week and we do have, as I said, a lot of concerns we’re concerned about space on campus, we know that some areas don’t have enough space for all staff to be in at once and we’re concerned about increased hot desking and impact on people with disabilities or even actually just regular everyday adjustments such as standing desks or chairs that fit you. We are concerned about the sustainability of asking staff to come in more frequently, especially for those staff who have to drive in, and we know that public transport is extremely unreliable, especially people coming like from areas such as Hebden Bridge. We are concerned about the things like academic staff who’ve never been required to spend a minimum amount of their time on campus and may have sustained periods where they need to work away from the campus – field work, research, just writing if home is a more peaceful space. We’re concerned about the equalities impact and that it may have a disproportionate impact on female staff. We’re also concerned actually about what evidence base is being used for these decisions because we know, because we have – obviously our constituency includes – academic researchers and we have people who research employment, work management and who tell us that actually the research base is that you will get better relationships with staff and more productivity if you give staff more flexibility about their place of work and allow remote and hybrid working, so I think that’s that’s quite a lot. But as you can see, we are worried about this and we are talking to management about it and we are fighting for those people who want to be able to work remotely to have that option.

Rachel

Brilliant. Thank you so much. And so now we’re going to change direction a little bit and ask you what what’s coming up soon, because there’s always a lot going on with UCU and I believe we’ve got a general meeting coming up.

Aisha

Yes, I’ve already mentioned the general meeting. The general meeting is Thursday the 25th of January, and as we’re recording, that is tomorrow and it’s at lunchtime. So if you hear this this podcast before the meeting, please come along. We’ve got a couple of motions. One is about an organisation called Standing together, it’s about Israel and Palestine, and we’ve got, as I’ve already mentioned, a motion about pensions and donating some of your returned – some of your reduced contributions, so yeah, some of the money that you get back through reduced contributions, to the hardship fund. General meetings are always really important because this is where you have your say over branch policy and later on in the year you’ll get the input to – the chance to input to – national policy by deciding what motions we should take to Congress. So general meeting tomorrow – it’s Wednesday today, as we’re recording. I feel a bit like, you know, the News Quiz or something like that where they’re recording it on Thursday and they don’t know what the news is going to be on Friday. So yeah, so general meetings whenever they happen. Please come along. They are really important.

Rachel

And we’ve also got another event in the calendar. Leeds is hosting a general secretary election hustings. Would you like to say a little bit about that?

Aisha

That yes. So I’m sure that you all know, I hope that you all know, that we are, we will be electing a new general secretary. The General Secretary will be in post for five years. Our current General secretary is Jo Grady. So if you don’t know if you’re not familiar with the term General Secretary, you will have had emails from Jo Grady, so you’ll know that’s the job. We’ve got 4 candidates and this is a very it’s a very important role, so it’s a very important election. Because this will do a lot to determine the union strategy over the next five years, I’m really pleased to say that all four candidates have agreed to attend our hustings, which will be on the 7th of February. We have sent an e-mail about it, but we’ll send another one and this is your chance to hear the different candidates’ visions for the union and to ask some questions about how they see the union over the next five years. So the General Secretary is a very important job. It’s a really important election. It’s probably one of the most important union elections that we have, so please do come along to the hustings and make sure that you ask the candidates the questions that you want to know. What do you want to know about their vision for the union over the next five years?

Rachel

Brilliant. So I’ll just have to beckon Alan back now because he actually left the room when we were talking about the hustings because as part of his role as administrator for our branch, he is not allowed to be seen to influence anything to do with elections, so I’ll invite him back, and perhaps he’ll ask some more questions about as the national events that are coming up.

Alan

Thank you, Rachel. Yeah. So there are some, various national events going on that Members of this branch can attend, depending on the role that they do, can you tell us a bit about what’s coming up there?

