Decisions made at 5 July 2021 general meeting

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The full minutes of the meeting will be emailed to members and a copy will be available from the honorary secretary or branch administrator.

Members agreed the following motions.

Motion 1: Defend the right to a private life and academic freedom

UCU Notes that Council Paper CL/20/74 (27 May 2021):

  1. Summarises an investigation by the UoL of an event which ‘did not take place under the formal auspices of the University’, ie. an event under the aegis of groups ‘not associated with the University of Leeds or LUU’.
  2. Seeks ‘to develop and implement clear guidance on the appropriate use of designations and/or affiliation of University of Leeds roles (e.g. member of staff or student of the University) in non-University public events’.  In so doing the University breaks custom and practice.


UCU contends that:

  1. UoL Council has no authority or standing in presuming to preside over individuals’ private lives.
  2. In presuming to uphold a recommendation that may limit academic freedom and freedom of speech, Council’s predominantly non-academic and lay membership was not suitably qualified to understand the issues in front of it.
  3. The UoL decision would set a dangerous precedent for the entire HE sector.


UCU demands that:

  1. Council retracts the deeply flawed Council Report CL/20/74, and accordingly also the Scott enquiry report of which the Council Report is a summary. 
  2. Council desists from making decisions on academic freedom and freedom of expression without due process, such as Senate scrutiny and negotiation with the UCU.
  3. Council desists from making decisions in spheres over which it has no authority, including the private lives, political beliefs and personal activities of staff and students.

Motion 2

In every dispute about personal behaviour, both sides should be heard.

Motion 3 – Digital Working group

This branch agrees to set up a Digital Working Group, to consider digital working, digital transformation, online work and related issues. The Group will make recommendations and report to the branch committee. The Group will be convened by a committee member and open to all members to join.

Local update

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Email to branch members 28 June 2021

A quick email to update you on some local things at University of Leeds.

Promotions

The promotion process has been frozen for some time, and we have been pressing for it to be unfrozen.  We are expecting this to happen very soon, and that there will be no further pauses.  If you have been intending to apply for promotion, you might want to start getting your application ready, see https://hr.leeds.ac.uk/info/8/promotions/299/promotions_process. 

Race at work survey

The university is participating in this national survey. I recommend you complete it using the university-specific link of https://start.yougov.com/refer/v2x8CJnrnY8yr7 (NB don’t use Internal Explorer).  A summary of the data from Leeds staff will be provided to the university and from them to the campus unions.  We have asked management many times previously for data about race and pay/promotions so that we can push for changes where there is inequality, but we’ve been told the university’s data isn’t adequate, partly because people choose not to identify their race. We understand that you might feel reluctant about providing information to management about racial identify or experiences of unequal treatment. However, this survey is anonymous so there will be no way you can be identified, and it will hopefully be useful to your union in fighting for equality.  The closing date is this Wednesday, 30th June, and it takes about 15 minutes to fill it in.

Decolonising framework

A proposed university Decolonising Framework has been drafted and is now being shared around schools. Thanks to everyone involved for this great initiative, and we would encourage members to engage meaningfully with it, but it is crucial that this is properly resourced (including workload allocation).  Policy is not enough on its own though and we need to continue our solidarity with everyone pushing on decolonialisation and anti-racism both within and beyond our university.

Fixed term contracts 

UCU has been campaigning on anti-casualisation for a long time – it was one of the Four Fights we took strike action over – and at Leeds we put in an anti-casualisation claim two years ago. We’re in a process of talks with senior HR to improve the university’s policy and practices, and as part of that HR have identified hundreds of staff who should be on permanent contracts under the current policy. If you’ve been on a fixed-term contract which you think should be permanent, especially if you’ve been here more than three years or are on a subsequent contract, get in touch via ucu@leeds.ac.uk to arrange for a caseworker to discuss with you getting your contract made permanent.  Also, if you see posts advertised as fixed term when they don’t fit with existing policy (see section 2) contact us via ucu@leeds.ac.uk and we will try to get them changed to permanent roles.

