9 April: USS pensions open meeting

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Tuesday 9 April 1-2pm: USS Pensions Open Meeting: with UCU Pensions Rep Mark Taylor-Batty and UCU national USS negotiator Sam Marsh

Mechanical Engineering LT B (2.37) (Open to members + non-members – bring colleagues!)

Our pensions rep Mark Taylor-Batty and Sam Marsh (one of UCU’s elected national negotiators on USS) will give an update on the current situation and lead discussion with members. Please bring your questions too! We have deliberately timed this meeting to fall after the next USS negotiation meeting between UCU and UUK.

You can help to publicise this by printing and distributing this leaflet.

Backgroundː 

The employers’ body Universities UK (UUK) has recently conducted a consultation of member institutions regarding the USS 2018 pension scheme valuation. UUK has written to USS with a summary of the institutional responses which they have published [here]. The University of Leeds put its consultation response online yesterday, which is [here].  

We (UCU) have many and growing concerns in the sector over the governance of the USS pension scheme, and poor communications from the USS executive. You can read the latest statement from the UCU National Disputes Committee which was convened after Congress 2018 to steer the USS dispute [here].

We had hoped that our University position would take full account of these concerns. We note that several other key employers in the USS scheme have consulted with UCU branches on these important issues and/or have taken a much more critical / questioning position in their consultation responses, and have made these concerns public. For example, the University of Oxford and the University of Sheffield, have rejected the call for contingent contributions. Sheffield goes further and argues that the institution “continues to have serious concerns regarding the approach taken by the USS Trustee to the 2018 Valuation”. The Deputy director of HR at Sheffield wrote “the contentious nature of the methodology adopted by the USS Trustee in undertaking both the 2017 and 2018 Valuations, and the lack of transparency and explanation/rationale behind decisions and positions of the Trustee, is leading once again to a position whereby key stakeholders do not have trust in the figures and outcomes resulting from the latest valuation.” We find it difficult to believe that the University of Leeds council have been able to look at all the given information and not also come to this same conclusion. The University of Bristol express disappointment that the USS trustees have not “fully reflected the JEP’s recommendations in the 2018 valuation technical proposals to date.” The University of Edinburgh make a similar point and ask for further commentary on that decision. The University of Newcastle, in a similar vein, reiterate that they “support all the recommendations made by the JEP”. The University of Warwick specifically foregrounded the JEP’s assessment and criticism of ‘Test 1’. The University of Bristol’s recommendation that USS should appoint more member-nominated trustees is a proposal we would wish our own employer seriously to consider backing.

What next? Come to this meeting to be part of the discussions we will feed back to UCU at the UK-wide level. We have fought hard to defend our pensions — to keep doing this we need to make sure everyone knows what’s going on and that members are able to feed into what happens next.

2 April: emergency general meeting on the REF code of practice

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Tuesday 2 April 2-3pm, Michael Sadler LG 19

We need members’ views on the draft Code of Practice for REF 2021 (CoP) that the university released for consultation yesterday. We are looking to build on the wealth of experience and expertise in our membership to inform the branch’s position. To this end, we have put together a very short survey that can be completed [here]. Alternatively, you can email your comments to us directly at ucu@leeds.ac.uk. 

All thoughts, comments and concerns are welcome. We are particularly keen to receive your views and experiences relating to: 

  • how preparations for REF 2021 interact with Annual Academic Meetings (AAM) and the Staff Review and Development Scheme (SRDS) [CoP para 19];
  • the process for identifying staff with significant responsibility for research and staff who are engaged in independent research [CoP para 35-41]
  • the process for appealing these decisions [CoP para 55-60];
  • and the process for selecting outputs [CoP para 76-84].

Alongside providing your feedback to UCU, we also encourage members to engage with the university’s consultation process by either emailing leedsref@leeds.ac.uk, or by attending one of the three drop-in sessions organised by University Management, details of which can be found [here].

We are holding a Leeds UCU Emergency General Meeting on 2 April, at 2pm, in Michael Sadler LG 19 to discuss the Code of Practice, as well as other REF related concerns. Please do come along if you are able, and if you would like to propose a motion / motions for the branch to consider as policy positions please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk — including if you would like any advice on how to draft them. The motions deadline for the EGM is 2pm on Monday 1 April. 

Vigil for New Zealand today 1.30-1.45pm outside LUU

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

On Friday, UCU national executive committee meeting began with a silence to commemorate the victims and all those affected by the terrorist attack which targeted mosques in Christchurch. Our emergency statement [here] confirms our commitment as an education union to take the lead in ensuring that people of faith are protected and have a safe environment to learn and pray.

Please join together today at the vigil for victims of the terrorist attack against mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. This has been co-organised by the LUU Islamic Society, LUU Ahlul Bayt Islamic Society, LUU, and the chaplaincy. We will meet outside LUU (in the precinct) at 1.30 today, until 1.45pm.

