General meeting, and updates on strike action and the marking and assessment boycott

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Post from an email sent to all members 12 June 2023 by branch president Chloe Wallace

This post contains important information and updates about strike action and the marking and assessment boycott. We are in the process of preparing for strike action starting this Thursday (June 15th). The message below, which is an important update, emphasises the importance of regular meetings to discuss progress. Committee has called a general meeting for 3pm on Thursday – the first day of our strike- to allow us to come together, share updates and discuss what is going on. Further meetings will be called as necessary. The Zoom link for Thursday is in the email sent 12 June 2023.

Update on strike action

What is going on:

UCU members whose roles include marking and assessment are participating in a marking and assessment boycott (MAB) in order to get the employers’ association UCEA to come back to the negotiating table with a better offer on pay, and pay-related conditions (anti-casualisation, workloads, pay inequalities) than the one collectively rejected by UCU members across the UK, in April.

Instead of negotiating with UCU, employers including University of Leeds have decided to escalate this action with wildly disproportionate and punitive deductions across the whole sector. 

Our vice chancellor has gone the extra mile on this. The University of Leeds is among the employers pushing the hardest line and is pursuing their threat of disproportionate, punitive 100% deductions for participating in the marking and assessment boycott (MAB).

In order to do this legally, the university has to reject partial performance of our employment contract, meaning that any work we do after the date they specify will be voluntary. They clearly expect us to continue to work – as evidenced by the level of activity that is going on – and thus to work without pay. This may go on for 3 or 4 months. Senior management are already taking the steps required to deduct pay from some colleagues from the end of May, and more will come.

The vice chancellor has further raised the stakes for both staff and students by refusing to meet with our branch officers to negotiate a way forward.  She has reiterated her intent to continue with 100% deductions. The branch has actively requested an additional meeting of the Joint Committee of the University and UCU to discuss the situation. The university has failed to arrange one which is a breach of our recognition agreement. This is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility.

The vice chancellor does have the power to act to address the root causes of our dispute over pay and pay-related conditions.  Rather than remaining silent, she should play a constructive role in publicly encouraging UCEA to return to the negotiating table.  We know this is possible: other VCs are pursuing this route.

Our strike at the University of Leeds has been called in response to the unacceptable, totally disproportionate and punitive threat of 100% salary deduction for participating in the Marking and Assessment Boycott. The VC must urgently agree to meet our branch negotiators. 

Ultimately, the decision of when and on what grounds to call off the action will be taken by the members. Please be prepared to attend any meetings at short notice to discuss this: we recommend that, if you do not already receive UCU emails to a non-university email address, you change your contact details via My UCU now so that you can keep up with what is going on.

Why was the Marking and Assessment Boycott called?

A Marking and Assessment Boycott is a powerful form of industrial action which our national pensions negotiators credit with having shifted employers’ positions last year on USS and putting us on track to reinstating our pension benefits. So it’s not surprising that employers, with the encouragement of the University and College Employee Association (UCEA), are trying to scare us into backing down as we use the MAB to fight for better pay and conditions. 

We know our action is effective locally. Many modules, including a lot at Level 3, are currently being significantly affected across departments in all faculties. We know it is effective nationally, as many universities are scrambling to deal with the impact, or are showing up at the negotiating table with their local UCU branches.

Our sibling union Unison has also called strike action from 15th -18th and 22nd-28th June to fight alongside us on pay and pay related conditions. Together, we can mutually amplify our voices and refuse to accept the current state of affairs.

Who is affected by the current action?

Unlike our earlier strikes, this university decision to dock pay for Marking and Assessment Boycott  participation doesn’t affect every UCU member in our branch.  There are many members who don’t participate in marking or assessment as part of their role. As a result of the punitive 100% deduction threats for MAB, our strike action calls on all members to stand together and not be divided by the university’s shameful strategy.  We can all show our support for the fight for better pay and conditions. We will not let our fellow members be picked off one by one through these punishing pay deductions by university management, because these measures were undoubtedly designed to deter and divide us.

How is University management dealing with the Marking and Assessment Boycott?