Annual leave

The campus unions have been assured that the Annual Leave policy has not changed, including this bit “one week’s leave (pro-rata) may be carried forward for up to 3 months after the end of the leave year by agreement with the Dean of Faculty/Head of School”.  We agree that people need their holidays to recuperate, but not everyone is able to use all their leave, particularly related to Covid and the extra cohort of taught postgraduates.  If your local management is telling you things about carry forward of leave that you think are outside the policy, get in touch via ucu@leeds.ac.uk. 

Health and Safety

We are concerned to hear that there are an increasing numbers of Covid infections in the area around the university and are continuing to press management to be careful about further opening up of campus, particularly in the light of predictions of a third wave and how this might impact the university in the next few months. If you are worried about safety implications of work you are being asked to do, please get in touch via ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

See you soon!

Finally, Alan will shortly be emailing you with a link to our special USS pensions meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 29th June, 1-2 pm) and the agenda for our General Meeting on Monday 5th July (12 noon – 1 pm).  See you there!

In solidarity,

Ben

Ben Plumpton

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Motions passed at extraordinary general meeting 17 June 2021

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Members passed the following motions at today’s extraordinary general meeting. The meeting was called to discuss motions on Palestine and Israel, after a late motion couldn’t be heard at the annual general meeting, and to discuss donations to branches on strike.

Motion 1

Leeds University UCU branch offers its solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to defend their homes and lives. The branch supports events and initiatives in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Motion 2

Motion 2 passed as amended:

  1. That as national policy, ‘UCU supports the Friends of Bir Zeit University and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’ (https://ucu.org.uk/internationalsolidarity#ispal) and also supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS): https://bdsmovement.net/news/ucu-passes-important-bds-resolution
  2. That violence in Israel-Palestine has complex origins. It is partly to be seen against the backdrop of European genocide of Jewish people and European colonial policies of the twentieth century.
  3. That support for Palestinian rights is not to be confused with antisemitism, and that Palestine Solidarity Campaign and other pro-Palestine groups are explicit that they oppose antisemitism alongside all other forms of racism.

The branch believes:

  1. That UCU’s national policy is appropriate in view of
    1. the deprivation of people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of their human rights
    2. The fact that the Israeli state has almost total control over the Palestinians of the Occupied Territories, imposing what both Human Rights Watch and Israel’s largest human rights organisation, B’Tselem have described as an ‘apartheid regime’
    3. the need for the implementation of Palestinian human rights to make peace, justice, and reconciliation achievable in the region
  2. That we must communicate our solidarity with Palestine in ways that neither court anti-Semitism in intent nor in how it our statements are likely to be interpreted by good-faith readers, as part of our general commitment to anti-racism.
  3. That one strategy of people who oppose Palestinian human rights has been to portray solidarity for Palestine and/or criticism of the Israeli state as generally anti-Semitic; that this strategy has proved effective in dampening explicit solidarity with Palestine; and that to be politically effective, our expressions of support for Palestine must expose and explicitly challenge this strategy.

The branch moves:

  1. To reiterate its solidarity with Palestinian people at the present time with the following statement, which stands as an example of expression of our views. We stand in solidarity with Palestinian people facing oppression both within and outside Palestine. We express our distress at the recent violence in both Gaza and Israel, and especially express our sympathies to all those of our colleagues and students who have been affected by it. We recognise the complex origins of this violence and that it is partly to be seen against the backdrop of European genocide of Jewish people and European colonial policies of the twentieth century. We also recognise the disparities of power in the present situation, however, and stand in solidarity with Palestinians facing both slow and imminent violence by the Israeli state, which is both curtailing the rights of its Palestinian citizens and systematically depriving people in Palestine of their human rights through illegal actions. Without implementation of Palestinian human rights, the tragic and shameful cycle of violence, loss of life and limb, and impact to livelihoods now and in the future will continue, making peace, justice and reconciliation unachievable in the region.
  2. To implement at the University of Leeds UCU national policy in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and in line with other universities such as Sheffield University and Sheffield Hallam University, to seek to establish a joint University-UCU anti-apartheid committee to work together to progress the disinvestment talks with management.

