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UCU University of Leeds Branch

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Joint unions meeting on pay 15th October

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 11 October 2019 by Alan Smith14 October 2019

The pay, casualisation, equality and workloads dispute is a joint one with the other Higher Education trade unions. At the University of Leeds, we have two sister unions, Unison and Unite, who represent support staff, and all three unions are balloting for industrial action in this dispute.

We’ve organised a joint meeting to discuss the issues on Tuesday 15th October, 12 – 1, in Chemistry lecture theatre D (G35).

Hope to see you there!

UCU refers to this dispute as the ‘Four Fights’ (pay, casualisation, equality and workloads) – these four issues are interlinked. The detailed claim includes:

  • A pay increase of RPI plus 3% or a minimum increase of £3,349 (whichever is greater).
  • A 35 hour working week for all.
  • Action to close the gender pay gap, and to work on closing the ethnic pay gap, taking account of the ways in which intersectionality affects pay and grading.
  • A framework to eliminate precarious employment practices by universities, including ending zero hours contracts and moving hourly paid staff onto fractional contracts.
  • Nationally-agreed payment to recognise excessive workloads.


You can read the unions’ claim to the employers in full here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10185/UCUBAN54-HE-pay-claim-2019-20/pdf/UCUBAN54.pdf

UCU has urged the employers to stop spinning and start talking. All three unions are urging their members to vote YESYES in this dispute, to show the employers that these are issues that staff care deeply about and which need to be properly addressed. If you haven’t returned your ballot papers yet, please do so as soon as possible (the ballot closes on 30 October). For any queries about the ballot please check our ballots FAQ.

This page was last updated on 14 October 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Equality, Pay, Workload

Two ballots – vote now!

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 16 September 2019 by Alan Smith6 November 2019

Your ballot papers should have arrived – look out for a white A4 envelope with the UCU logo. If you can’t find it, request a new one at www.ucu.org.uk/ballotrequest  (deadline Wednesday 23 October 12 noon). For queries about the ballot process please check our ballots FAQ.

LAST DATE TO POST YOUR BALLOTS IS MONDAY 28 OCTOBER to get there by the deadline Wednesday 30 October. Best to post them before then to be safe.

Please vote – don’t let that envelope disappear under the piles on your desk! It’s really important to have your democratic say, and your union needs to know what you think.

The two disputes are linked. Inequality and casualisation in employment lead to inequality in retirement. Pay stagnation will reduce our incomes in retirement as well as squeezing us right now. Increased pension contributions mostly wipe out the tiny pay increase that has been imposed.

Four fights dispute

We were not impressed by the employers response to our annual pay and conditions claim. Pay inequality, casualisation, and excessive workloads are all significant problems at Leeds, as elsewhere. We had hoped that this year, the employers’ side (represented by UCEA) would negotiate sensible national agreements on these issues which matter so much to staff, often more so than pay. This has not happened – they were unwilling to discuss these issues meaningfully. On pay, the offer is yet another below inflation pay rise. More here.

For a really clear explanation of the issues around pay, watch this video by Robyn Orfitelli, UCU UK pay negotiator:

Pensions dispute

USS pension justice. We demand it. Image of two raised fists, blue and white, pink background.

We ended our strikes in 2018 with the promise of a Joint Expert Panel (JEP) to come up with new proposals on the USS valuation. Those proposals last September vindicated UCU’s position, and when applied to the 2018 valuation they would mean no increased contributions. We want the employers to honour the Joint Expert Panel’s conclusions and hold USS to account. We are fighting for a long-term agreement with ‘no detriment’ to our pension benefits and no increases to our contributions. More here.

Here’s Sam Marsh, UCU UK pensions negotiator, quickly summarising where we are with USS, and explaining why it is crucial not to wait and see what the second JEP report says:

or if you can read Sam’s USSbriefs report here./p>

Can universities afford our claims? Affordability is all about priorities. Universities’ spending on staff has fallen significantly over the last decade, both as a proportion of total spend and as a proportion of income. The money has instead gone to costs relating to buildings (depreciation, interest on loans) and surplus generation. This needs to be re-balanced. Staff are universities’ most important asset and should be valued as such.

We don’t want to strike. But we know the UCU negotiators (including our own Vicky Blake from Leeds) have tried their utmost to get a good settlement to the disputes through a long negotiation process. Sadly, the employers’ bodies don’t seem to listen to anything except industrial action. So we need a strong vote for action to persuade them that they really need to change their minds.

