Leeds UCU newsletter February 2019

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

(Printed newsletters should be appearing round campus, or you can download it in PDF form here.)

Use your vote!

We’re balloting again in the dispute over Dispute over casualisation, equal pay, workload and fair pay. It’s vital for our union democracy that you use your vote. Last October Leeds members voted clearly to strike – 70% in favour – on a turnout of 49%. It was the highest national turnout on a pay ballot in UCU’s history. The new anti-trade union law (requiring a 50% turnout) stopped us from striking. We think members should decide, not the government, so we’re re-balloting so that your decision counts.

This ballot is an opportunity to show the employers that we are still strong, which will have ramifications for pensions and current and future local issues, disputes and negotiations. We urge all members to vote Yes to strike and Yes to action short of a strike including a marking boycott. We need to know what the whole membership thinks about taking action, so please vote whatever your view.

We’re asking the employers to work with us nationally to:

  • Tackle the scandal of casualisation (e.g. 65% of Leeds research staff and 36% of teaching only staff are on fixed-term contracts)
  • Recognise and address excessive workloads
  • Take real action on the gender pay gap (22.5% at Leeds)
  • Provide a fair real-terms pay rise (2% doesn’t even cover inflation).

To help us get the turnout needed for our votes to count, please tell UCU when you’ve voted, at https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/HEballot (it’s the same link to get a replacement ballot paper).
Useful FAQs at leedsucu.org.uk/pay.

USS Pensions

UUK are currently holding yet another survey of their members, over the recent 2018 valuation that the USS put together in part to seek to address the issues raised by the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) last year. Members will face the first of a number of default contribution increases in April – we hope that an agreement over responses to the valuation can avert any further increases this or next year. The USS executive are reluctant to follow all of the JEP recommendations, and there is further talk of benefit reform which UCU would robustly resist. Keep an eye on leedsucu.org.uk/pensions.

Anti-Casualisation Claim

Our anti-casualisation working group has been looking at what changes members on casualised contracts want to see. We kicked this off with our “Anticas: Ignition!” event which fed into producing our Leeds Anti-Casualisation Claim and which we have now submitted to university management. The claim underlines the need for a joint review of working practices, demands UCU’s right to negotiate for all who provide teaching and research including PGRs on teaching contracts and research fellows, and aims to ensure fractionalisation of hourly paid staff and remove unequal treatment while also providing sufficient resources (people and money) to achieve the agreed objectives. Time-limited negotiations will take place, and meanwhile the issues have been taken up in specific schools. See leedsucu.org.uk/ucu-anti-casualisation-claim-submitted-to-university-of-leeds

UCU is running a UK-wide survey ‘counting the costs of casualisation’. If you’re on an insecure contract, please fill it in and encourage colleagues to – https://t.co/nYVycEVNDk

IT Dispute

Thanks to everyone who has continued to let us know about issues surrounding the IT reorganisation. We remain concerned about the morale of staff in IT and some of the effects of the reorganisation on our members across the university, particularly the removal of local IT support. Thanks, also, for your contributions to our ‘alternative’ Senate IT paper, which sparked a robust discussion at Senate. We have arranged meetings with various senior staff to discuss this further and will continue to push for improvements. Our paper to Senate is at leedsucu.org.uk/ucu-paper-for-senate-on-it

Gender pay claim

Work continues with management to implement effective policies for closing the 22.5% gender pay gap at the University of Leeds. Management responded to our Gender Pay Claim with a commitment to work with the 3 unions through dedicated meetings over the next year. Our claim asked for further data on the extent of the gap and how it affects different groups of staff. In December, a BBC Freedom of Information Act request revealed the Russell Group ethnicity pay gap and how the “gender pay gap is more pronounced for ethnic minority women”. The BBC interviewed colleagues at Leeds and Warwick about their experience: www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-46473269. The data from the FOI is damning, and reinforces the urgency of our action to combat the gender pay gap locally at Leeds.
To download the full claim, and for more info, see leedsucu.org.uk/genderpaygap

Vote in upcoming UCU elections

Elections are now running for Vice President and other national positions. The Vice President post is important as this person will go on to be President in 2021-2022. The 3 candidates are Vicky Blake (Leeds!), Jo McNeill (Liverpool) and Adam Ozanne (Manchester). Full details at www.ucu.org.uk/elections. You will receive a ballot paper in the post from the Electoral Reform Society, and voting is by Single Transferable Vote, so you can give a first and second preference. The ballot mailing will include election addresses, but nothing beats hearing the candidates speak and asking them questions! So we have arranged a hustings on Tuesday 12 February 12 noon – 1 pm, in Michael Sadler LG19. Note that the Leeds UCU General Meeting on 10th December passed a motion endorsing and supporting Vicky’s candidacy, see leedsucu.org.uk/members-agree-new-policies-at-general-meeting/#motion5