The university claims to care about students getting their grades and graduating while at the same time removing and undermining quality assurance. They would rather devalue degrees in this way than meet with the union or take a leading role in encouraging UCEA back to the negotiating table to discuss the legitimate and existential issues raised by the union in this dispute.

Senior management teams at  universities including Cambridge, Sussex, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have written joint statements with their UCU branches calling on UCEA to rethink its position on national negotiations on pay, anti-casualisation, workloads and equal pay. Meanwhile the University of Leeds is playing fast and loose with the quality of student’s degrees in an attempt to undermine the boycott. Codes of Practice on Assessment are being updated to remove double marking and allow non experts and inexperienced markers to mark. This particularly impacts dissertations and final year projects, which form a substantial part of a Leeds degree. Many students are likely to process at graduation this summer with only an ‘explanatory letter’. 

We know our action is already having a strong impact on the university, and that a better university is possible.

Boycotters, hold firm. Everybody – join the strike, and push back hard

In solidarity

Chloe

Marking and Assessment Boycott and Strike

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

From email sent to branch members 6 June 2023 by branch president Chloe Wallace.

Solidarity to everyone standing firm in our Marking and Assessment boycott. At Leeds, and across the sector, this action is really beginning to bite. You may have read that management at Sussex, Queens University Belfast and Cambridge have already issued statements calling UCEA back to the negotiation table. Dialogue and negotiation are the only way out of this situation. 

Remember our Solidaritea sessions every working day 10-11 via Teams here – come along if you have a question or just want to vent! Link in members’ email 6 June 2023.

The strength and power of this action can be seen in how desperately our employer is trying to stop it, by implementing 100% pay deductions for marking not done. That threat is on the point of being actioned in some areas. If you receive an individual email setting a date from which your pay will be stopped, please contact your local rep if you have one or, if not, email ucu@leeds.ac.uk (please start with your rep as otherwise that email address will become difficult to manage and we may lose track!). We will give you at that point further advice as to different ways in which you can be part of the fight back. Nationally, the UCU Fighting Fund is available. As you will have seen from emails from Head Office, the national fund will pay £50 a day for up to 9 days of action (including the boycott) taken after 1st May (in addition to the 11-day cap for action taken before that day) . We will also be able to support members via the local fund  – if you are not participating in the boycott, please pledge to our wage-sharing scheme to support others – Link in members’ email 6 June 2023.

If you are told that your pay is to be deducted for partial performance from a set date, any work you do from that date will be voluntary. We are actively exploring legal claims and any claim that is made will be more likely to succeed if you continue to work. We advise you in particular to keep records of meetings (whether with staff or students) or other events where you are expected to be. We remind you that we are working to contract and you should therefore keep to your hours and not undertake voluntary work. If you choose, you may of course refuse to do any or all work from the date that your pay deduction starts.

If you are a migrant worker, please take a look at UCU’s updated FAQ for migrants. If you are on a sponsored visa you should reply to any formal email about your marking by declaring that you are participating in the boycott, to ensure that the employer has a clear record. 

Of course, what we want is for the University to withdraw this draconian threat – one of the most punitive in the sector. This is why, with regret, our national officials have notified indefinite strike action to be taken from 15th June. This action is in response to the local pay deduction threat and if we can reach an agreement on that subject with the University, the strike will be called off. The marking and assessment boycott is UK-wide action and will only be called off when a UK-wide agreement is reached. Initial approaches to the Vice Chancellor on the local issue have not been promising but we continue to press for a meeting. We hope the Vice Chancellor will be prepared to take steps to avert our strike, as well as encourage UCEA to return to negotiation to end the Marking and Assessment Boycott. Our first day of action – 15th June – is also the first day of another tranche of action taken by the campus Unison branch. 16th and 17th June are University Open days, so our action will be particularly disruptive. We are establishing a strike committee in anticipation of having to take this action. Ideally, we would like the committee to be composed of a mix of rank and file, local reps and branch committee members. The committee will discuss and plan pickets and hybrid activities, noting that we will need to work differently this time. If you want to get involved please contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk before Thursday (June 8th).

