Anti-casualisation

Leeds UCU is working hard to end casualised contracts in UK Higher Education. We think everyone at Leeds and other institutions should have a secure job, and that it is unacceptable that people live without knowing if they will be able to pay their rent or not due to precarious working conditions. Through our Anti-casualisation roadshow, Ignition (October 2018), the subsequent Anti-casualisation claim (January 2019) and our broader campaigns for fair pay we have highlighted the challenges faced by precariously employed staff and research students on teaching contracts and demanded the university pay attention.

To keep in touch with anti-casualisation news more broadly, follow Leeds Anticasualisation news @casualsleeds and nationally @UCUAnti_Cas.  (The hashtag #zinesagainstprecarity may also be of interest as contains some great creative critiques of the current state of UK HE.)

The national UCU news on Anti-casualisation can be found here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/anticasnews

We submitted our anti-casualisation claim to the University of Leeds in January 2019. Full details at: leedsucu.org.uk/ucu-anti-casualisation-claim-submitted-to-university-of-leeds

See below for present information and links concerning anti-casualisation.


This page was last updated on 22 February 2021

Slides for students about the industrial action

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

If you teach you may want to use these these slides to give students a quick overview of about UCU, the dispute and the industrial action.

PowerPoint format; pdf format (7 page, 12MB); image format: slide 1, slide 2, slide 3, slide 4, slide 5, slide 6, slide 7; text only format below images.

  • slide 1: A quick guide to UCU 4 fights & pensions for students. Leeds UCU edition
  • Before we start. What is a UNION? It’s where people who work at the same place, or do the same trade, join together to make a democratic collective, to help them to negotiate safe working conditions, fair pay and a decent and equal place to work. What is UCU? University and College Union is the union of academic staff, including postgraduate students who teach, and university staff in professional and managerial roles, at the University of Leeds and universities and colleges across the UK.
  • What happens during strikes? We withhold our labour, we don't work at all during strike days., We don't get paid for the days we strike. We hold physical and virtual 'picket' lines. We stand outside our workplace to tell others why we are striking
  • Why are we striking? 4 fights: 1. inequality 2. casualisation 3.workload 4.below inflation pay rise. 17% racial pay gap 15.1% gender pay gap 9% disability pay gap 68% of research staff are on casualised contracts
  • USS pensions. The less you are paid the less goes in your pension. UUK voted to cut ££££ from our retirement benefits representing an annual guaranteed pension cut of 35% for a typical member
  • What do we want? End the pay gaps, £10 minimum per-hour wage for all contract types Move from hourly to fractional contracts Eliminate precarious employment 35 hrs a week as standard working week continue with our current pension scheme Reminders, We don't take the decision lightly. We don't get paid while on strike. Students can help by telling senior management to engage in meaningful negotiations.
  • Strike days: Dec 1, Dec 2, Dec 3 Don't forget: Make your voices be heard, Our working conditions are your learning conditions, We didn't come to this decision lightly, We ask management to donate our lost wages to Leeds Student Hardship Fund, Donate to our strike fund. Follow us on social media twitter: @leedsucu tiktok @leedsucu webpage: www.leedsucu.org.uk

Text only format

A QUICK GUIDE TO UCU, 4 FIGHTS & PENSIONS FOR STUDENTS, Leeds UCU edition

BEFORE WE START

What is a UNION?

It’s where people who work at the same place, or do
the same trade, join together to make a democratic
collective, to help them to negotiate safe working
conditions, fair pay and a decent and equal place to
work.

What is UCU?

University and College Union is the union of academic
staff, including postgraduate students who teach,
and university staff in professional and managerial
roles, at the University of Leeds and universities and
colleges across the UK.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING
STRIKES?

  1. We withhold our labour, we don’t work at all
  2. during strike days.
  3. We don’t get paid for the days we strike.
  4. We hold physical and virtual ‘picket’ lines: we stand outside our workplace to tell others why we are striking

WHY ARE WE STRIKING?