Today and every day Leeds UCU stands in solidarity with our Muslim members and students here at Leeds, and around the world. We condemn all acts of hatred and Islamophobia. Together we are stronger. Today we send a strong statement that our university community says NO to Islamophobia.

Please do take 15 minutes to join the vigil if you are able.

General Meeting 12pm TOMORROW Wednesday 13 March, Roger Stevens lecture theatre 11

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Please come to the members’ meeting tomorrow: every voice matters! If you have never been to one of our branch meetings before, it’s a great one to start with: we have a very full agenda (attached!) dealing with many challenges we face as a sector and as a society. We have updates on local negotiations over the gender pay gap and imminent negotiations over casualisation at the University of Leeds, and a significant number of decisions to make as a branch regarding local policy and what we would like to take forward to the annual UCU Congress and Higher Education sector conference. We will also agree our delegates to represent the branch at Congress this year.

General Secretary election

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

On Friday UCU announced the nominations process and timeline for [electing a new General Secretary] after Sally Hunt’s resignation. Nominations are open until 5pm on Monday 8 April 2019. Members and staff of UCU are eligible if they meet requirements and nomination guidance outlined [here]. Once nominations are confirmed, there will be an election by postal ballot which will run between 29 April – 23 May 2019. As with the recent UCU officer and NEC elections, the mechanism will be by Single Transferable Vote, meaning members can vote for more than one candidate in order of preference. The successful candidate will hold the position for 5 years. 

This is an incredibly important election for the future of UCU. However, in previous years the turnout in elections for the role has been very low across the membership. We hope to address this democratic deficit at Leeds! It is our hope that every single member eligible to vote will return their ballot! As such, please let us know (ucu@leeds.ac.uk) what you would find useful in making your decision about who to vote for and in which order. We hope to organise a large hustings event at Leeds, and will seek permission from candidates to film this to widen access to it.

Support Bradford College UCU Strikers!

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Bradford College UCU are due to strike for 3 days: 20th, 21st, 22nd March 2019. Members in Bradford have experienced a 25% reduction in pay in real terms, with no significant pay rise at all in 10 years. In comparison, school staff have received a 3% pay rise applied to pay scales that already tend to exceed the rates paid to staff in colleges.

The strikes this month follow an unprecedented 4 days of solidly supported industrial action at the college in November and January. It is hugely disappointing that a recent letter from (then) Acting CEO Chris Malish (now the finance director) to the Bradford College branch only offers talks with UCU on pay after the proposed strike days, on 1 April. Given members have already walked out twice, Bradford College UCU are quite justified in asking whether their management are playing April Fools…

Bradford College staff are suffering under hugely increased workloads and high levels of accompanying stress. Spending on the Bradford College senior management team has risen while the wage bill for lecturers has fallen. Consider this context of a refusal to move into meaningful talks for over six months, playing for time under the restrictive (anti-)Trade Union Act 2016 laws until the ballot mandate runs out, versus the positive moves made by the City of London Group where staff were awarded a 5% payrise and many casualised staff moved onto more secure contracts.

So what can we do to support Bradford College strikers? Here are 6 things:

  1. Visit the picket lines (email UCU@leeds.ac.uk if you want to join a delegation and/or pop by on your way to work)
  2. Contribute to our collection at the Leeds UCU General Meeting tomorrow (12 noon Roger Stevens LT 11)
  3. Write to the latest Bradford College CEO Chris Webb: c.webb1@bradfordcollege.ac.uk to express disappointment at the failure of the executive to engage in meaningful pay bargaining (and their refusal to meet until after the next 3 days of action).
  4. Write to the Chair of Governors, Cath Orange: clerk@bradfordcollege.ac.uk
  5. Send individual messages of solidarity to the branch.
  6. Donate to their strike fund (to support members in financial hardship due to strike pay deductions) at https://www.gofundme.com/fe-bradford-fight-back

Messages of solidarity and further information can be obtained by emailing Geraint Evans (g.evans@bradfordcollege.ac.uk) or Mark Dunkerley (m.dunkerley@bradfordcollege.ac.uk)


USS Pensions update

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Members will have seen in last week’s all-staff communication the reminder that our USS pension contributions will be going up from 8% of Salary to 8.8% of salary, as from your pay slip at the end of April. We will be receiving letters from the USS this week with further details. We have communicated this known forthcoming contribution a few times in updates on pensions in the last few months. This is the first of a series of increases in contributions that were triggered last summer as a result of a failure to agree the 2017 valuation – the source of the big pension strike this time last year. Further increases will take place if no agreement is reached – and you will see these mentioned in the USS letter and by following links from the all-staff email – but please note that there are no employers who desire these further increases and the pressure is on to come to a conclusion and agree a way forward to avoid them.