Strike action from 15th June

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The Branch General Meeting on 27th April passed a motion (full text below) calling for indefinite strike action if the university confirmed 100% deductions for participation in the Marking and Assessment boycott. As the threat of deductions has indeed been confirmed, UCU today notified the Vice-Chancellor that indefinite strike action will begin on 15th June.

Chloe, as Branch President, is contacting the Vice-Chancellor with a request for an urgent meeting with university management in the hope of resolution. We really hope that we do not have to strike – we hope that university management will meet with us and will withdraw the threat of punitive deductions.

However, if the strike does go ahead, we know that we will see a strong turnout on the picket lines to show that a threat to one of us is a threat to all.

Emergency motion passed 27th April: Branch response to punitive deductions

This branch notes

  • the national marking and assessment boycott in furtherance of the Four Fights dispute
  • the University of Leeds’ threat to deduct 100% of pay of staff participating in the marking and assessment boycott, which is punitive and intimidatory
  • that by 26th April the University had not given details of how deductions will be determined and the dates when deductions will be triggered.

This branch instructs officers, when the threat of deductions is confirmed, to seek authorisation from national officers to notify the University of our intention to take indefinite strike action as soon as possible, unless and until the University withdraws its threat.

Marking and Assessment boycott and pay deductions

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

From an email sent to branch members 31 May 2023 by branch president Chloe Wallace

Reports from reps are that the Marking and Assessment Boycott is well supported and holding strong. This is also true nationally and some university leaders are breaking ranks and calling on UCEA to return to negotiations.

Sadly, we note that the university is sticking to its threat to deduct 100% of salary for those of us participating. The first letters notifying members of this appear to be going out. In response to this, we have launched a Wage Sharing Pledge to support Leeds members participating in the Marking and Assessment Boycott (see email 31 May 2023 for link).

If you are not responsible for marking or assessment and are therefore not likely to be deducted, please do commit to sharing , ideally, 10% of your post-tax income for each month in which members are deducted. If that is unaffordable, please pledge what you can.  At this point, this is just a pledge form in which you make a commitment to wage sharing. At the point at which it is clear that deductions will be made, we will be in touch with details of how to make the donation via the branch Hardship Fund.

We will update how much funding has been committed by members to demonstrate to both members and management that we will not let the latter intimidate us from taking legal and justified industrial action by threatening punitive deductions. Wage sharing is an act of solidarity to give members confidence that, if we stick together, we can win this.

If you do receive a formal individual notification that your pay will be deducted, it will contain a statement that any work you do is voluntary. That means that you would be entitled to stop work, but you should note that if you do so, it is more likely that you will experience deductions. If this happens, please contact your local rep – or ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you don’t have a local reps, and we will discuss and advise on strategy

If you have any questions, or just want to talk, remember our daily Solidaritea from 10-11 every morning (see email 31 May 2023 for link)

We are still awaiting news from natonal officers about our request to take retaliatory strike action and will keep you posted when we hear – they have to authorise any strike action.

To make matters worse, many of us will also be receiving pay deductions this pay slip- again, remember that you can claim from the national fighting fund and local hardship fund – details at local industrial action hardship fund.

If you are hourly paid/PGR or otherwise and have questions about claiming from the fighting fund/hardship fund, we are holding a meeting with PGR reps, officers, including our branch treasurer, at 3pm on Monday 5th June at on Zoom (see email 31 May 2023 for link).

If you are a PGR or hourly paid member of staff who has tried claim from the fighting fund/hardship fund for the previous strike wave and have questions about this, please get in touch with Kate Hardy via ucu@leeds.ac.uk – you do not need a wage slip to claim as long as you have some evidence of pay deducted and how much was deducted.

Branch committee 2023-2024 elected

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Members of the branch have elected the committee for the 2023-2024 academic year, at the annual general meeting 18 May. The new committee will take office 1 September.