4 fights

  1. INEQUALITY
  2. CASUALISATION
  3. WORKLOAD
  4. Below inflation pay rise
  • 17% racial pay gap
  • 15.1% gender pay gap
  • 9% disability pay gap
  • 68% of research staff are on casualised contracts

USS pensions

UUK voted to cut ££££ from our retirement benefits representing an annual guaranteed pension cut of 35% for a typical member.

THE LESS YOU ARE PAID THE LESS GOES IN YOUR PENSION

What do we want?

  • End the pay gaps
  • £10 minimum per-hour wage for all contract types
  • Move from hourly to fractional contracts
  • Eliminate precarious employment
  • 35 hrs a week as standard working week
  • continue with our current pension scheme

Reminders

  • We don’t take the decision lightly.
  • We don’t get paid while on strike.
  • Students can help by telling senior management to engage in meaningful negotiations.

DON’T FORGET!

  • Make your voices be heard
  • Our working conditions are your learning conditions
  • We didn’t come to this decision lightly
  • We ask management to donate our lost wages to Leeds Student Hardship Fund
  • Donate to our strike fund

STRIKE DAYS

1 DEC, 2 DEC, 3 DEC

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter @leedsucu
TikTok @leedsucu
website www.leedsucu.org.uk

This page was last updated on 23 November 2021

Industrial action: December strike days announced

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Following members’ vote for industrial action, three strike days have been called for December 2021:

  • Wednesday 1 December
  • Thursday 2 December
  • Friday 3 December

More on the UCU national website at https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11872/Universities-to-be-hit-with-three-days-of-strikes-in-December

More details to follow.

Strike rally on Parkinson steps with Leeds Student Staff Solidarity banner

This page was last updated on 16 November 2021

Ballots || USS, Four Fights and Casualisation

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

An overview of how issues and experiences of casualisation resonate with the issues we are balloting over from joint branch casualisation officers Joanne Armitage and Xanthe Whittaker. If you are a casualised member and would like to talk about striking whilst casualised, please contact Joanne or Xanthe.

Four Fights 

The Four Fights dispute encompasses concerns around pay, equality, workload and casualisation. It demands the fair treatment of staff across the sector and these issues all intersect. Casualisation is right at the centre of this dispute. Insecure employment exacerbates issues of equality and fair pay. Fixed-term and hourly-paid contracts are often used to fill up leaky parts of workloads leading to fragmented teaching. Casualised staff get paid less and promotions are more difficult.

Around 50% of teaching-only staff are precariously employed and 68% of researchers. UCU notes that these figures are not improving and there are currently 75,000 members of staff employed on casualised contracts in HE.

Those of us who are precariously employed are well aware of how casualisation feels; it affects our lives and sense of self. But the culture of casualisation erodes rights, protections and security for all staff. Casualisation can make it feel really difficult to complain! Demand better workloads! More pay!

****Vote YES! for secure work****

USS Pension Dispute

What do casualised workers stand to lose? 

* Staff on casual contracts and early career academics will be the most affected by proposed changes to USS; will have a greater proportion of our pension across our career subject to these worse conditions.

* Employee contribution increases will make the scheme even less affordable for more staff on insecure contracts and low pay. Already many casualised staff choose to opt out of the USS scheme

What about intergenerational fairness?

* High rates of opt-out among casualised workers already reflects an unfairness to those on insecure contracts, who face further insecurity in retirement if they have no access to a pension. For some, retirement may be pushed out of reach. Staff who opt out are already losing that part of their income which is made up of the employer contribution to pensions.

* How is the issue of intergenerational fairness resolved by offering early career staff a worse pension scheme? We need a healthy scheme—which USS demonstrably is—that continues to provide defined benefits to all generations, and a stop to the employee contribution hikes which are pricing people out of USS.

* Finally , addressing job insecurity would mean far less reluctance among people to join a scheme when their future in the sector is so uncertain.

Central to UCUs negotiating position on USS is ensuring that USS is accessible and affordable to casualised and low income workers with a plan that would manage the scheme and protect defined benefit pensions even for new entrants.

