UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
Although normal teaching will be cancelled during the strikes, we like teaching and learning so we’re running teach outs during the strike, after the picket lines have finished for the day. The teach-outs may be interesting, fun, political or whimsical; here’s some teaching and learning that isn’t on the syllabus! (There may be changes and additions – check back here before attending.)
Please be respectful while in the Quaker Meeting House – there will be others using the building. Please do not attend teach outs if you have any symptoms which might indicate Covid-19. Please do a ‘lateral flow’ covid-19 test before coming to the teach out. The Quakers request that you wear a face covering in communal areas, if able to do so. UCU committee requests that you wear a face covering in the teach out if able to do so. Please don’t exceed the room capacity.
Monday 21 March
1pm – 2pm, Stefan Kesting, “Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey and his critics – A Guardian article and the economic theory behind the reported statements”
Based on relevant simple economic theory, this presentation will try to explain the rationale behind Andrew Bailey’s recent statement on “wage moderation” and the critical responses by union officials and our PM.
Tuesday 22 March
1pm – 3pm, Natalie Kopytko, “Climate Inaction, Corruption and Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine”
Related to my PhD research on climate change in Ukraine from 2010-2013, looking at synergies and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation. Since not much research had been completed in Ukraine, I tried to use participatory processes and grounded theory. I knew that corruption was a problem, but I thought it would be too sensitive of a topic to discuss. To my surprise almost every interviewee spoke openly about corruption citing how it impacted efforts to address climate change. This corruption was largely due to the former president Yanukovych (now exiled to Russia after the Revolution of Dignity). I will make connections from my research to the current war in Ukraine and include a longer historical context related to the war.
Wednesday 23 March
1pm – 2pm, Laura Loyola-Hernández and The Racial Justice Network, “StopTheSCANdal: community organising around policing”
In this session we will explore ways in which we can use our roles in the university (as staff and students) to organise, support & mobilise grassroot initiatives against police use of technology
2.30pm – 3.30pm, Gill Crawshaw, “What DAN, the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network, did in Yorkshire in 1990s”
‘Then Barbara Met Alan’ is a tv drama based on the story of 2 of DAN’s founder members. It will be broadcast of BBC2 on 21 March, but is, of course, only part of the story. Gill was the DAN contact for West Yorkshire in the 1990s and will talk about local disability activism. And we’ll discuss representation of disabled people in the media.
Thursday 24 March
1pm – 2pm, Catherine Bates, “Sing for Justice”
In this session, we will do some easy, accessible harmony singing together – singing easy to learn protest songs. We can collaborate on making them as appropriate to our cause as possible. This session is designed to be accessible to everyone – you don’t have to have any experience singing.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
Advice for members in IT on the ‘Weekly 10’ performance management tool being implemented in IT from Monday 31 January. This post is from an email sent to UCU members working in IT on 27 January 2022 by branch president Chloe Wallace.
Dear members in IT
I am writing to you in relation to the adoption within IT of the Weekly 10 system, which I understand is to be rolled out from Monday. The headline of this email is simple: that we have been told that Weekly 10 is optional for staff and we advise you not to use it. To be clear, this advice applies to your engagement with your line manager – if you are a line manager and are required to use Weekly 10 with your reports, then you will need to do so, but we advise that you not use Weekly 10 for yourself.
There are a number of areas of concern for us. To start with, I want to be clear that IT management are not consulting meaningfully with UCU on this. UCU has raised objections which have not been responded to, let alone addressed, and any implication that we support this is very very wrong.
Weekly 10 seems to involve weekly meetings and I gather that monthly meetings are to be rolled out. These have not been negotiated with UCU as part of your terms and conditions, and imposing them in general terms is inappropriate for academic-related and professional services staff. They, alongside the other reporting mechanisms you are required to use, involve a level of micromanagement which is excessive and inappropriate.
There are significant concerns about the confidentiality of information entered into Weekly 10. The kind of information you are asked to provide should, at best, be confidential between you and your line manager and the onus should not be on you to make it private. If Weekly 10 is used to support SRDS, that also causes problems as SRDS discussions are supposed to be confidential under University policy.