Aisha

Yeah, we’ve got the cradle to grave policy conference, which is on the 10th of February. We’ve got the academic related professional staff conference on the 14th of March and the staff on Casualized contracts annual conference on the 24th of February and I’d really encourage staff to attend, especially if you are, if you are academic related to attend the conference, or if you’re not able to attend, we’ve got a couple of people going. Andi Rylands already mentioned is a fantastic IT Rep and I believe that Emily Haikney from the library is also attending so if you’re not able to go and you’ve got things that you would like to have raised or discussed at the conference please talk to Emily and/or Andi. UCU is not despite what the newspapers frequently say, we’re not a lecturers’ union, we’re a union for academic and professional staff and it’s really important that our ARPS members are represented at all levels. So if you can contribute to that, please do. And the staff on casualized contracts the 24th of February. Again, if you’re able to go, that’s brilliant. If not, I’m not yet sure who’s going from the branch. I’m hoping that Sandy. Sandy James will be able to go as he is our anti casualisation officer and on that I’d have to say Sandy is doing a fantastic job with management actually, representing and fighting for staff on casualized contracts. So again, there’s too much casualization in the sector. I know that Leeds, again, because of your work fighting for your rights, Leeds is making progress in reducing the number of casualized contracts and Sandy is playing a particularly important role in that. So thank you.

Alan

OK. And finally in the coming up section? Further in the future, coming up, the Committee of the branch is elected in May and it takes its positions from September, but understand that there are vacancies on the committee now which we could fill sort of mid year.

Aisha

Have got vacancies, so we have a couple of vacancies for elected members because a couple of staff had to resign for different reasons, one of them, for example, had left the university. So obviously you can’t be on the committee if you’ve left the university. So if you’re interested in those, please contact Alan and he will tell you the process for being nominated. Again, being on the committee gives you a really useful chance to find out what’s going on. You hear a lot about what’s going on in the university, actually. So if you’re interested in university wide issues the committee is a good place to find out about them. We also have a current, a temporary vacancy for a campaigns officer because our campaigns officer Xanthe Whitaker is currently on parental leave and congratulations to Xanthe on the birth of her son. So the campaigns officer, as somebody who takes a lead on, as you might expect, campaigns. And again, if you want to know more about that, you can contact the committee e-mail ucu@leeds.ac.uk and we can tell you more about what that post involves. But we can also, co-opt up to 4 members, four additional committee members, and what we really want at the moment is people to take a lead on some of our equalities issues and we’d really like to increase the representation on the committee from, particularly from people from minoritized backgrounds. We need somebody who can take a lead on black members, but we’d be interested in any new members, any new committee members from minority backgrounds, whether it’s a Co opted position or as an elected member. We need somebody to take a lead on women’s issues. We really need somebody to take a lead on LGBTplus issues and we need somebody to take a lead on PGR’s. So if you are PGR and you’re interested in being part of the committee, we really could do with a PGR rep on the committee and somebody who can take a lead in working with PGR members, bringing PGR issues to committee and basically being a liaison between committee and PGRs. So we particularly would like more members from minoritized backgrounds, minoritized groups, and we’d like people to take the lead on issues relating to black members, to women, LGBTplus members and PGR members.

Alan

That’s great. Thank you, Aisha, for talking to us about all of those issues today and we look forward to the next one.

Rachel

Thanks, Aisha.

Aisha

Thank you, Alan. Thank you, Rachel.

Alan

If you would like to know more about standing for one of the committee vacancies or co-opted positions, you can contact me, Alan Smith, using the usual branch e-mail ucu@leeds.ac.uk. I want to emphasise that the committee lead positions are not about representing that group of members on the committee. It’s a normal position on the committee representing the whole of the membership of the branch on all aspects of the committees work. These are just areas where the committee wants to have someone making sure that these priority areas are kept a priority by the whole committee, so the committee is looking for a lead on issues affecting black members – UCU uses the term black in a political sense, meaning all people of colour – and issues affecting women members LGBTplus, members and disabled members, as well as a lead on issues affecting members who are postgraduate students.