****Vote YES! for a fair and affordable pension scheme****

In solidarity,

Joanne and Xanthe

Email sent to branch members 27 October 2021 by joint branch anti-casualisation officers Joanne Armitage and Xanthe Whittaker

This page was last updated on 30 October 2021

Dispute meeting 22 October

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

– a chance to ask national negotiators

Want to know the latest on our two disputes (Four Fights and USS)? Want to ask the UCU negotiators something? Not sure what we want to achieve by taking action?

Come along to our members meeting on Friday 22 October, 1-2 pm (Zoom link in an email from Chloe).  Send your questions in advance, get involved!

Friday’s meeting is for discussion (no motions will be submitted or debated). Robyn Orfitelli from Sheffield (UCU ‘pay and related matters’ negotiator), Deepa Govindarajan Driver from Reading (UCU pensions negotiator) and Vicky Blake (UCU President), will be joining us to give us a brief update and answer your questions.  Please submit questions in advance if you can, using the form in Chloe’s email, which will help the presenters. You can of course raise questions from the floor as well. As this is a disputes meeting it will not be recorded so if you want to ask a question please attend the meeting – and please encourage others to do so as well.

There will also probably be a local meeting in your school or service – look out for a message from your departmental rep – and they will greatly appreciate your help in talking to colleagues and encouraging everyone to vote. It is crucial that everyone plays their part in union democracy by voting in the ballots.

Ballot papers should have arrived by Thursday 21st October, to the address you have on myUCU which for most people will hopefully be your home address. (Remember, trade union law says balloting must be done by post rather than electronically). If you do not receive your ballot paper, there will be a form on the UCU website from Friday 22nd October to order a new ballot paper to be sent.   FAQs about the ballot are at https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11810/GTVO-HE-ballots-2021

This is a short ballot period – the closing date is 4th November at noon, but realistically you should plan to get your ballot in the post by 1st November to ensure it arrives in time. A first class reply envelope is provided.  So get those ballots in the post asap, and encourage your colleagues to vote too. We hope to have the result by Monday 8th November. The branch will hold an Emergency General Meeting at1pm on Tuesday 9th November to discuss the outcome of the ballot and consider next steps. We understand that we will have the opportunity as a branch to feed into national decisions about, for example, the nature and extent of industrial action, and this meeting is how we will decide what our position is – so please put the date in your calendar now (link will follow nearer the time) and come and make your voice heard.

Further information:

Vote now! Vote #YesYesYesYes!

You can download some ballot graphics (including the infographic below) here: www.leedsucu.org.uk/ballots-graphics-to-download

This page was last updated on 22 October 2021

UCU Update

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Email from Leeds UCU Branch President to members 11th October 2021

I hope that this (somewhat exhausting) term is treating you well. In this email I wanted to briefly give you an account of what union officers have been doing on your behalf in relation to some of the issues on which we are currently campaigning.