International Staff Survey

We’re delighted to announce the launch of our anonymous International Staff Survey. It will enable us to have a better understanding of the experience of international staff at Leeds. We hope to gather evidence to inform our local negotiations with the University management and to strengthen the UCU nationally to be more responsive to the concerns of International staff. It takes approximately 10 minutes to answer the survey which you can complete here:
https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/leeds

Student Counselling

We’ve had intensive negotiations, both collectively and individually, to move casualised, sessional student counsellors on to permanent, fractional contracts. We’ve worked constructively with management to get the best outcome possible for our members.

Next UCU Meetings

The next Leeds UCU members meeting is our General Meeting on Wednesday 13th March, noon – 1pm
All members welcome, venue and agenda will come by email.

Solidarity with Queen Margaret UCU strikers

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

We are all with you in solidarity as you strike today to defend jobs and to defend each other. Stand firm! 

You have much to be proud of! Not only have members at Queen Margaret University refused to take any threat of staff cuts lying down, you have also smashed the anti-trade union act 2016’s threshold barrier with 72% turnout! May your pickets be massive, fun, and enlightening for all around you! 

In contrast, Queen Margaret’s senior management should hang their heads in shame. That management prefer to terrorise staff with the threat of the axe rather than to properly explore alternatives with UCU negotiators is a disgrace.

The proposed cuts would steal livelihoods and intensify workload pressure on staff who remain in post. Your local strike is all our fight. Nobody strikes lightly, so as you stand together for jobs, for education, and for decency and hope: know that we are with you. 

In Solidarity,

Vicky Blake (President) on behalf of us all at Leeds UCU

Email to members – 1 February 2019

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

TThe university’s lists system doesn’t seem to be sending this email out to our members – so here is our latest email for all to read!

UCU local news: remember to vote; international members survey; improving the adverse weather policy; lots more!

Dear UCU members – A few brief updates for you:

Strike ballot – remember to vote, don’t be silenced

Need a replacement ballot paper? Want to know how this ballot applies to you? Want to tell us you’ve voted? See our frequently asked questions

Election for UCU national vice president – our Vicky Blake on the ballot paper

The election for UCU national vice president opens on Friday 1 February. Our fantastic president Vicky Blake is one of the candidates. We’re holding a hustings on 12 February at 12pm.

International staff survey

Our international staff survey is live now. It’s open to non-members too, so pass it on to your friends and colleagues! leedsucu.org.uk/international-staff-survey

New adverse weather policy

We’ve made improvements to this policy before the university published it, to emphasise staff health and safety over keeping the university running. You shouldn’t feel pressured to come into work if it’s not safe to. leedsucu.org.uk/unions-improve-new-adverse-weather-policy

Help us beat casualisation and high workloads

We’re looking for more members to join our anti-casualisation working group and our workloads working group. If you might like to get involved, email ucu@leeds.ac.uk

Thanks for your time!

Alan Smith
Branch Administrator  |  UCU University of Leeds Branch

Phone extension 35904  |  0113 343 5904
Room 7.51  |  E C Stoner Building  |  University of Leeds  |  LS2 9JT

leedsucu.org.uk  |  @leedsucu

Dispute over casualisation, equal pay, workload and fair pay

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Your industrial action ballot paper should have arrived shortly after 16 January 2019. It’s vital for our union democracy that you use your vote.

The vote has to be done by post because the government made it illegal to run industrial action ballots online.

Please use your vote – democracy is important
We need to know what the whole membership thinks about taking action, so please vote whatever your view. We’re asking you to tell us locally when you’ve voted (not how you voted) because this will help us get the 50% turnout.

The ballot is open until midday Friday 22nd February.

Why are we balloting again?

Last October Leeds members voted clearly – 70% – to strike over casualisation, gender equality, workload and fair pay, with a turnout of 49%. It was the highest national turnout on a pay ballot in UCU’s history. Only the new anti-trade union law stopped us from striking. We think members should decide, not the government. We’re re-balloting to exceed the 50% legal threshold so that your decision counts. More on this in our Frequently Asked Questions page.

We urge all members to vote Yes to strike and Yes to action short of a strike including a marking boycott.