Motion 3

Leeds UCU notes:

  1. Israel’s largest and most influential Human Rights group B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch have both recently published reports defining Israel as an apartheid regime.
  2. University of Leeds has investments in HSBC, Booking.com and Barclay’s in addition to institutional links with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and IDC Herzliya.
  3. UCU policy opposes such investments and links with Israel.
  4. The Leeds University Palestine Solidarity Group has authored an open letter to the VC calling for divestment (http://newaoc.com/leedsu). The letter has got so far more than 180 signatures from staff members, students, alumni and 10 LUU student societies.
  5. The Leeds UCU Committee has signed the above Open Letter.

Leeds UCU believes:

  1. The University of Leeds is complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people and the continuation of Israeli apartheid by investing in HSBC, Booking.com and Barclay’s in addition to maintaining institutional links with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and IDC Herzliya.
  2. The University should release a statement in support of its Palestinian students and staff members.
  3. Whilst the University must protect all staff and students against racism including Islamophobia and antisemitism, it should also protect staff and students from unfounded accusations of antisemitism for speaking up for Palestinian human rights.

Leeds UCU resolves to:

  1. Sign the Open Letter to the VC.
  2. Release a public statement in solidarity with the Palestinians and in support of the Open Letter and its demands.

Motion 4 – Donation to branches striking over redundancies

This branch agrees to:

  • donate £400 to the Liverpool UCU strike fund
  • donate £400 to the Leicester UCU strike fund

(Note that the donations agreed by the general meeting are in addition to £100 donations to each branch agreed by the committee.)

Upcoming general meetings

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Extraordinary general meeting: Palestine + branch strike donations

We have an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday 17 June, 1pm – 2pm, to discuss two items.

An emergency motion was submitted to the annual general meeting about the situation in Palestine that week. The motion wasn’t taken because of there not being enough time to give the motion the necessary time for full debate and instead the president said the committee would arrange an extraordinary general meeting on the subject of the situation in Palestine.

In calling the meeting the committee has also indicated they would like to discuss making donations to UCU branches who are striking.

The deadline for motions on these subjects for this meeting is 1pm Monday 14 June. Motions should be emailed to ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

General meeting 5 July

Our next ordinary general meeting is Monday 5 July, 12pm – 1pm. If you would like to propose the branch takes a collective view and agrees a plan on an issue, you can submit a motion to ucu@leeds.ac.uk by the deadline of 12pm on Tuesday 22 June.

If you’ve never written a motion before here is some simple advice on writing motions, and you can also ask your UCU department rep or a committee member.

Decisions made at 22 April 2021 general meeting

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The full approved minutes were emailed to members and a copy is available from the honorary secretary or branch administrator.

Agreed to suspend standing order to reduce speaking time to 3 minutes for movers of motions and 2 minutes for other contributions

Minutes of the general meeting 10 March 2021

Agreed as correct record.

Motion: USS Pensions

This branch notes that:

  1. Pensions are a form of deferred salary.
  2. The value of the assets of the USS scheme have been recently posted at £80bn, which is more than forty times the cost of annual pensions paid out by the scheme, at most recent figures.
  3. The amount paid into the scheme annually as contributions consistently exceeds the amount paid out in pensions.
  4. The 2020 USS valuation is flawed by excessive prudence, defining a ‘deficit’ out of overly-cautious assumptions.
  5. The (largely equivalent) Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London pension scheme has posted a surplus, making clear that the causes of the USS ‘deficit’ are not market conditions and demographic features, but caused by the management of assets and liabilities by USS and their valuation methodology.
  6. To cover the ‘deficit’ USS Ltd claim that huge contribution increases would be necessary, and UUK propose avoiding these increases by cuts in benefits plus a lower value scheme for lower paid/casualised staff.
  7. Any diversion of employer contribution from future pension promises to Deficit Recovery at the expense of benefits accruing amounts to a cut in wages.
  8. The recommendations of the Joint Expert Panel (JEP), set up after the 2018 strikes to produce proposals about the valuation process and USS governance, have not been fully implemented.
  9. A cycle of disputes has been created and sustained by USS intransigence and UUK’s failure to recognise the problems with the scheme’s management.