  1. Anti-casualisation campaign. In January 2022  it will be three years since we put in our local anti-casualisation claim to the university – you can find the text of the claim here. Since that time, we have taken strike action in support of our national claim. We have heard occasional warm words from management, but across the university staff on fixed term contracts have continued to be made redundant, or made to apply for what are effectively their own jobs. Worryingly, over the summer, a new form of contract, known as an ongoing annualised contract, was introduced (without trade union consultation) which manages to make already precarious employees even more precarious, by requiring them to commit to an ongoing contract with a tiny number of guaranteed of hours, no clear progression or and, it seems, no access to the redeployment register. Officers have spent many hours in discussion with HR, leading to a situation where a major project on ‘contract types’ has been defined which is likely to take many months. Management have explicitly refused to commit to using this process to reduce the use of precarious contracts within our University. Caseworkers have supported staff in seeking permanent or extended contracts, an often distressing process exacerbated by the stress which job insecurity creates: casualisation, we are regularly reminded, is a health and safety issue. Whatever words we might hear from management, as we approach a ballot on a dispute in which our national anti-casualisation will take centre stage, we need action now to support staff currently casualised, as well as strategic planning for the future and and we are not seeing it.
  2. Workload. Reps and members are reporting unprecedented levels of workload and associated stress and ill health. Again, we have taken national strike action on this matter and thought it could not get worse – but it did. What was required of us all during the pandemic was excessive and in many cases unreasonable. And yet there was more to come. Chronic failure properly to staff services such as IT and the Student Education Service, which campus trades unions have been protesting for years, is harming staff in those services and having a knock on effect elsewhere, particularly in areas impacted by massive over recruitment of undergraduates. The causes of that over recruitment were  not within the control of the University: the fact that the Schools and Services on the frontline of this crisis are already exhausted, have been unable to take sufficient annual leave and are in many cases understaffed, could have been avoided. Also within the control of management is the introduction of new systems and process, and requirement to engage in major strategic developments on top of already excessive workloads. Our management have failed to take responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their staff, and we need to see urgent action now. We are currently seeking discussions with management on this matter.
  3. Response to the COVID-19 situation. As most of us are now aware, the change of policy on face coverings was introduced too late, poorly communicated and compliance is too low. We were promised a series of FAQs for staff around how to approach and enforce this policy, which, by the end of week 2, has still not materialised. Many universities in England are doing better that this to protect their staff and students – government guidance is clearly not the barrier. I note again that the people suffering most from this are those who have, or live with people who have, clinical vulnerabilities, who are telling us that they feel now they have to choose between protecting themselves from COVID-19 and the benefits of some renewed in-person contact with colleagues and students, which is making a huge difference for some of us in mental health terms. This is not what an inclusive University looks like. 

All of these issues are causing stress and distress right now to staff across the University. The answer to this should not be individualised: it is a sign of a broken institution and a broken sector, and the answer is to fix what is broken. I do want to acknowledge the incredibly important work done to support staff by colleagues in Staff Counselling and Occupational Health. Both services accept self referrals and are available if you just want a one-off informal conversation, as well as more sustained support, so please do make use of them if you need to.

Many thanks to all those who attended our General Meeting on Thursday 7th October – we set some important policy as well as changing some of our rules. You will see from those motions particular concerns about wholesale and anti-democratic changes to our University governance structures, and serious concern about the University’s willingness to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to the Climate Crisis. We will be in touch with you with more details and information about what you can do to fight back.

One thing that you can do, of course, is to prepare yourself to vote in the industrial action ballots, due to start on 18th October. I emailed you with more information about this on 23rd September. We will be holding some non-motion focused members meetings to discuss and answer your questions, including one for migrant members, and one for fixed term and hourly paid staff. Please watch out for more information on this. If you haven’t already, ensure that your address and phone number are up to date on MyUCU, prepare yourself to vote – and to let us know when you have voted, so that the branch can do everything we can to get the 50% turnout required by anti-union legislation and show management that we mean business.

In solidarity

Chloe
Dr Chloe Wallace
President, Leeds University UCU
Associate Professor in Law
School of Law
University of Leeds
Co-Director, Centre for Innovation and Research in Legal Education
Programme Leader, School of Law 4 year programmes
@chloew1970

This page was last updated on 11 October 2021

USS and Four Fights disputes (and a bit on facecoverings)

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

UCU is balloting over strike action on USS pensions and on pay, casualisation, workloads and equality (‘four fights’). Branch president Chloe Wallace is asking members to check your account details ready for a postal ballot at home, and to prepare to vote. Chloe’s email to members, copied below, also mentions initial responses the university’s improved guidance on face coverings.

Dear members 

I hope everyone is staying safe and well. This is an email primarily about the announcement received a couple of days ago about national ballots on the Four Fights and Pensions. I want to try briefly to pre-empt some of your questions and say something about what we will be doing here at Leeds. I will, however, add a paragraph at the end about the University position on face coverings as I have had a number of emails on that. That will make this a long email – I’d be grateful, however, if you could take the time to read it as it may help clarify what is going on. 