President: Aisha Walker
Vice-president: Kate Hardy
Immediate past president Chloe Wallace (not an elected position)
Treasurer: Nigel Bubb
Honorary secretary: Vicky Blake
Membership officer: Emily Wheeler
Equality officer: Stephen Muir
Campaigns officer: Xanthe Whittaker
Health and safety officer: Neil Maughan
Anti-casualisation officer: Sandy James
Ordinary committee members:
Andi Rylands
Asiya Islam
Eva Sansavior
Hugh Hubbard
Jane Holgate
Jenny Rivas Perez
Mark Taylor-Batty
Mette Wiggen
Omar Al-Shehabi
Rachel Walls
Stuart Hodkinson
Tim Goodall
Tom Haines-Doran
Valeria Tolis

David Harvie and Laura Loyola Hernandez will join the branch committee from Tuesday 30 May 2023, as they are members of the branch who have been elected to the UCU national executive committee.

Vicky Blake has also been elected to the UCU national executive committee as well as being elected by the branch at the annual general meeting.

Committee elections

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The annual committee (including branch officer) elections happen at or shortly after the annual general meeting (AGM), which is 3.45pm – 5pm on Thursday 18 May.

Uncontested posts are declared elected at the AGM, for contested posts a ballot of all members will be arranged following the AGM.

The deadline for nominations to committee is the day before the annual general meeting (so, Wednesday 17 May). 

Here’s information about the different roles on committee and about how to nominate colleagues: standing for election to the UCU committee

When making a nomination, or thinking of standing, it’s useful to consider the importance that the committee represents the whole membership and no one group is over-represented to the accidental exclusion of others, as happens some years (but not every year) with the over-representation of white and/or male UCU members.

Every branch officer and committee position is elected every year at or shortly after the AGM, and the term of office is the academic year (1 September to 31 August).

The only positions not up for election at the AGM are the immediate past president (which Chloe Wallace will become on 1 September) and any members elected to UCU’s national executive committee who are in this branch.

I would strongly encourage all UCU members to think about which of your colleagues might be good UCU reps, either on the branch committee or for your department (including UCU department postgraduate reps, anti-casualisation reps, equality reps, workload reps and health and safety reps). In doing so I’d encourage you to challenge any stereotype you have of what union reps are like, be conscious that white and male union members are more likely to put themselves forward, and bear in mind that while someone who is more vocal at raising problems might be a good rep, it might also be that they are already in a relatively more privileged situation so feel more able to complain without consequence. In my view a good union rep will often be someone that colleagues have confidence in, whose judgement they trust, and who is a good listener.

Alan Smith, branch administrator/organiser

Remember, nominations are also open for UCU department rep by-elections, where there are vacancies, until 12pm Thursday 8 June.

Department rep by-elections

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This summer is not an all-out election for department reps (who serve a two year term (unless they are elected in a by-election part way through it), but there will automatically by a by-election to fill any vacancies.

Check the department reps list to see if there are unfilled roles in your area: is there a department rep, a department anti-casualisation rep, a department postgraduate rep, a department equality rep and a department health and safety rep? (Email ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you have questions about what the department area is for you for this election if that’s unclear, or about whether all those roles would be available, particularly for smaller departments.)

The deadline for nominations for those by-elections is 12pm Thursday 8 June (a couple of weeks after the AGM). I appreciate it is a bit early to remind you about this but it probably makes sense to think about it alongside thinking about who you want to nominate to be on the committee.

You can find out more about the department rep roles at choosing your UCU department representatives

I would strongly encourage all UCU members to think about which of your colleagues might be good UCU reps, either on the branch committee or for your department (including UCU department postgraduate reps, anti-casualisation reps, equality reps, workload reps and health and safety reps). In doing so I’d encourage you to challenge any stereotype you have of what union reps are like, be conscious that white and male union members are more likely to put themselves forward, and bear in mind that while someone who is more vocal at raising problems might be a good rep, it might also be that they are already in a relatively more privileged situation so feel more able to complain without consequence. In my view a good union rep will often be someone that colleagues have confidence in, whose judgement they trust, and who is a good listener.

Alan Smith, branch administrator/organiser

Remember, nominations are also open for the branch committee elections, until 17 May.