This branch believes:

  1. Neither the contribution increases proposed by USS nor the pension cuts proposed by UUK are acceptable.
  2. Members’ trust has been eroded by USS largely ignoring the JEP recommendations.
  3. Inter-generational fairness is important but cannot be achieved by making future pension benefits worse. It is important to maintain the current level of benefits, resist a two-tier system, and ensure that the USS pension is affordable for all, so that future generations get the same as past generations.
  4. Gender, race and disability pay gaps are replicated in pension gaps, and amplified yet further by DC schemes, by cuts to benefits, or by unaffordable increases in contributions.
  5. We need to challenge the narrative that the scheme is in deficit and that changes are inevitable.

This branch resolves to:

  1. Call on our employer to
    1. commit to retaining a Defined Benefit pensions scheme.
    2. support the keeping of employee contribution rates at or below their current rate without diluting future benefit accrual.
    3. push UUK to seek full implementation of the proposals from the Joint Expert Panel.
    4. insist on governance reform at USS, including greater transparency and accountability, through rule change proposals via JNC.
    5. work to close gender and race pay gaps that are duplicated in pension schemes, and amplified by Defined Contribution elements of schemes.
  2. Mandate our delegates to the forthcoming Higher Education Sector Conference to support industrial action to prevent pensions detriment, should that be necessary.
  3. Campaign to #DefendUSS including working with groups such as USS Briefs, HE Convention and the UCU Solidarity Movement.
  4. If a ballot for industrial action is called, to mobilise the branch to win that ballot.

Motion carried.

Late motion to UCU HE sector conference: Stop the government cuts to UKRI ODA projects

Conference notes:

  1. 49% government cuts to the £245million UKRI ODA budget for 2021-22.
  2. these cuts, in an unprecedented breach of faith, affect projects mid-contract in around 30 Universities employing researchers working with developing nations.
  3. managements are considering closing projects and making researchers redundant.
  4. many pre-92 Universities affected have £multimillion operating surplus/reserves; they need to take exceptional measures.
  5. public opposition from professional bodies.

Conference believes:

  1. UCU must urgently act on these short-notice cuts.
  2. this scandal exposes the fragility of the neoliberal research funding model with its permanently vulnerable casualised workforce.

Conference resolves to:

  1. launch an immediate campaign demanding the Government reverses the cut.
  2. demand that universities guarantee the jobs of their research staff for at least the duration of the awarded project.
  3. initiate a national petition.
  4. plan for industrial action.
  5. establish a network open to all research staff.

(150 words)

This qualifies as an acceptable late motion for discussion because:

A) The government UKRI ODA cuts decision was not communicated to staff or UCU members prior to the deadline for motions so the motion could not be submitted within that timescale.

B) This serious urgent and timely issue requires a national UCU response. The timeframe for implementing these government cuts is unprecedentedly short.

Relevant links:

  1. https://twitter.com/claire_horwell/status/1374696514816245761?s=20
  2. Petition:  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/580046
  3. UCU:  https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11477/Stop-savage-university-research-funding-cuts-union-tells-Chancellor
  4. universities affected: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/what-projects-does-the-ukri-oda-budget-cut-put-at-risk/
  5. United Nations criticisim:  https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/united-nations-hits-out-uk-government-global-research-cut/

Motion carried.