The Union nationally has now established trade disputes with all relevant HE employers in the UK, including, of course, the University of Leeds. This is following decisions taken at a Special Higher Education Sector Conference, attended by branch delegates from across the country.  You can find a copy of the letter sent to Universities on USS here  and on the Four Fights here  

I strongly recommend having a look at those letters, because they set out in clear terms what UCU’s demands are. I know that understanding the specificity of what we are seeking is important to you and that, perhaps particularly in relation to the pensions dispute, this can seem unclear. However, it is clearly spelt out in these letters what the employers need to do to resolve these disputes and avoid the massive disruption of industrial action. If you would like more detail on the claims in the Four Fights dispute, on workload, casualization, equality and pay, you can find that it in the formal claim document here

Our next step is to ballot for industrial action. The ballot will open on 18th October and run for just over 2 weeks. Under the 2016 Trade Union Act – a piece of Tory legislation explicitly designed to weaken trade unions by limiting our industrial power – a number of legal restrictions exist on this ballot. It must be conducted by post, not online; to be valid, 50% or more of eligible members must vote; and 50% of those voting must vote Yes to proposed action. You will be asked to vote separately on each dispute (USS, and Four Fights) and to vote on willingness to strike and to take action short of a strike. The ballot paper will need to state the range of actions short of a strike which may be proposed (e.g. marking boycott, work to contract, refusal to do voluntary work) but will not specify precisely which ones will be used and when, and will not specify strike days or how many days of action will initially be called. The decision as to when and for how long we strike and what action short of a strike we take will be taken after the ballot results are known by the Unions national Higher Education Committee. Once the ballot closes, 2 weeks notice of industrial action needs to be given to employers – this means that the earliest we can take action is the latter half of November. The ballot mandate remains in place for 6 months. 

These rules are tough, but UCU has defied them time and time again, both for national and local disputes. Many branches have achieved a successful ballot outcome over the last 18 months, so remote or hybrid working is not an obstacle – it just means we have to do things a bit differently. Leeds University is one of the strongest, most engaged and active branches in the country and I have no doubt we can do it. But every vote counts- there are numerous examples of branches missing the turnout threshold by single figures of votes. So I am asking all members to take the following actions now: 

1. Check your details on MyUCU and in particular ensure your postal address is right. We have been recommending for a while that you make sure your recorded postal address is your home address and we believe most of you have done this but double check anyway, particularly if you have recently moved home.

2. Commit to voting now. We are a democratic trade union and industrial action ballots are a key expression of that. Not voting prevents the union from acting and effectively silences the voices of those who do vote. A strong turnout helps us both nationally and locally – officers and negotiators need your power behind us. 

3. Inform yourself to decide how to vote. There will be a lot of emails, both nationally and locally, and I know all too well how hard that is to manage, but informed choice is at the heart of democracy. There will be national events going on. At Leeds we will be holding non-motion focused meetings on the different issues in the dispute for you to hear what the issues are, ask questions, and learn how industrial action will help us win. There will also be local meetings called by local reps, to allow you to meet other members in your area and build solidarity.  

Above all, please prepare to fight. No-one wants this, and it remains open to our employers across the UK to take the very simple steps needed to stop this from happening.  But if they won’t, we need to fight to win, to protect our working conditions, pay and pensions, to stamp out casualization and inequality, and to save our sector, and the health and wellbeing of all within it. Vote, and vote yes.  

 Face coverings 

As promised, due to the number of emails I have had about the new university position on face coverings, a few responses. What I am hearing is that it is better but not good enough and I agree. A number of people have asked about the wording that “No-one will be denied access to a teaching event for not wearing a face covering” This reflects what is stated in the latest government guidance for England, which is frankly incoherent. However, a number of universities have gone further and mandated facecoverings, including in teaching spaces, and we do not see why Leeds cannot do the same. If you are wondering what is happening around the country, a member at Sussex UCU, Andrew Chitty, is keeping a running account here   We are awaiting further clarity in the form of FAQs about, for example, what to do if a student refuses. And we note that all of this change is  happening far too late.  We will be discussing next steps at our General Meeting on 7th October – please come along and make your voice heard.  