We have been given no information about how long the data you input will be kept and who can see it. There is as substantial risk that data will be kept for a long time and may be used out context in ways which are detrimental. If you do have to use the system as a line manager please be careful about what you write in comments.
Weekly 10 seems to be used to record HR data that is also recorded via SAP, which poses confidentiality/privacy issues – there should be no need to record it in two separate places.
Weekly 10 is being used to set goals and targets. This should be done via SRDS which has a much clearer confidentiality rule than Weekly 10 has.
We are seeking further discussion from IT management and HR about this and will also be seeking national advice.
Please contact us via ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you have any questions or if you meet any resistance with opting out.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
This emergency motion was agreed by the branch at a general meeting 25 January 2022
We note that the University has complied with Government guidelines during the COVID-19 epidemic, including, for instance, encouraging staff and students to wear masks.
There is compelling evidence that wearing medical-grade respirators such as N95 / FFP2s in crowded and indoor settings, ensuring adequate ventilation of indoor spaces and social distancing reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne infection.
We note the UK Government has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions. Yet, COVID-19 remains a significant public health concern, particularly but not exclusively for shielding groups.
This branch believes that:
The University must continue to adopt best public health practice.
This branch therefore demands of the employers:
The provision of FFP2 respirators for all staff and students.
An expectation that all staff and students will wear respirators in crowded places unless exempt.
The continued monitoring of workspaces to ensure they are ventilated.
Appropriate management of teaching and other spaces to facilitate social distancing.
Continued opportunities for staff and students to work at home, particularly for staff and students who need to shield.
Proposed by Nick Emmel. Moved by Nick Emmel, seconded by Ipek Demir. The motion was carried.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
This motion was agreed by the branch at a general meeting 25 January 2022
We face a growing racist offensive by Boris Johnson’s government with the Nationality & Borders bill attacking the right to asylum and the government’s CRED report denying the existence of the institutional racism hi-lighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The government continues to deploy the politics of divide and rule scapegoating refugees, migrants and the Muslim community.
The government’s new police bill targets BLM activists and the GRT community and strengthens police powers despite the ongoing reality of black communities facing disproportionate use of stop and search and deaths in police contact.
On an international scale government’s are attempting to deflect criticism of their handling of the COVID-19 and economic crisis by using racism.
Islamophobia and antisemitism are on the rise and the Far Right are a growing threat.
We resolve to
support the international day of action to mark UN antiracism day on Saturday 19 March 2022.
support for Stand Up To Racism and the TUC’s events across England, Scotland and Wales to maximise the turn out from this Leeds University UCU
support the TUC/SUTR ‘Fighting for Anti Racist workplaces’ event on Saturday 5 February 2022, send delegates and affiliate to Stand Up To Racism.
Proposed by Megan Povey. Moved by Megan Povey, seconded by Steven Muir. The motion was carried.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
This motion was agreed by the branch at a general meeting 25 January 2022
Leeds UCU agrees to call a dispute with the employer as a consequence of the capability procedure being used to cause a member of staff to lose their status as a teaching and research member of staff without reference to established role profile definitions and rejecting the right of the UCU to negotiate terms of contract.
Proposed by the committee. Moved by Mark Taylor-Batty, seconded by Joanne Armitage. The motion was carried.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
This motion was agreed by the branch at a general meeting 25 January 2022
Leeds UCU notes that:
Bristol university has sacked UCU member, Professor David Miller;
David Miller’s work is critical of Israel;
Bristol University, under external political pressure, has abrogated its responsibility to defend academic freedom;
the QC appointed by the University of Bristol to investigate allegations concluded that Miller was not guilty of unlawful speech, and that claims that his behaviour was antisemitic were unfounded;
Miller’s is only the most prominent of such cases that have proliferated across the HE sector since Government pressure was applied to universities and colleges to adopt the IHRA definition.
Leeds UCU resolves to:
send its expression of solidarity and concern to Professor Miller;
write to the University of Bristol VC, Senate and Trustees urging that the Miller dismissal be rescinded;
write to UCU HEC calling for UCU support for any future crowdfunding to continue legal processes to overturn this decision, and calling for a consideration of ‘greylisting’ of Bristol until Miller is reinstated;
contribute from branch funds to any future crowdfunding in support of Miller’s legal redress;
explain the case to members, and urge individual financial support for future crowdfunding;
publicly express concern about this attack on academic freedom at Bristol;
call on the General Secretary and President to write to the VC, Senate and Trustees at Bristol to express the UCU condemnation of this assault on academic freedom and the damage to the reputations of staff and students associated with the University.