Members will recall that the Joint Expert Panel was established on the back of our strike, and its first report came out last September. Partially in response to that, USS proposed to put forward a 2018 valuation that might replace the contentious 2017 one. This is currently being consulted upon by employers. The further increases that have been slated could be stopped or replaced as a consequence, and we’ll report on the outcome of these when we know them. Current pressures are growing around the issue of so-called ‘contingency contributions’, which employers would be asked to make in specific circumstances. Neither the employers nor UCU think these are a good idea, but USS remains reluctant to agree to all the recommendations of the JEP.

In associated news, a recent article by respected pensions journalist Josephine Cumbo argues that USS’s failure to be transparent – something that has long been argued by UCU and more recently by employers – sends a warning to pension schemes more widely, and queries the motivations of the regulator.http://www.pensions-expert.com/Comment-Analysis/USS-dispute-has-exposed-a-transparency-deficit?

Talking of the Regulator, their recent Annual Funding Statement contains a straightforward contradiction of what USS have claimed as being the guidance they are following from the Regulator. This has profound consequences for the current ongoing consultation with members, as outlined in this blog from Michael Otsaku: https://medium.com/@mikeotsuka/on-the-significance-of-usss-misrepresentation-of-tpr-717021bc3771

Sam Marsh outlines the implications of this misrepresentation of the Pension Regulator in a series of tweets early last week: https://twitter.com/Sam_Marsh101/status/1103589129328250882 Marsh here points out that the new information calls into question the integrity of the USS executive team, who had rejected some of the JEP proposals arguing that the Pensions Regulator had internal benchmarks that dictated what they could do. This having been refuted by the Regulator, USS appears exposed as having seemingly manufactured arguments to support their valuation methodology, something that has always been at the core of our dispute over projected deterioration of our pension. 

Update on gender pay gap talks

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

UCU submitted our gender pay claim in August 2018. For background information see leedsucu.org.uk/genderpaygap

In the gender pay claim we asked the university senior management to share with us the detailed information behind the headline figures, to provide us with more detailed information – some of which already exists – including intersectional data on ethnicity, age group and disability, so we can work with them to show where the problems are and make effective plans to end the gender pay gap.

We asked the university to produce this information within 4 months.

The university met with UCU negotiating team on 20 February 2019. They have not provided us with the detailed information we asked for in advance or at the meeting, and instead talked us through the actions they have taken to reduce the gender pay gap from 22.5% to 20.1%. (Which includes recruiting more men into relatively lower paid roles, which improves the mean average, which would not have been our priority!)

The university has proposed to meet us again for further talks in two months.

We welcome any progress so far but have impressed upon university management that we want to end the gender pay gap and they will need to share information with us and work with us to find effective solutions to end it. We look forward to doing that work in a collaborative and open way with them.

International Women’s Day events in Leeds

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Women’s Strike

The Women’s Strike Assembly has organised two women’s strike events in Leeds for 8 March:

  • 12pm rally in Briggate
  • 4.30pm assembly at Bridge Street Church.

More details on their facebook page.

For the avoidance of doubt: UCU is not explicitly or implicitly calling for members to take strike action, but please go along to the events if you can. Some staff and students are meeting at the Parkinson building steps at 11.30am to walk down together.

International Women’s Day event on Saturday

Saturday 9 March 10.30am – 12.30pm

Momentum have issued wide invitations to their Women and Socialism event
on Saturday from 10.30am – 12.30pm, in Leeds Civic Hall (the one with the golden owls). Speakers include Leeds TUC president Jane Aitchison (who spoke at our strike rally last year).

Celebrating 100 years of women in engineering and science

7th – 8th March, Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery.

Feminist Archive North mark the centenary of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) with a display of material from their collections related to women in science and engineering.

Please support this event if you can: when we were on strike this time last year Feminist Archive North phoned us to say they would not cross a picket line and would delay their long-planned exhibition. They came to visit us on the picket lines and ran a fascinating teach-out about their archive – they are all sorts of awesome.

Job ad highlights need to eradicate culture of casualised work

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

In the past few days, a storm of academic Twitter anger was aimed at University of Leeds over a job advertisement for a research assistant.

The job description, apparently aimed at postgraduate students ‘interested in developing [their] professional academic skills’, read primarily like a personal administrative assistant with ‘occasional bits of supplementary research.’ What shocked many was the implication that the employee would need to be on campus, in effect ‘on call’, more often than not even when not working.

As soon as we were made aware of the ad we contacted University of Leeds Human Resources, who immediately withdrew the vacancy. The university says this was a mistake in the vacancy advertising process, which they will now urgently review and improve.

That this job ad saw the light of day is also a symptom of a culture of rampant casualisation in the university sector. Staff working in all roles and at all levels of the university deserve a culture that emphasises dignity and secure work for all.

Insecure jobs go hand-in-hand with ludicrously high workloads, fear of being able to take annual leave or be off sick, and, in extremes, bullying.

We are standing up for secure jobs and dignity at work. We enter formal negotiations with University of Leeds on our anti-casualisation claim on 26 March.