Rachel This podcast is made on behalf of the committee of the University and College Union, University of Leeds Branch. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail our branch officers at ucu@leeds.ac.uk. See our website leedsucu.org.uk for alternative contact details and for a transcript of this episode

New Starters Online Drop In

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Our branch membership officer Emily Haikney holds online drop in meetings for new staff starting at Leeds. You might already be a member but new to the university and want to learn about our branch or meet other new members. Alternatively, perhaps you are considering joining UCU and want to ask questions or meet a representative first. All welcome!

The drop in is held on Microsoft Teams, so please contact Emily via ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you are new and would like to receive the Teams link for one of these dates. If you can’t make it to any of the drop-ins, you are also welcome to email Emily via ucu@leeds.ac.uk with your questions about joining the union.  Below are the remaining dates for this academic year:

Thursday 15th Feb 13:30-14:30 *Please note – this date has changed since initial publication, and was previously the 8th*

Thursday 7 March 1-2pm

Wednesday 10 April 1-2pm

Friday 10 May 1-2pm

Thursday 6 June 12.30-1.30pm

Wednesday 10 July 1-2pm

University response to our letter sent re: police presence on campus

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

On the 21st November we received the following response from the University secretary and registrar, in response to the letter which branch President Aisha sent on 23rd October.

Dear Aisha,
I write in response to your email of 23 October 2023 about the Just Stop Oil (JSO) protest on 12 October 2023 and the concerns you raised regarding the presence of Police on campus and their response to the incident.

In your email you refer to the JSO incident as a peaceful protest. The University is committed to supporting freedom of speech and freedom of expression; however, this is a qualified right – free debate, enquiry and protest should take place within the law. Anyone seeking to organise an event on campus requires permission from the University in order that relevant health and safety checks can be made, and to ensure that the event is lawful and respectful of the University’s values and ethos.

In the weeks leading up to the protest, JSO had publicised its plans for protests at university campuses across the country. JSO posted content on social media channels showing a succession of university buildings being sprayed with orange paint, and published a message specifically regarding a protest on our campus on 12 October.

The Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, had also written to University Vice-Chancellors on 15 September 2023 to warn about risk of serious disruption from JSO. Universities were asked to engage directly with local Police to manage this risk.

The JSO protest which occurred on 12 October involved criminal damage to University property, in the form of orange paint being sprayed on the exterior of Great Hall. The individual who was arrested is not a current student or graduate of the University, and did not seek or have permission to protest on campus. In choosing to deface our Great Hall, the protestor crossed a clear line. What could have been a legitimate protest about climate change, which is an issue of deep concern to many on campus, became a vehicle for criminal damage which is wholly unacceptable.

We maintain regular dialogue with our Police Liaison Officer and work closely with West Yorkshire Police to protect the health and safety of staff, students and visitors to campus, and to safeguard the physical estate and assets. It would have been irresponsible of the University not to review security and safety arrangements around the event on 12 October given the significant risk of disruption and the threat of damage to University property outlined above.

In your email, you state: “Having Police on campus decreases the likelihood staff and students from marginalised backgrounds feel a sense of belonging and inclusiveness on campus”. I would be interested in basis for your claim so that we can explore this further.

While some of those who had gathered on 12 October were supportive of the JSO
protestor, it was clear that many were not, and were deeply concerned about damage done to the Great Hall.

I, like many others, have been extremely disheartened to see the damage done to one of the University’s most historic and much-loved buildings. At the time of writing, works are continuing to try to remove the orange paint from the stonework and windows of the Great Hall. This paint persists despite the efforts of an external cleaning firm which has visited campus on two occasions and attempted its removal, and the periods of heavy rain in the intervening period in recent weeks.

In closing I would reiterate that I am satisfied that the University did not inhibit the freedom of expression of the remainder of JSO supporters that day – those
assembled were free to voice their views both before and after the protestor was arrested.

Yours sincerely,
Jennifer Sewel
University Secretary and Registrar

Release University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

UCU University of Leeds branch supports the ALQST for Human Rights group campaign for the release of University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab from prison in Saudi Arabia. Members of the branch voted for the following motion at a general meeting 5 December 2023, following a talk by Lina al-Hathloul of ALQST for Human Rights.