Motion: 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and the Campaign against Climate Change

This union branch notes that:

  1. Human-caused climate breakdown is leading to and exacerbating extreme weather events across the globe: heat waves, wildfires, floods and hurricanes, and loss of biodiversity.
  2. The IPCC 2018 Special Report has warned of the dire consequences of exceeding 1.5ºC global average warming and that a societal transformation would be needed to avoid this, including halving global carbon emissions by 2030; nevertheless, global emissions have continued to rise.
  3. The climate crisis is a social justice issue, with those who have done least to cause the crisis and who are least able to address it facing the worst impacts. We need to mobilise for a just transition which protects and improves workers’ livelihoods, creates a more inclusive society and stops greenhouse gas emissions. 
  4. Wealthy, industrialised countries have a responsibility to take on their fair share of emissions reductions; that the UK’s target of net zero by 2050 is insufficient to avoid global temperatures rising above 1.5ºC, and that the UK is failing to implement policies to meet even this target.
  5. We also face a global and UK crisis of unemployment; that tackling the Covid-19 pandemic represents an ideal opportunity to invest in climate jobs, in a just transition and a fairer society; and that the global response to this opportunity has been wholly inadequate.
  6. The UN COP26 negotiations in Glasgow in November 2021 are crucial for the success of global plans to limit response to climate change; yet the UK government continues to back false solutions like carbon markets and block the transformational changes which are necessary.
  7. UK civil society needs to exert maximum pressure on the British government in the coming year for a green recovery and just transition, and to show leadership as COP26 host; that trade unions can play a key role in the COP26 coalition in which UK civil society has been organising as part of the wider global climate justice movement.
  8. UCU is affiliated to the Campaign against Climate Change at a national level

This union branch resolves:

  • To mandate our delegates to UCU Congress 2021 to prioritise and support motions on climate change, including ROC13 and ROC14 (see http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu1074.html)
  • To affiliate the branch to the Campaign against Climate Change at a cost of £25 and take part in the trade union group.
  • To campaign, alongside allies in civil society for massive public investment in a green recovery that tackles the climate and ecological emergencies, creates climate jobs and is underpinned by a fair deal for workers both here and in supply chains in the Global South.
  • To join and support the national mobilisations for protests in whatever form they take leading up to and during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021.
  • To take part in local mobilisations.
  • To send this motion the Yorkshire and Humberside regional committee of UCU.

Motion carried.

Motion: against the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021

This branch notes:

On the 16 March 2021, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 passed its second reading in parliament. The bill contains new limits on the right to protest (and cite among the reasons for its introduction a way to “deal better” with tactics such as those by Extinction Rebellion). The Bill if implemented will sweep new powers for the police and the criminalisation of Gypsy Roma Traveller communities and increased stop and search powers. Damage to memorials, such as the statue of slave trader Edward Colston that was toppled during last year’s Black Lives Matter protest, could carry a 10 year prison sentence. 

This branch believes:

Trade unions will be adversely affected by the criminalisation of basic forms of protest. These limitations only add to the existing punitive restrictions placed on trade unions by decades of anti-union legislation. These measures may diminish our ability to legally assemble, to protest against our employers and to picket and engage in loud and creative demonstrations at our place of work. This would destroy the most basic forms of resistance available to trade unions.

Moreover, we have a responsibility to stand with oppressed groups for social and environmental justice who will face renewed gendered and racialised attacks on the basis of the new legislation. 

This branch resolve to: 

  1. Support Sisters Uncut, BLMUK, People’s Assembly, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller organisations and other forces mobilising and demonstrating against the bill by publishing a statement of support and encouraging members to attend protests where possible. 
  2. Mandate our delegates to UCU Congress 2021 to prioritise and support Congress motion SFC10 “Defend the right to protest” (see http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu1074.html)

Motion carried.

Motion to amend Congress motion E12

Amendment to Congress Motion EQ12 IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, proposed by London regional committee which currently reads:

Congress notes:

  1. Williamson’s letter threatening universities unless they (a) adopt the “IHRA working definition of antisemitism”, and (b) implement it in staff and student codes of conduct.
  2. UCU’s policy opposition to the definition.
  3. only a quarter of HEIs have adopted; of these many have ‘adopted’ but refused to implement.
  4. the Report of the UCL Working Group on Racism and Prejudice.
  5. the risk that FE will be next.