Requesting replacement ballot paper

If you haven’t received your ballot paper you can request a new one online here. (You will need your membership number). New members should receive one automatically.

We’re asking the employers to work with us nationally to:

  • Tackle the scandal of casualisation (e.g. 65% of Leeds research staff and 36% of teaching only staff are on fixed-term contracts)
  • Recognise and address excessive workloads
  • Take real action on the gender pay gap (22.5% at Leeds)
  • Offer a fair real-terms pay rise (2% doesn’t even cover inflation)

Questions about the dispute?

You can find out more about the dispute on our Frequently Asked Questions page, and in the posts below, and in emails from local or national UCU reps, and by talking to your UCU department rep. You can also follow us on Twitter @leedsucu.

New colleagues who aren’t UCU members?

Please help us to to keep this branch of UCU strong by encouraging new colleagues to join the union at ucu.org.uk/join.

Postgrads who teach can join the union for free: ucu.org.uk/free

Unions improve new adverse weather policy

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by
picket organisers under a pink gazebo in a blizzard

The university has revised its new policy for adverse weather conditions following consultation with trade unions.

UCU, Unison and Unite were consulted on the draft policy, which all three unions agreed over-emphasised the importance of keeping the university running over the safety of staff.

University senior management have made numerous changes to the policy, which now much better emphasises that staff should not risk their safety or health to get to work.

The policy is now on the university website: http://hr.leeds.ac.uk/info/29/leave_other_leave/329/managing_staff_affected_by_adverse_weather_and_disruptions_to_public_transport

This isn’t an agreed policy, but the university has made significant improvements at our request.

UCU’s advice, as usual, is to go into work if you can but don’t be pressured to if you can’t.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Casualisation, Equality, Workload and Pay ballot

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by
Vote! Don't be silenced. Ballot closes midday Friday 22nd February

Where will I find my ballot paper?

It will either be at your home address or at work, depending on which address you chose when you completed your UCU registration or updated your membership record on MyUCU.  Log in to MyUCU to check and or/update this at www.ucu.org.uk/myucu

What is the last date for submitting my ballot paper?

We’d suggest sending it now, but, in order for it to safely arrive in time, we’d recommend sending it by Monday 18th of February.  Postage is pre-paid.

I haven’t received a ballot paper.  How do I request a replacement?

You should have received an email from Matt Waddup, UCU Head Office, on 21st January entitled “Lost ballot paper? Order a replacement”. This contains a personalised link to request a replacement ballot paper.  Or you can fill in the form at https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/HEballot

Why can’t we vote online? I’m sure that would boost numbers significantly. Particularly upset by the large amount of paper used when it could all be online.

We have no choice – voting on paper is a legal requirement.  The Trade Union Act 2016 specifically and deliberately outlawed online voting in industrial disputes, at the same time as requiring a 50% turnout.

What are we trying to achieve? What is the goal?

We want meaningful negotiations with the goal of:

  1. A considerable reduction in the use of casualised contracts
  2. Reducing gender pay inequality
  3. Reducing workloads and work-related stress
  4. Achieving a pay rise that makes up for the real-terms loss of pay since 2009. The 2% we were offered (and which has been imposed) doesn’t even cover one year’s inflation.

The employers have offered nothing at all on the first three points.  The unions have been pushing for progress on these areas for years, without any meaningful progress.  ‘Talks’ get nowhere without action to push the employers to make genuine improvements.

Various issues were conflated in the strikes which again makes it difficult to know what the goal is – was this about pay – or casualization?

It’s simple – we’re just asking for UUK to properly negotiate with us around workload, equality and casualisation, as well as pay.  All of the issues are interlinked, which is why we think that the negotiations need to cover them all.

We are also working at a local level – at Leeds we have submitted a gender pay claim and an anti- casualisation claim (although so far the only response we’ve had to these is to suggest some future meetings). It’s important that there is a national framework for these negotiations so that there are agreements that individual employers can’t opt out of.

Pensions are more important to me than pay – I’d prefer if the union would sort out our pensions first before starting another dispute about pay.

The HE trade unions can’t choose when different issues are discussed – there are different negotiations machineries for different issues. The pay offer had to be responded to at the time, because to do nothing would have meant accepting the first appalling offer. The pensions dispute is still going on because despite the Joint Expert Panel report largely vindicating the UCU position, the USS Board are currently doing another valuation and sounding out the HE employers again about possible changes. University managements will judge the union’s strength by our turnout and willingness to take action in the current dispute.  If we don’t have a good turnout and strong Yes vote, they will feel more able to take further liberties with our pensions.  Similarly what happens in the current ballot will affect the union’s ability to influence any and all future problems.