This UCU branch notes that:

  1. University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia, to be followed by a travel ban of the same length, for tweets in support of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
  2. On 7 July 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found her detention to be arbitrary and called for her immediate release, alongside Nourah al-Qahtani, sentenced to 45 years in prison, also in connection to tweets supporting women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
  3. Al-Shehab’s mental and physical health have deteriorated in prison: in March 2023, she participated in a collective hunger strike, which she ended several weeks later in order to be able to take medication.
  4. The University of Leeds has yet to issue a formal public statement calling for: a) her immediate, unconditional release; and b) the lifting of her travel ban.


This UCU branch believes that:

  1. Al-Shehab must be released immediately and unconditionally, and have her travel ban immediately lifted.
  2. The University must take urgent steps to promote her case.


This UCU branch resolves to:

  1. Seek an urgent meeting with management to call on the University to publicly speak out for al-Shehab’s release.
  2. Reiterate our call for her release in an open letter, which we will invite other trade unions, members of staff and students to sign.
  3. Organise a public event with a speaker on Saudi human rights in collaboration with ALQST for Human Rights and MENA Solidarity Network.
  4. Organise a vigil for al-Shehab.

This post is subject to the approval of the minutes of the general meeting 5 December 2023.

Motion: Education and situation in Gaza

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Members of the branch voted for the following motion at a general meeting 5 December 2023:

This branch notes:

Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to Israeli bombardment for more than 45 days;

As of 21/11/23, it is reported that 1200 people in Israel and over 14,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 5,800+ children, with 6,800 missing and 1.7 million displaced;

Israeli leaders have expressed genocidal intent, including direct and public incitement to commit genocide in Gaza;

The Israeli bombardment has damaged or destroyed over 250 educational facilities, including UNRWA schools and all three major universities (the Islamic University, Al-Azhar University, Al-Aqsa University)

More than 100 educational staff and 2000 students have been killed;

A rising tide of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

This branch resolves to:

  1. Stand in solidarity with Palestinian university students and staff;
  2. Contest Islamophobia and antisemitism, ensuring that Jewish people across the world are not held responsible for the actions of the Israeli state.
  3. Condemn the assault and siege on Gaza, and demand an immediate permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces including from the West Bank; 
  4. Establish a committee to implement UCU national policy to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions;
  5. Build links with scholars, universities, and academic unions in Palestine, including initiatives for joint teaching and research, exchanges, scholarships, and twinning;
  6. Protect academic freedom and freedom of expression for all staff and students at the University of Leeds, including a letter calling on senior management to provide explicit support and protection against harassment, racism, and silencing resulting from supporting Palestinian rights.

This post is subject to the approval of the minutes of the general meeting 5 December 2023.

Letter sent to University Secretary re: Police on Campus

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

23 October 2023

Dear University Secretary

We are writing to you concerning the presence of police on campus on 12th October 2023 with regards to a peaceful protest by Just Stop Oil (JSO). We are shocked and saddened to see police in large numbers around University Road and the Great Hall. We have been made aware that police were already on campus guarding the Ziff Building prior to the JSO action of painting the Great Hall (which was quickly removed by university staff). 

As a union we care deeply for the safety and wellbeing of staff and students at our university, as well as their right to protest and freedom of speech. Therefore we seek clarification on police presence on campus which was unprecedented in the following items listed below.

Permission to be on campus

Given the University of Leeds is on private property, were the police invited into campus? Our understanding from dealing with previous university secretaries is that they have advised the police against entering campus when protests are occurring or have liaised about a perimeter presence. Given this context please clarify 1) if the police were invited on campus and 2) if so, the reasoning behind this.