Proposed by Lesley McGorrigan. Moved by Lesley McGorrigan, seconded by Janet Watson. The motion was carried.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
This is a relatively brief update on health and safety following the government’s, and then the university’s, announcements in relation to relaxing restrictions and mitigations.
We are pleased that the university continues to take a cautious approach and is not dropping all mitigations in the way that the government seems to want. We do however, have some specific concerns.
Notably, as I told you in a recent email, we had asked management to look into providing masks of FFP2 quality to staff. They have now told us they will not do so. The logic behind this is that they believe that the combination of ventilation (which is generally good) and continued distancing means that activities should be safe to be held in-person and if they are not they should not be held in person.
As a result, we advise as follows:
Firstly, if you are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 you should speak to your line manager and insist on an individual risk assessment before being prepared to work on campus, particularly in crowded areas or teaching spaces. If you meet any resistance with this, please contact us for support via ucu@leeds.ac.uk
Second, if you are concerned that mitigations in place are not being followed – e.g. the stated capacity of a room is exceeded or people are not maintaining appropriate social distancing, you should remove yourself from the situation, speak to your line manager and let us know.
You will have noted that we are returning to the previous position on face coverings, where staff and students are expected to wear facecoverings in crowded spaces and teaching spaces when asked to do so. We know that compliance with this was patchy and continue to emphasise the importance of clear communication about the benefits of wearing face coverings. If you are aware of breaches of this rule, either because of people not wearing face coverings in a crowded space, or because of students not wearing face coverings when asked to do so, please report to your manager. If you are a manager, please escalate these issues to the Health and Safety teams if necessary. I would particularly ask securely employed staff, and staff in management positions, to do everything you can to communicate with students and try to build a culture of respect – junior staff, and particularly precariously employed and hourly paid staff, tell us that they do not feel empowered to insist on face coverings if students do not comply.
Finally, we understand that managers have been asked to continue to be flexible about working from home, particularly for staff who are vulnerable or who live with people who are vulnerable. We also understand that, on the ground, there are cases where that flexibility is not in fact happening. Please let us know if you are having issues and we can support you in challenging the situation.
This post is from an email sent to branch members 25 January 2022 by branch president Chloe Wallace.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
First meeting 5-6pm Tues 25 January on Zoom Weekly meetings thereafter
This post is from an email sent to UCU members on Monday 24 January 2022 by Simon Moore and Xanthe Whittaker from the branch committee. See email for Zoom link.
Next month UCU will be entering a second phase of our disputes over USS pensions and ‘four fights’ (casualisation, workloads, equal pay and pay). This means preparing for the possibility of sustained strike action and action short of strike (ASOS). It requires the branch to think about how we facilitate maximum participation in action, maximum effectiveness of our tactics and how we sustain ourselves through the period of action.
At our recent emergency general meeting, the branch voted to hold regular organising meetings to discuss tactics for how we best organise picketing, rallies and teach outs. We therefore invite you to join the new strike tactics working group, which myself and Xanthe Whittaker are convening. We will hold open, creative meetings to think about topics such as: new (and old) methods for causing disruption; timing; online picketing; how to coordinate activities across the branch and campus; and how we use action short of strike to maximum advantage in our different working areas.
We want to identify a diversity of specific actions and activities that will facilitate the maximum involvement of members to take sustained strike action – precisely what we need to press the employers to concede to UCU’s demands. The working group will also be a space where we can evaluate and amend our tactics as the industrial action continues.
Please join our first meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5pm – let us know if you’d like the meeting invite. Everyone is welcome, and there’s no expectation of long term commitment. This is our chance to innovate and diversify our tactics so we can win our disputes.
The strike tactics working group will make recommendations to the branch committee and is open to all members.
Best regards,
Xanthe and Simon Conveners of the strike tactics working group
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
You might be concerned to learn that the university has refused to consult meaningfully with the local UCU branch on the matter of USS pensions. They have told us that they are content to back the UUK position and the shocking intergenerational unfairness that this will imply, with younger colleagues standing potentially to lose more than 40% of the value of their income in retirement compared to colleagues closer to retirement.