Congress resolves to:

  1. condemn Williamson’s intervention as an attack on institutional autonomy, on academic freedom and freedom of expression.
  2. call on the General Secretary to speak out.
  3. call on branches to organise against the adoption, and to develop a briefing document for branches, drawing on the UCL Report and BRICUP briefings.
  4. organise a grassroots campaign on academic freedom and free speech on Israel, with a dedicated web page and resources on the UCU website.

Amendment to EQ12:

In notes 3, replace ‘only a quarter of’ with ‘only some UK’

Add two ‘notes’:

  1. ‘The alternative definition developed by Jewish and Israeli scholars of antisemitism in the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA).’
  2. ‘Evidence of a chilling effect of the IHRA definition on teaching/supervision, and unfounded IHRA-based accusations and disciplinary action against staff.’

Add new resolves:

e. ‘resist the creation of a hierarchy of racisms by avoiding definitions of specific forms and, where necessary, instead to press for adoption of the JDA as an alternative or a supplement to the IHRA.’

[73 additional words]

Motion carried.

Health and safety update

Verbal report and discussion.

Committee for 2021-2022 elected

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

UCU members have elected/appointed the branch committee for 1 August 2021 until 31 July 2022.

President

Chloe Wallace

Vice-president

Aisha Walker

Immediate past president

Ben Plumpton

Treasurer

Alaric Hall

Honorary secretary

Tim Goodall

Membership officer

Jane Holgate

Equality officer

Temporary job share of Megan Povey and Ben Plumpton, with a by-election to be held in November/December.

Campaigns officer

Lesley McGorrigan*

Health and safety officer

Neil Maughan

Anti-casualisation officer

Job-share Joanne Armitage and Xanthe Whittaker

Ordinary committee members:

Alexa Athelstan-Price

Brendon Nicholls

Helen Coskeran

Hugh Hubbard

Jennifer Fletcher

Kevin Critchley

Lata Narayanaswamy

Laura Loyola Hernandez

Mark Taylor-Batty

Megan Povey

Mette Wiggen

Paul Steenson

Rachel Walls

Rasha Soliman

Ruth Holliday*

Simon Moore

Stephen Muir

Vicky Blake*

(*Automatically members of the branch committee as elected by UCU members to national roles.)

Leeds University UCU response to the University’s student education delivery plans for 2021/22

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Leeds University UCU welcomes the recognition by the University that there is still much uncertainty between now and September, when the next academic year begins. Whilst vaccine progress has been positive, at the time of writing there is a new variant of concern– variant B 2.167.2 – which currently appears to be more transmissible and there may be more variants of concern to come. SAGE – the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – have stated consistently that there is a high likelihood of a resurgence in hospitalisations and death, either if the vaccine roll out hits problems, or if policies and behaviours adopted to reduce transmission are relaxed too early.

It appears very clear to us that, whilst academic year 2021-22 will be different from 2020-21, it will not represent ‘back to normal’ and we are pleased that the University is recognising this in planning.

We therefore believe that it is appropriate for the university to maintain a hybrid approach to learning and teaching, ensuring that it remains possible to retain COVID mitigations, such as social distancing, well ventilated spaces and hygiene measures. All plans need to allow for the possibility of moving online only if the worst happens and there is serious resurgence of cases.

It is particularly important that all university plans allow staff or students who test positive for COVID-19 to self-isolate immediately, as that will be critical in keeping case numbers low. We also note that, even after a vaccine roll-out, it remains the case that some staff and students are more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19; the university has a duty of care towards those people to allow them to work flexibly and not to put themselves at risk.

The successes of this academic year are down to the tremendous efforts of all staff on the ground, whether they be student education service staff, library and digital education service staff, staff in residences, cleaning staff, academics and many others. Whilst for some the end of the academic year is in sight, for others the intensity continues over the summer teaching and supporting postgraduates, managing admissions and many other things. This magnificent effort should not be taken for granted by management. In many cases, it has been at the expense of work/life balance, family life, and general health and well being. In planning for next year, the university needs to ensure that workloads are healthy and reasonable, that the differential impacts of this ongoing crisis on different groups of staff are recognised and acted upon, and that staff are not subject to the devastation of redundancy, whether they are on ‘permanent’ or fixed term contracts.