In solidarity

Dr Chloe Wallace

Associate Professor in Law
School of Law
University of Leeds

Co-Director, Centre for Innovation and Research in Legal Education
Programme Leader, School of Law 4 year programmes

President, Leeds University UCU

@chloew1970

This page was last updated on 24 September 2021

News update – lots of things

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Email to members Friday 30 July 2021

This is your final email from me as Leeds UCU President.  Chloe Wallace will be your brilliant new President from 1st August!

I wanted to update you on a number of things.

Health and safety, and return to campus

UCU continues to be concerned that the campus unions are not involved in the ‘Transitional Ways of Working’ and ‘Future Ways of Working’ groups, which are making decisions on how/when/who/where the return to campus should happen, and about future working arrangements. So we are having to react and raise concerns rather than working in partnership to ensure the best outcomes for staff and students which is a shame. We have repeatedly called for a cautious approach to the relaxing of rules on things like face coverings and social distancing, and this seems to have been taken on board to some extent. UCU has called for students to be strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, and for the government to make vaccines available to all students (but UCU does not support compulsion, see https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11688/UCU-responds-to-reports-of-compulsory-vaccines-for-students). We understand that talks are underway to set up a vaccine centre on campus and that the lateral flow testing centre will continue. If you need Covid home testing kits, you can pick them up from campus or locally, see https://coronavirus.leeds.ac.uk/tests-and-vaccinations/free-asymptomatic-testing-centres-on-campus/. 

As always, if you have health and safety concerns about working on campus, either because you feel arrangements in your area are or might become unsafe, or because you are concerned about your personal risk, contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk for support.

Annual leave

Yet again we’re hearing reports that staff in some departments have been told they cannot carry forward annual leave, or that it is restricted to ‘exceptional circumstances’. The annual leave policy does not say this and we have successfully challenged such edicts in a number of areas. Please get in touch with ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you are having problems with carry forward. 

I do hope though that you are able to take some time off over the next month or so, and that you have a lovely time, everyone deserves a good break after the difficult and hard working times we’ve had in the last 18 months.

Workloads

We know that workload is a huge issue for many members. A sub group of our negotiating body JCUU (the Joint Committee of the University and the UCU) has been set up to work on this, and first signs are encouraging. Management can see from many posts in the Big Conversation that it’s not just a few union people making a fuss, unreasonable and growing workloads are common and are causing many problems. UCU is being consulted on new workload models in some areas, and we hope we can push for significant improvements.

Anti-casualisation

As you know we’ve been working on this with HR for some time. Progress is awfully slow, but in some areas we’ve managed to successfully challenge jobs advertised as fixed term, and to get some members moved onto permanent posts. We also know there’s a lot more to do, and new problems keep coming up (eg ridiculously low “annualised hours” contracts), so we’ll continue to challenge, and will continue those negotiations into next year.

Equality

Megan Povey and I were elected as joint Equality Officer at the AGM, and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in to equality work. We’ll be holding meetings of the Equality Working Group in the new term, and would greatly welcome more members to get involved. I’m particularly conscious that we need to work on racism, and would appreciate any black members and members of colour who would be willing to have a chat about what we could be working on. Please email me.

USS pensions

If you contribute to a USS pension you’ll have received an email from USS “Your valuation questions answered” which I found frankly insulting. Sadly, UUK do not seem willing to join UCU in challenging the 2020 valuation, and want to proceed with detrimental changes – increased contributions, lower pension benefits, and a two-tier scheme which would disadvantage early career members. See this FAQ https://www.ucu.org.uk/uss-faqs  A group of USS scheme members from UCU have put in a official complaint to USS which some of you may have signed in January. USS have rejected their concerns, so the group are now submitting a second letter to USS’s Internal Dispute Resolution process stage 2 – please read and sign it here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFswaq9XAcaLgG6BDl3eXrpd5_3mHx0rNGUY_nV0-0DZ1jNg/viewform. (If you signed the original complaint you will have been emailed about this already by Neil Davies from Bristol). They are also crowdfunding a legal challenge which I’d encourage you to contribute to if you can, see https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-pensions-and-planet/ 

The Four Fights dispute

Negotiations on ‘pay and related matters’ with university employers for 2021-22 have been going on for some while. The latest ‘offer’ is 1.5% pay increase (less than inflation, and following a 0% pay rise was imposed last year) together with ‘working groups’ (nothing concrete) on casualisation, equality and workloads. This is very disappointing, especially after we were starting to make progress as a result of the 2019-2020 industrial action. Our sister union Unison are balloting for industrial action now, and UCU has a Higher Education Sector Conference in September to discuss our next steps on this and USS.