Why is the union re-balloting?

Last October Leeds members voted clearly (70%) to strike on this dispute, with a turnout of 49%. It was the highest national turnout on a pay ballot in UCU’s history. However, the new anti-trade union law imposed a requirement for a 50% turnout before industrial action can be taken.  We were just short of that, so we were prevented from striking despite a strong yes vote. We think UCU members should decide, not the government. We’re re-balloting to exceed the 50% legal threshold so your decision counts.

I’m not sure if I want to strike, should I abstain?

If you don’t vote, you are effectively voting to stop the rest of membership from being able to take action, because of the 50% turnout rule.  Union democracy is vitally important, we need to know what the whole membership thinks, so please do use your vote. If you don’t think we should strike, vote No to industrial action (but perhaps Yes to action short of a strike?).  Abstaining is not sitting on the fence. It undermines the strength of the union across the board, not only on pay, equality and casualization, but also on pensions, and in the many local issues, disputes and negotiations on which UCU works for its members.

If you are concerned that you can’t afford to lose pay by striking, remember that the union has hardship funds, both nationally and locally, which can provide some financial help. 

Also, and most importantly, remember that the higher the turnout and the higher the Yes vote in this dispute, the more worried the employers will be about a possible strike, and the more likely they will be to come up with a better offer.  Paradoxically, the stronger the vote the less likely we are to actually end up on strike!

I’m on a good grade and happy with my pay.  Why should I strike?

This dispute is not about the pay spine figures alone, though it is clear that pay in higher education has been eroded, and that there is money in the sector to afford a decent pay rise (compare it to what we have been given, which is equivalent to a cut in real terms). There are four, interconnected aspects which affect most people working in higher education: casualisation, equal pay (pay gaps), and workload alongside the rate of pay itself. Remember that colleagues on casualised contracts supported the USS pension strike even though many didn’t qualify for the pension! Many colleagues are given restrictive contracts on a fractional basis which makes it difficult to find work elsewhere – for example, someone on a 0.2 FTE contract who is timetabled to work those hours stretched across a four-day week will struggle to combine those hours with another job (or jobs) to make ends meet.

It’s imperative to remember that a strong vote will show a strong will to act for the collective benefit of all our members, and affects our overall strength as a union. We actually hope we won’t need to strike, but knowing that we are ready to strike and take action short of a strike in defence of pay and conditions gives our negotiators a much stronger hand. If we do not beat the 50% turnout threshold with a strong yes vote, our employers’ representative body will pretend that it can ignore our concerns, despite the enormous levels of dissatisfaction, stress, and precarious work in the sector. This is also about collective strength, solidarity, and bargaining power. We must not allow employers to feel emboldened about pushing through other deleterious changes while hiding behind the turnout threshold as an excuse to silence us. We urge you to vote “yes, yes” and above all, to vote.

UCU seems to be against any change to working conditions whether it is reasonable (in line with common business practice) or not.

Firstly, we’re not a business – we’re an educational institution.  Usual business rules often don’t work in a university environment.  UCU negotiates with management both locally and nationally about the pay and conditions of all our members.  We work on your behalf to get the best possible terms and conditions.  In the past at Leeds we have been able to negotiate good agreements with management, through genuine consultation and discussion.  More recently, there has been a tendency to replace negotiation with last minute information about changes followed by imposition.  And agreed processes are sometimes not followed.  This is not constructive and leads to all sorts of problems and issues, plus a lot of individual casework when particular staff are affected.  The changes in IT at Leeds are a case in point.

Why do we need to take action?

  • Over the last seven years, total income across the sector has increased by 33.1%, operating surpluses by 176.8% and reserves are up by 259%, yet staff costs as a percentage of income have gone down from 54.6% to 52.9%
  • 2016/17 data shows a mean gender pay gap of 11.8% or £5936 per year
  • According to HESA, there at least 50,000 university teaching staff on hourly-paid contracts and at least 12,500 with zero-hours contracts.  66% of research staff are still on fixed-term contracts
  • UCU’s recent workload survey showed that HE staff are working an average of two days unpaid every week

Dispute over casualisation, equal pay, workload and fair pay

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by
Vote! Don't be silenced. Ballot closes midday Friday 22nd February

Your industrial action ballot paper should have arrived shortly after 16 January 2019. It’s vital for our union democracy that you use your vote. Don’t be silenced.