Freedom of protest and speech

The heavy presence of police prior to the protest would seem to be a breach of the university’s own policy of Freedom of Expression (see here). Particularly, “The University is committed to promoting and positively encouraging free debate, enquiry and protest”. “The university has an explicit duty in law to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is secured for members, students, employees and visiting speakers. This duty includes a responsibility to ensure that the use of University premises is not denied to any individual or group on the grounds of the belief or views of that individual or any member of that group or on the grounds of the policy or objectives of the group.” We would suggest that the invited presence of the police would knowingly act as a deterrent or inhibition to the freedom of expression as outlined by the University’s own commitments. 

This policy also states that “Freedom of expression also has to be set in the context of the University’s values, and the values of a civilised, democratic, inclusive society. The university expects speakers and those taking part in protest activities to respect those values”. The protest highlighting universities’ role in climate change aligns with the University of Leeds’s values and action points on climate change (see here). 

We also believe the protest reflects the values enshrined in the University of Leeds Decolonising Framework Key Principles (see here). Specifically, the protest sought to elevate the voices of students and young people who are concerned about the university’s role in climate change and urge the university to transform its practices. This reaffirms the university’s commitment to decolonising, particularly addressing the below key principles outlined in the uni’s decolonising framework:

  • “To ask whose knowledges and voices are undervalued and silenced.
  • To work proactively to rebalance such unequal power dynamic
  • As well as addressing questions of curriculum and pedagogy, it also encompasses wider university structures and practices.”

We believe the protest was aligned with the above values by confirming, consolidating and accelerating them through one direct action (which was swiftly cleaned up by university staff and no harm was done to the building). 

Staff and students wellbeing

The University of Leeds’s Access and Student Strategy (see here) highlights the university’s intention to increase the presence of groups which have historically been excluded from attending Higher Education such as students from low participation neighbourhoods, mature students and Black and Ethnic minority students. These are communities who are more likely to be harassed and racially profiled by police. We have already highlighted how the increase of security staff in the Ziff building has made students from underrepresented backgrounds feel unsafe in our communication at the Joint Committee of the University and UCU meetings in the year 2022/23 in relation to the closing of the Ziff. Having police on campus decreases the likelihood staff and students from marginalised backgrounds feel a sense of belonging and inclusiveness on campus.

Finally, we are incredibly concerned about the possibility of a breach of the (legally binding) Student Contract (see here). What measures were taken to ensure the health and safety of the people present in the JSO rally? This is particular relevant to the single protestor who painted the building and was met with disproportionate reaction of a large number of police officers handling them while they were not resisting. Is this not a failure of the university Health and Safety obligations if this young person, or any other, is injured by police action on campus? 

We look forward to hearing from you regarding the above concerns.

Given our members’ concern for the events which occurred on 12th October, we will make this email public.

Aisha Walker

On behalf of University of Leeds UCU branch committee

General meeting about the Israel/Palestine emergency

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

As agreed at our general meeting we urge members to offer humanitarian support if they are in a position to do so. The motion below includes a list of indicative charities.

Motion: Supporting branch members directly impacted by the current Israel/Gaza escalation

This branch notes that UCU issued a statement about the current Israel/Gaza crisis on 10 October: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13229/UCU-statement-on-IsraelGaza

The branch believes that care for members of the UoL UCU community should be the branch’s priority. The branch is aware that at the UoL there are both staff and students who are directly impacted by these events inasmuch as they have family or friends in Israel or the Gaza strip. UCU supports all its members who have been affected in any way.

The branch resolves to show solidarity with all its members affected by the violence, and will vigorously support them should they have any labour-related issues linked to the consequences of the violence, including—but not limited to—difficulties with obtaining compassionate leave, or performance issues (such as missed deadlines).

The branch urges members to offer humanitarian support if they are in a position to do so; an indicative list of relevant charities is provided as an addendum following this motion.