With yesterday’s CPI inflation figure being reported at a thirty-year-high of 5.4%, and with our university agreeing with the UUK when they now insist that pension accrual should no longer increase with inflation when it is over 2.5%, we can all of us see that detriment to our pension is guaranteed if the situation is not soon resolved. As that inflation cap has a cumulative effect, it impacts on younger colleagues more. Do note that even if this was the only change that UUK brought to the structure of our pensions, it could cost individuals tens of thousands of pounds over the course of their retirement. When I say ‘individuals’ I mean you. The question to ask now is whether you are willing to accept that unnecessary loss to your income, and all that it will imply for your family, or whether you will be prepared to back the forthcoming strike and action short of a strike to the letter and, alongside your colleagues, try to bring the UUK back to the negotiating table before their damaging and unnecessary measures are imposed. We have only a matter of weeks.
At the same time as hearing that inflation rose to its highest level since 1992, we also learned that the value of the assets of the pension stand now at £92.2bn. This is a £15.4bn higher than the valuation of March 2020 being used to justify UUK’s changes. Please remember that the forecast for the assets that the USS used to calculate a ‘deficit’ assumed that the assets will not reach their current £92bn level until the middle of the next century. In fact, even the 2011 USS valuation – which was used to argue for the end of the final salary scheme – did not predict this actual level of asset value in 2022. When you strike, you are striking to oppose this preposterous valuation and support your union in demanding a reasonable valuation performed using pension industry standards and sensible metrics based on the actual, verifiable value of the scheme.
I want to close with two sets of facts. Firstly, this illustration has been put together by a physicist in Edinburgh using the USS’s own modeller producing a graph of total loss in pension in retirement between age 66-86 based on the UUK proposals. The image here is for cpi inflation at 2.5% and shows that the reduction in total pension, for example, is between 100k and 200k for people born around 1990. With cpi at 3.5% it’s between 100k and 300k. (Reminder: cpi is currently 5.4%). This is essentially a graph mapping intergenerational unfairness.
Please remember, these are not UCU figures, but outputs from the USS modeller. They demonstrate starkly the impact of the UUK proposals, which are supported by our university management. By contrast, please see this statement from the university management at Imperial College, jointly with their UCU branch.
The second fact I want to leave you with is something that has not gained so much attention, but is important for those whose salaries are high enough to already be paying into the defined contribution element of the hybrid USS scheme. UUK’s cuts are worst on earnings between £40k and £60k, second worst on earnings between £0 and £40k, and have the least impact on salaries over £60k. See this blog (in particular para IIb) for detail.
Have a good weekend.
Mark Taylor-Batty, Pension representative for University of Leeds UCU
This post is from an email sent to branch members on 21 January 2022 by Mark Taylor-Batty, committee lead on pensions, on behalf of the committee.
UCU University of Leeds BranchPosted on by Alan Smith
The university finally published its climate plan in December 2021, setting out the pathway for it to reach its net zero target by 2030.
This will no doubt have many impacts for us as a community of workers at the university, and many of us feel strongly that the university has an obligation to set a positive example by fulfilling its climate commitments.
The UCU climate and ecological emergency working group is inviting all members of this UCU branch to read the climate plan, and share with us your views and comments on it. We are particularly interested to know if you think it is an adequate response to the emergencies we face, and whether you feel you have had sufficient opportunity to feed into its development.
Your feedback will help our working group understand the most important issues for us to be focusing on, and help start a discussion about this significant change to University policy.
Beyond this, we are aiming to hold an open meeting alongside our sister trade unions Unison and Unite in late February, so that we can discuss these issues in greater detail. Full details to follow.
We feel it is important that we as workers get to influence policy at the University, especially on an issue as threatening as this one. So please join us to make our voices heard.
In solidarity.
This post is from an email to UCU members from the UCU University of Leeds branch climate and ecological emergency working group, sent on 14 January 2022. If you’d like to join the group, please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk – you would be very welcome
Some of the website tools used on this website set cookies on your browser. The website should work fine if you DISABLE all except the necessary cookies. If you click “Accept” you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