The vote has to be done by post because the government made it illegal to run industrial action ballots online

Why are we balloting again?

Last October Leeds members voted clearly to strike – 70% in favour – over casualisation, gender equality, workload and fair pay. The turnout locally was 49%. It was the highest national turnout on a pay ballot in UCU’s history. The new anti-trade union law stopped us from striking.

We think members should decide, not the government. We’re re-balloting to exceed the 50% legal threshold so your decision counts.

Please use your vote – democracy is important

We need to know what the whole membership thinks about taking action, so please vote whatever your view.
To help us get the turnout needed for our votes to count, please tell UCU when you’ve voted.

The ballot is open until midday Friday 22nd February.

We urge all members to vote Yes to strike and Yes to action short of a strike including a marking boycott.

Requesting replacement ballot paper

If you haven’t received your ballot paper you can request a new one online here. New members should receive one automatically.

We’re asking the employers to work with us nationally to:

  • Tackle the scandal of casualisation (e.g. 65% of Leeds research staff and 36% of teaching only staff are on fixed-term contracts)
  • Recognise and address excessive workloads
  • Real action on the gender pay gap (22.5% at Leeds)
  • A fair real-terms pay rise (2% doesn’t even cover inflation)

Questions about the dispute?

You can find out more about the dispute in our FAQs on this website, at ucu.org.uk, and in emails from local or national UCU reps, and by talking to your UCU department rep. You can also follow us on Twitter @leedsucu.

Want a UCU poster to put on your door/window/noticeboard?

We’d love you to get our posters seen on campus – there are two versions which you can download and print – here and here.

New colleagues who aren’t UCU members?

Please help us to to keep this branch of UCU strong by encouraging new colleagues to join the union at ucu.org.uk/join.

Postgrads who teach can join the union for free: ucu.org.uk/free 

Keep your details up-to-date

Need to update your details? Use ‘My UCU’ on ucu.org.uk (top of that page)

On long-term leave so not able to strike? Please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk to let us know. (This is important).

We need action – how and why!

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Email sent to all members 25 January 2019

Dear Members,

This email contains important information about our live UK-wide ballot, free pizza, and the upcoming UK-wide UCU elections. We’ve recently lodged our branch [anti-casualisation claim] and pushing hard for further progress over our branch equal pay claim. We will be pursuing further meetings about the significant problems in IT, and continuing with quite a volume of individual and collective casework. We’re all working hard as a branch, and it makes me ever proud to be Leeds UCU – but that’s not why I am emailing you today…

In this email:

  • Ballot Day! + pre-meeting for Postgraduate Members (5 Feb, 12pm, free pizza!)
  • Why is there so much we have to POST by snail mail?
  • Why the Casualisation, Equal Pay, Fair Pay + Workload ballot matters
  • What about USS?

Ballot Celebration Day 5 February, Refectory Entrance

Tuesday 5th February – Ballot Day! Come for a free slice of pizza and an “I’ve voted” sticker to celebrate union democracy in the casualisation, gender equality, workload and fair pay dispute. We’ll be in the Refectory entrance from 12 – 1pm. If you haven’t voted yet, there is a post box just there so you can post your ballot paper immediately. If you’re not sure how you want to vote, come and have a chat first. We’ll also be talking about how our local gender pay and anti-casualisation claims connect to the UK-wide bargaining strategy.

Postgrad? Drop in before the event to chat in more detail about how the current UK-wide ballot and the local anti-casualisation claim directly affect you. We’ll be there from 11.30-12 – you’ll be there early for the hottest picks of the free pizza!

Why postal votes?

The restrictive Trade Union Act 2016 further obstructs effective and democratic trade union organising in the 21st Century (the UK has the most restrictive TU laws in Europe!). By law, ballots over trade disputes have to be conducted by post. UCU opposes these laws, but until they are changed, we are bound by them. There are two postal votes to be aware of:

  1. All members are asked to vote in the very important ballot over Casualisation, Equal Pay, Fair Pay + Workload. You should have received your ballot paper by now (if not, you can request a new one [here] or by clicking the personalised link in your email from HQ dated 21/1/19)
  2. We all need to vote in national UCU elections which will open on 1 February (votes need to be received by 1 March). We will have local hustings for Vice Presidential candidates on 12th February (12 noon) – more detail on this meeting soon!