Act now to protect the arts in Higher Education

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

From email sent to branch members 6 May 2021

Dear members

I expect you’ve heard about the Governments latest plans to decimate arts provision in Higher Education – see for example https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/06/plans-for-50-funding-cut-to-arts-subjects-at-universities-catastrophic

A 50% cut to arts funding would be disastrous both across the UK and for this university and our amazing arts schools.

I am writing to urge you to support the Public Campaign for the Arts, see https://www.campaignforthearts.org/petitions/stop-the-50-percent-funding-cut-to-arts-subjects-in-higher-education/ by signing their petition.

Also, the government is holding an extremely short consultation about this, due to end at 23:59 today.  You can input to this consultation here:

https://survey.officeforstudents.org.uk/s/RecurrentFundingConsultation2021-22/

Please do this if you possibly can.

Please share this widely, including on social media.

Thank you.

Ben

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

Decisions of general meeting 10 March 2021

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Members met on 10 March and made the following decisions as a branch. The full approved minutes were emailed to members and a copy is available from the honorary secretary or branch administrator.

Rule change motion for UCU Congress 2021: Amend Congress Standing Order 18 (quorum)

Delete “(subject to rounding up to the nearest whole number)”
Add at end:
“except where, by convention, the chair asks that only a subset of the branches in a sector should vote on the topic under discussion, in which case the quorum shall be a fraction of 150 members proportionate to membership in that subset. Quora shall be rounded up to the nearest whole number.”
Purpose:
To have a quorum for sector specific conferences on matters relating to a subset of the sector which is line with the membership of that subset.

Motions for UCU Congress 2021

The branch is allowed to submit one non-rule-change motion to UCU Congress 2021. The branch carried two motions: ‘financial disclosure and transparency’ and ‘Xinjiang and Chinese government oppression of the Uighurs’ and agreed to submit ‘financial disclosure and transparency’ to congress unless another branch submits that motion in which case this branch will submit ‘Xinjiang and Chinese government oppression of the Uighurs’.

Motion for UCU Congress 2021: Financial disclosure and transparency

Congress notes the series of issues relating to expenditure, some of which have caused debate within UCU and the media, including £400k of expenditure for a former General Secretary* which was subject of a non-disclosure agreement.
Congress resolves that:

  1. UCU National Executive Committee (NEC) must be provided with proposals for, and be involved in, expenditure decisions relating to:
    a. Redundancy payments or other non-standard payments to UCU employees
    b. Membership levies
    c. Consultancy contracts
  2. The honorary treasurer will report such expenditure to NEC as soon as possible before it has been incurred.

Motion for UCU Congress 2021: Xinjiang and Chinese government oppression of the Uighurs

Congress resolves to issue a statement and initiate a campaign in support of the Uighur population of Xinjiang, calling for the Chinese government to end the on-going forced mass imprisonment, alleged sterilisation, indoctrination, torture and oppression of the Uighur people.

Motion: Ending casual contracts and securing decent work with full employment protections for staff at Leeds: Reaffirming our anti-casualisation claim

This branch notes:

  • Two years ago, in January 2019, Leeds UCU branch lodged an anti-casualisation claim with the University.
  • The claim addressed growing levels of casualised work in all aspects of university employment through fixed-term contracts, worker contracts and hourly-paid staff, on the basis that insecure contracts are detrimental for staff. It also argued that teaching-focused staff should have 20% of time ring-fenced for scholarly activity.  Details here
  • The claim states the need for time-limited negotiations over these matters with the aim of revising university policy. 


This branch further notes:

  • Two years after its submission, the university has not formally negotiated the heads of claim with the UCU branch, although some elements of the claim are the subject of consultation between Leeds UCU and the university through HRTU.
  • Based on discussions of the claim in the anti-casualisation working group, the issues outlined in the claim remain and the branch continues to do work, through campaigning and casework to address them. 
  • we want to to send a strong and unified message to the university that the branch continues to see anti-casualisation as a high-priority and to support branch officers in their discussions with HR
  • The branch is aware that, in some instances staff who have been on FTCs for 3 years or more are being transferred onto “open-ended fixed-funded” contracts. These contracts are open only in name and offer no security to staff and potentially offer diminished protections against dismissal by broadening the scope of what would reasonably considered a ‘fair’ dismissal, by allowing the end of funding as a “permissible reason” for termination of contract.