… which leads neatly to …

Branch EGM 20th August 1-2 pm

Please come along to this branch meeting to discuss the two disputes.  The deadline for motions to this meeting has passed, and the agenda will be circulated soon.  This is your chance to have a say on next steps in these disputes, so please put the date in your diary and come long if you can. I won’t be chairing but I’ll be there, so I look forward to seeing you.

In solidarity and with hope for a better year ahead,

Cheers,

Ben

Ben Plumpton
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
University of Leeds UCU President (for a very short while longer!)

This page was last updated on 11 August 2021

Extraordinary General Meeting Friday 20 August – ‘Four Fights’ & USS

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This is advance notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the branch to consider a single issue – our disputes over Four Fights (“pay and related matters” i.e. pay, casualisation, workload and equality) and USS pensions – and in particular, to discuss any motions which the branch might want to send to the next UCU Higher Education Sector Conference (HESC) on Thursday 9 September.  Apologies that holding an EGM in August is not great timing when many people might be taking annual leave, but it had to be held in August to meet deadlines set by UCU centrally for receipt of motions to HESC.

Our EGM will be held on Friday 20th August from 1-2 pm, online using Zoom. The meeting link will be circulated nearer the time. The EGM was called, to discuss this one issue, by request of your branch committee at its meeting today, Tuesday 20th July. The deadline for motions to the EGM is 10 am on Friday 30th July. (Motions on other issues can be submitted to the first normal General Meeting of the next academic year, once the date for that is notified to members).

The previous Higher Education Sector Conference (HESC) on 2 June resolved to reject UCEA’s 2021-22 offer (on pay and related matters) and to formally enter into dispute. It also agreed to ballot for industrial action over the Four Fights, and to ballot for industrial action over USS if “the employers have not joined UCU to pressure USS and the pension regulator to cancel the 2020 valuation and use an evidence-based moderately prudent approach in 2021”. This next conference on 9 September will decide on how we approach balloting, when we ballot, and whether to link the two disputes. If you would like to submit a motion on this topic, but are unsure how best to word it to go forward to a UCU UK wide conference, get in touch with the branch via ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

I’m sure you remember, just before the pandemic we were taking industrial action over our two disputes, the Four Fights and USS pensions. That action was beginning to have a real impact in negotiations, but then the pandemic happened. UCU paused our disputes, but the issues we were fighting over haven’t gone away, and indeed have got worse over the last 15 months. There’s a strong feeling across the union, as seen at the recent UCU Congress, that we can’t continue to accept dire pay offers, no progress on the other three issues, and more detrimental changes to USS pensions. We must take a stand. Come along to the EGM and have your democratic input into how we do that.

For more information see:

– Details of 2021-22 negotiations over pay and related matters (“new JNCHES”) see https://ucu.org.uk/he2021 

– Outcome of 2020-21 negotiations over pay and related matters (zero pay rise, very little progress on casualisation, workloads and equality) see https://ucu.org.uk/he2020 

– FAQ on proposed USS pension changes see https://www.ucu.org.uk/uss-faqs

– Motions passed at UCU Higher Education Sector Conference 2 June, including motions on balloting for industrial action, see https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11596/Higher-education-sector-conference-2021

Note also that one of our sister unions on campus, Unison, are already balloting over the summer for industrial action over pay.

Hope you manage to get some rest and relaxation this summer, despite everything. 

In solidarity and with hope for a better year ahead,

Cheers,

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

Email sent to branch members 20 July 2021

This page was last updated on 21 July 2021

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

This page was last updated on 7 July 2021

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.

This page was last updated on 5 July 2021