Why this Ballot Matters
UCU has repeatedly called for meaningful action on insecure contracts, pay gaps, unrealistic and unfair assumptions about workloads, and on the declining value of pay in the sector as a whole. Prior to the introduction of anti-democratic 50% ballot turnout thresholds in 2016, our vote in favour of action for fair and equal pay, secure work and decent workloads would bea cause for celebration and our employers would have been reeling. Only the legislation protects our employers from having to deal with palpable anger in our sector over what are termed “pay and pay related matters”. So, we are balloting again and we need everyone to vote. We ask you all to vote “Yes, Yes” this time for willingness to strike and take action short of a strike. If you’re not sure how to vote, please get in touch or come along to a meeting (eg on 5 Feb, with pizza!) but most of all, please vote: do not let our union’s democratic voice be silenced.

How does this all work?

We have UK-wide collective bargaining agreements over “pay and pay related matters” in the higher education sector, which means all branches in UCU can stand and act together. This makes us stronger. Collective bargaining was lost in our sister sector, further education, where pay has eroded even more rapidly. As we fight to regain UK-wide bargaining in FE, we fight to protect in in HE. 

“JNCHES” is the bargaining mechanism through which UCU and other unions recognised in higher education negotiate for what are termed “pay” and “pay related matters”. Every year, all higher education unions come together to formulate a joint claim, and UCU has been instrumental in insisting that “pay related matters” be extended to include casualisation, equal pay (pay gaps), and workload, alongside the “headline” rates of pay. Our [branch report] on the special Higher Education Sector Conference on pay in November 2018 includes a brief explanation JNCHES.

All four of pillars of our Casualisation, Equal Pay, Fair Pay, and Workload claim are connected. There is strong appetite for action among members of UCU. We need all members to be very clear about the issues we face:

  • We need a strong voter turnout in this ballot to maintain the credibility of UCU as a force with a democratic voice, and to smash the anti-union 50% threshold
  • We need a strong vote for “Yes, Yes” in this ballot to exert maximum pressure on our employers, strengthening the hands of our national negotiators to extract progress on all issues in the claim

Without a “valid” ballot result, our employers can effectively ignore our collective voice on the very issues which affect members most. This will impact other disputes, including USS.

A strong turnout and a strong “Yes, Yes” vote in this ballot will mean our employers have to negotiate properly with us (represented collectively by UCEA for pay and pay-related negotiations). Without it, they will continue as they have done, claiming as they are wont to do that they have no mandate to negotiate on issues outside of the overall pay rate, and offering such an insulting sub-inflationary pay rise as they’d be more honest to name it for what it is: a pay cut in real terms.

Senior managements constantly cite concerns of a risky, uncertain future of our sector. We heard the management cry of alleged near-helplessness during the USS dispute, but we see that our employers do seem able to drive the kinds of change that favour shiny new buildings, but which too often leave the people behind. In fact, many members already face a risky, uncertain future, because they are employed on a precarious contract! While there are challenges (Brexit, the hostile environment, and more) our employers often neglect to emphasise the power and agency they do hold as a collective group, to effect and influence change. Imagine a future where university “leaders” took a progressive approach to all the issues tied together in our current pay and equality claim. UK higher education would flourish.

What about USS?

We all received a ten-point update email from UCU HQ on USS yesterday. We also recommend reading this thread written up by our favourite mathematician and USS negotiator Sam Marsh explaining where we are right now: [Important USS thread]

The next meeting of the Higher Education Committee is on 15 February, where USS will be on the agenda. If any members would like to feed comments directly to me in advance of that meeting, please do get in touch (bear in mind my deadline to submit motions, of which I’m allowed to send 2, is 8 Feb!)

In Solidarity, forever!

Vicky and Committee

Don’t be silenced

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by
Vote! Don't be silenced. Ballot closes midday Friday 22nd February

Last October Leeds members voted clearly to strike – 70% in favour – over casualisation, gender equality, workload and fair pay. But the anti-trade union law stopped us from striking, silencing our democratic voice as a union.

The turnout locally was 49%. It was the highest national turnout on a pay ballot in UCU’s history. But the law brought in by the government in 2016 requires a 50% turnout, while things which would make it easier for people to vote, online voting or workplace ballot boxes, it keeps illegal.

The government has no real interest in trade union democracy, it wants low turnouts so that trade unions don’t strike

We think members should decide what we do as a trade union, not the government. We’re re-balloting to exceed the 50% legal threshold so your decision counts.

Both the national and local elected committees are recommending that members vote vote YES to strike action and YES to action short of a strike because we think strike action is needed to make the national employers body take our concerns seriously. At the moment they are refusing to have meaningful talks on any of these issues at a national level.

However you vote, please use your vote. Don’t be silenced.