This branch:

  • Reaffirms its commitment to the heads of claim outlined in the anti-casualisation claim of 2019, including: 
    • An end to the use of worker contracts
    • Fractionalisation of hourly-paid staff
    • Removing unequal treatment
    • Reduction of the use of fixed-term contracts
    • Teaching fellowship roles to contain at least 20% scholarly activity.
  • Rejects the use of Open-Ended Fixed-funded contracts as an alternative to fixed-term contracts and calls instead for staff who have been on FTCs for more than three years to be moved onto permanent contracts that are not conditional on funding.
  • Resolves to continue mobilising and organising members to put pressure on management to start formal negotiation of the claim with UCU as a matter of urgency

Motion: Oppose Leeds City Council’s decision to approve the Leeds Bradford Airport expansion

This branch notes:

  • The recent dismal decision of Leeds City Council (LCC) City Plans Panel to provisionally approve the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) to build a new terminal, leading to a substantial increase in flights and therefore carbon emissions.
  • Following this provisional approval, the University of Leeds’s UCU Climate and Ecological Emergency working group and University of Leeds climate and sustainability experts drafted a letter to the Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick MP, asking the Government to ‘call in’ (review) the planning application for the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport. The letter was signed by over 100 people.
  • That the UK Climate Change Committee’s  Sixth Carbon Budget published in December 2020 states that (i) there should be no expansion of UK airport capacity unless the sector is on track to sufficiently outperform its net emissions trajectory (Table p8.1, p29) and (ii) the Government should assess its airport capacity strategy in the context of net-zero and any lasting impacts on demand from COVID-19 (para 2, p34). Expanding LBA would increase the flight passenger volume by 75%, exceeding the maximum growth compatible with the UK’s legally adopted net-zero target.
  • That an increase in international flights runs contrary to the UK’s climate targets and responsibilities to international climate mitigation as per the Climate Change Act and the Paris Agreement.
  • It also runs contrary to the findings of the Leeds Climate Commission citizens’ jury where 18 out of 21 citizens members believe that it was the wrong decision to expand LB airport.
  • That approving LBA expansion is in stark conflict with LCC’s decision to declare a Climate Emergency in May 2019 and makes the stated aim of Leeds being carbon neutral by 2030 practically impossible.
  • The planning application and the Planning Office report to Leeds City Plan Panel dramatically understated the climate impact of the expansion. University of Leeds experts found that in case of expansion, LBA’s climate impact would be almost four times larger than LBA claimed.
  • The critical role played by University of Leeds climate and sustainability experts who submitted detailed evidence of the full climate impact of LBA expansion during the consultation period to LCC.

This Branch believes:

  • The decision of LCC is an abdication of its civic duty to protect the citizens of Leeds from harmful effects of even more aeroplane emissions and pollution over the city, also exposing those under the flight path to more noise pollution
  • That it is our responsibility as an academic community with expertise in climate change, sustainability, and zero carbon futures to demonstrate leadership on climate change and oppose this decision and stand up for the wider community in Leeds to fight for a socially just transportation transition
  • That to tackle current unemployment and promote post-Covid recovery, job opportunities should instead be created in sustainable businesses, to progress cutting carbon emissions, such as creating green jobs to improve energy efficiency


Leeds University UCU therefore resolves: 

  1. To support the open letter drafted by the University’s UCU Climate and Ecological Emergency working group to the Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick MP, the branch president will write a follow up letter to Robert Jenrick MP.
  2. To support the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (Galba) in their attempts to make a legal challenge to this decision by making a donation of £200
  3. Forward this resolution to other UCU branches in the region, asking them to support this cause.