Assessment and marking boycott: information for students

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Dear students,

Dear students,

From 20th April 2023, Leeds University UCU members will be engaging in a marking and assessment boycott. Pay and working conditions negotiations between unions and the employer’s governing body, UCEA, reached an impasse in March, and after UCU renewed our mandate to take action for the next six months, UCU’s Higher Education Committee (HEC) called this action to further pressure our employers into returning to the negotiating table.

Senior management may well demand other staff, likely non-specialist staff, cover the marking of striking staff.  In short, the University Senior Management Team is willing to risk your grades at the hands of people who do not know what you have been taught or what the requirements for your assessments are. The actions of the University Senior Management Team will directly worsen your learning conditions and the value of your degree.

We, your teachers and professional services staff, want to continue to put the interest of students first, as we have tried to do throughout these disputes. While a volatile situation, we will continue to communicate with you, and outline here:

What shape a boycott takes

How we will continue to support you

What is in your power to shape the direction of this university

1. What will be affected:

A marking and assessment boycott delays delivery of grades and possibly as a consequence graduation:

Staff participating in the boycott will temporarily not mark your work.

Staff will not participate in exam boards.

This may delay graduation.

2. How we will continue to support you:

This is a dispute between staff and senior management, not between staff and students. We will do our best to ensure individual students are not disproportionately affected.

We will support students taking up offers for postgraduate studies. We will provide letters of recommendations if requires. The UK Higher Education sector knows that disruptions because of the dispute have affected students. They will be understanding and we will be communicative.

We will support students in job applications, writing references and indicating past and projected performance. You can email your tutors and advisors for reference letters, transcripts, etc. 

International students can contact us on ucu@leeds.ac.uk if they have concerns about time-sensitive visas.

This is a marking boycott, not a learning boycott. Teachers can provide informal feedback, continue to supervise postgraduate dissertations and support students preparing for their final assignment.

3. What is in your power

Students can change the direction of this dispute. The Senior Management Team are choosing not to limit disruption. You can convince them to listen to the needs of staff and students and ensure the University of Leeds becomes a fairer working and learning environment. There are several related routes you can take:

Write to the University of Leeds VC. Personalise it! Ask the University Senior Management to engage in meaningful negotiations with UCU. Ask them to pressure UCEA, the employer’s body.

You can raise a Notification with the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS is the regulatory body for UK Higher Education and relies on students raising concerns (as well as regular reporting by university governing bodies) to address issues with the student experience. A formal complaint is a lengthy process, but a ‘Notification’ makes OfS aware that the Leeds Senior Management Team has, whatever their claims, allowed disruption to students’ education and is jeopardising students’ graduation.

Stay in touch

We will keep you informed via our website. We want to keep you in the loop and continue to work with students to build a university that is supportive of everyone.

You can reach out to us to discuss concerns and plans. You can find the Leeds UCU union branch on twitter (@leedsucu), tiktok (@leedsucu), or via ucu@leeds.ac.uk  Leeds Student Staff Solidarity has a helpful overview of student support. You can find them on twitter (​​@SSSLeeds).

We hope that with your help, the Senior Management Team will engage in meaningful negotiations so that together with management we can improve your learning conditions and our working conditions.

In solidarity,

Your teachers and professional services staff

Reporting strike action and pay deductions

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

As I reported on Monday, I have been in discussion over the past few days with senior management in relation to pay deductions relating to our strike action in February and March, and specifically the threat to deduct additional pay on top of strike days lost. Management have now confirmed to committee’s satisfaction that no deductions have been taken in relation to that period of action. As a result, we expect a staff communication to go out shortly requiring staff to report their February and March strike days via ESS, and committee’s advice is that, once that communication has been issued, you should comply with that instruction.

It is an excellent outcome that no punitive deductions will be made and we can congratulate ourselves on sticking together and standing strong. I want to acknowledge hard work done by reps around this, and also acknowledge the particular contribution of members who are Heads of School and DSEs.

This post is from an email sent 27 April 2023 to branch members by Chloe Wallace, branch president.