Addendum: indicative list of relevant charities

  • Voices for Hostages

Contribute to the freeing of hostages by signing the open letter (women’s organisation, I think they want people who identify as women). https://voicesforhostages.org/

  • The Parents Circle – Families Forum

PCFF is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 600 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict.  https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/pcff-home-page-en/

  • British Red Cross

https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory-appeal?c_code=170460&c_source=google&c_name=International%20Relief%20Fund&adg=&c_creative=brand&c_medium=cpc&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6Pt18n7gQMV0O3tCh3WqAs9EAAYASABEgLvXvD_BwE

  • World Food Programme Palestine Emergency Appeal

https://www.wfp.org/support-us/stories/palestine-appeal?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=14484934461&utm_content=128338538564&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI38i7va76gQMVl_ftCh0NMgOEEAAYASABEgJ-ZPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

  • Oxfam Gaza Crisis Appeal

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam-in-action/current-emergencies/gaza-crisis-appeal/

  • Medical Aid for Palestinians

https://www.map.org.uk/) 

  • Women Wage Peace

https://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/en/

Motion of no confidence in the general secretary

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This motion was carried at an ordinary general meeting of members of this branch on 12 October 2023.

This branch notes that:

  • The General Secretary (GS) published a strategy “2023 Winning the dispute”, involving discontinuous strike days and a summer MAB
  • HEC voted for escalating action in January, but the pattern of industrial action 22/23 followed the GS’s strategy
  • The GS was censured at Congress 2023, but this has not been communicated to members
  • The GS & leadership* have failed to carry through multiple Congress 2023 motions, including a long summer ballot and raising the Fighting Fund cap
  • The failure to re-ballot over the summer undermined the MAB & autumn strikes & has left a gap in our mandate
  • The GS & leadership has had over four years to ‘build the union’

This branch believes that:

  • Members involved in the MAB were not sufficiently supported by the GS & leadership
  • The decision to make PGR organisers redundant is not consistent with a commitment to building the union
  • Re-ballot delays caused by the GS & leadership are a strategic error and barrier to building member engagement
  • The credibility of UCU has been compromised by these damaging actions

This branch resolves:

  • That it has no confidence in the GS & leadership, for the way the dispute has been conducted

*The “General Secretary & leadership” refers to GS, senior paid officials acting under the direction of the GS and supporters of the GS from at least two factions, who have an HEC majority.

(The minutes of the meeting will be approved at a subsequent general meeting, and this text is subject to that approval. This is a copy of the motion and there may be formatting variations from the original motion in the minutes.)

Motion for UCU women’s conference

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This motion was carried at an ordinary general meeting of members of this branch on 12 October 2023

Conference notes:

  1. OfS Consultation on regulating harassment and sexual misconduct (England)1
  2. Research2 shows most students are not comfortable with romantic and sexual staff-student relationships.

Conference believes:

  1. Better measures must be developed to prevent abuses of power between staff and students
  2. UCU must campaign for a consistent approach to sexual misconduct, emphasising differential power relations

Conference calls on WMSC to:

  1. Centre campaigning on abuse of power which underpins sexual misconduct
  2. Work with NUS and 1752 to advocate for effective mechanisms to end abuse, drawing on their knowledge and expertise
  3. Support policies which prohibit staff-student relationships where the staff member has a direct responsibility for, or involvement in student’s study
  4. Demand proper resourcing to accompany any relationship registration approach, noting the need for appropriate data handling (NUS consultation response S11b83) and training
  5. Focus on developing policies that ensure safe studying and working environments

References:

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/292f4ba4-0938-4bf3-a9b8-bde76f663185/harassment-and-sexual-misconduct-consultation-2023-final.pdf

Should sexual and romantic relationships between staff and students be prohibited? (Yes)

https://www.nus.org.uk/ofs-harassment-consultation-response

(The minutes of the meeting will be approved at a subsequent general meeting, and this text is subject to that approval. This is a copy of the motion and there may be formatting variations from the original motion in the minutes.)

Open meeting about USS Consultation

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

You may have seen the email to all members from the UCU General Secretary Jo Grady on the 25th September, concerning the members’ consultation about changes to the USS pensions scheme. USS members should also have received a formal invitation to that consultation. On Friday 6 October I led a webinar on this consultation.  I talked through the consultation questions and their implications, and took questions. The recording of that webinar is below, followed by information which I included in my original invite to the meeting.

Alternative direct link to the video

There has to be a consultation of members and of employers before pension changes are implemented, even if those changes are broadly positive. In this case, you will be pleased to learn that you are being consulted on whether you want your benefits to go back to where they were before they were cut in 2022, and to start paying less each month for that. I have been working hard on your behalf as part of an elected negotiating team, going to USS meetings once a month, and being involved in informal meetings with representatives of UUK, to achieve the UCU mandate of restoring benefits to pre-April 2022 levels. We are very close to the finishing line. You should note that this has only been possible due to industrial action. I know it doesn’t always feel like striking works, but this is evidence it has, and every month in retirement the income you receive will be higher because of the industrial action taken in the last year or on the USS issue. Some are saying that the improved financial situation of the USS made the restoration of benefits inevitable. As I am as close to the horse’s mouth as you will find, I can tell you that is definitely not the case: the headwinds were in the right direction, certainly, but we had to tack and navigate carefully with nuance and heads full of data, calculations and evidence to get towards the final destination. 

Below my signature, fo those who want some more written detail and care about what members can still do via the consultation, I offer some thoughts that I expanded upon in the webinar.

Professor Mark Taylor-Batty
University of Leeds UCU Pensions officer
Member of the USS’s JN Committee

Restoration of benefits

While the restoration of pre-April 2022 benefits is on the cards, the consultation will ask if you want to pay a cheap as chips option for retaining the current reduced level of benefits. As that would be recipe for an inadequate pension income in retirement, and the opposite of what we have all been striving to achieve, that is not an attractive option. The restoration of full pre-April-2022 benefits could be achieved at somewhere between 6.2% and 8% of salary, as opposed to the current 9.8%.

Recovery of 2022-24.

We have been negotiating to get some pay-back for the benefits lost from April 2022, by using the amount in the notional ‘surplus’ that represents the amounts overpaid since then. Your support for this is important. As this change would be a universal benefit, it is not as required part of the consultation, but that is a space where you can mention it. 

Demonstrably sustainable

As you will recall, UCU and UUK signed two joint statements, in February and March, in which we agreed that we should together aim to make sure that the restoration of pre-April 2022 benefits should be achieved in a ‘demonstrably sustainable’ way. This means that we should be paying a contribution rate for those benefits that will make sure we do not end up in a notional ‘deficit’ again when we come to the 2026 valuation, and consequently risk falling back into dispute and being pressured to yet again see an increase in our contributions. The USS provided data on the cost of those returned benefits based on the latest valuation data, and gave that as needing a joint contribution rate of 20.6% BUT they heavily caveated this for employers, indicating in effect that this was not a demonstrably sustainable rate (a high chance of needing higher contributions again in the next six years). UUK’s actuary AON also indicated that a rate of 25.2% was a more sustainable benchmark rate. (This would imply a contribution from us of comfortably under 8%, down from 9.8%, for our restored benefits, and with much less risk of future increases or dispute). We expect employers such as Leeds, who have published statements about the need for a demonstrably sustainable solution, will reject the too low 20.6% figure on that basis, and I have already seen some results of the employers’ consultation that indicate this honouring of ‘demonstrably sustainable’ is happening across the sector. This is to be welcomed, though we do also anticipate that some employers will jump to the cheapest option for restored benefits, even if this is not demonstrably sustainable. The motivation here will be the huge savings that institutions can pocket from reducing their contributions. The University of Leeds, on a demonstrably sustainable basis, stands to ‘save’ over £12M annually in its staff costs budget. We do not yet know what the balance is of employer responses on this matter from their consultation, which ended last week. While 20.6% would have the attractive result of slightly cheaper contributions, the risk of them going back up again after the 2026 valuation (and the need again therefore for dispute) would be something we now need to focus on. It may seem odd that the trade union is the one arguing for a cautious, sensible and slightly higher contribution rate than some employers, but we made a public commitment to a demonstrably sustainable solution, and your negotiators all believe it is important to avoid future dispute by embedding a strong solution at this valuation, whilst restoring our benefits and gaining a lower cost for those.