Every single vote counts towards the important 50% threshold for turnout we now have to meet just so we can have our collective voice heard. Without that, our employers’ will say there is ‘no strength of feeling’ over these issues, and they will feel they can safely ignore us. If you are lucky enough to have a secure job, and to feel comfortable with your pay, please think about your colleagues and the future of the profession. Every vote boosts our collective bargaining power, on every issue both local and national, and our ability to support you. Use your voice – get that ballot paper in the post!

Want to help?

  • Already voted? Your ballot pack contained some “I’ve voted” stickers and a poster – put them up on your door or by your desk. Seeing these all over campus is a real boost, and reminds others to vote.
  • Show your support on social media: on Twitter follow and retweet from @leedsucu, on Facebook like and share our posts at www.facebook.com/ucuatleeds/
  • Talk to colleagues and encourage them to vote. Human contact is much better than emails, especially when people are so busy and overworked.
  • Talk to your school or departmental rep and see if they’d like any help putting up posters, organising a meeting etc.

This page was last updated on 6 November 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Equality, Gender pay gap, Pay, Pensions, Uncategorized, Workload

Report on UCU Congress 2019

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 1 June 2019 by Alan Smith26 July 2019

UCU’s annual congress is its supreme policy making body and it met this year over the May Bank Holiday in Harrogate. This report is an attempt to summarise three very full days of intense and important debates on the various areas with which UCU is concerned. Motion numbers are included in brackets for reference: a full account of all motions with decisions can be found here: www.ucu.org.uk/Congress2019

Congress business is ordered according to the business of various committees: equality; education; recruitment, organising and campaigning (ROC) and strategy and finance. There was a further section on democracy and rule changes. On the second day of congress, delegates divide into a Higher Education Sector Conference and a Further Education Sector Conference. The agenda was very busy indeed. As a result, some motions could not be debated. Those relating to rule changes will be sent to the special Democracy Conference to be held in November; the rest are remitted to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for decision.

Delegates from LeedsLeeds University UCU sent five branch delegates to Congress: Arunima Bhattacharya; Dima Chami, Laura Loyola, Megan Povey and Chloe Wallace. In addition, Lesley McGorrigan attended as delegate from the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Committee, and Vicky Blake attended as a member of NEC (and Vice-President elect!). The branch did not formally mandate delegates to vote in any particular way on any motions.  The vast majority of motions that were voted on passed unanimously or overwhelmingly. On those which were tighter, branch delegates tried to vote in line with existing branch policy and, mostly, voted together; this report states how we voted in such cases.

The report that follows is a detailed account of what was decided, in order to give members a clear sense of the range and depth of issues discussed. Highlights for us included:

  • Inclusion for the first time of migration status as a protected characteristic under UCU structures, with the creation of a Migrant Member Standing Group, and two migrant members places on NEC, and a commitment from UCU to actively campaign on behalf of migrant members;
  • A range of motions making it clear that UCU is placing itself squarely at the forefront of the fight against harassment and hate speech and forces hostile to the diversity which is our strength;
  • Emphasis throughout on working with students and other education unions to fight the growing threat that is the climate emergency;
  • The extent to which the anti-casualisation campaigns are now front and centre of all of our work on issues such as pay, workload, mental health;
  • The reinvigoration of the Academic-Related and Professional Services Services Staff committee, ensuring the position of those staff are fully included within campaign and negotiation
  • Agreement to ballot in the autumn on the issues of precarious employment, pay inequality, workload and salary erosion;
  • Agreement to ballot in the autumn if employers refuse to pay all the additional pension contributions demanded by USS, as this would contravene our no detriment position, combined with a fighting attitude against the behaviour of the USS Trustees, including supporting Professor Jane Hutton, who has recused herself from the trustee board after criticising the valuation methodology.

Detailed report on sections of Congress

  • Equality
  • Education
  • Recruitment, Organising and Campaigning
  • Higher Education: Pay
  • Higher Education: USS pensions
  • Higher Education: Anti-casualisation, equality and workload
  • Strategy and Finance
  • Democracy Commission and Rule Changes

Equality

Congress passed a range of important motions on fighting harassment in learning spaces (1); fighting for better mental health support, particularly for reps (2) and LGBT+ staff and students (3); opposing hate speech on our campuses and the rise of the far-right (4, 5, 6, L1); and supporting citizenship rights and opposing deportations (7, 8).

Motion 9 was Leeds UCU’s first motion, joined with a motion from the University of Manchester, calling UCU to recognise migrant status as a protected characteristic under UCU equality structures, make necessary rule changes to achieve this and to ensure that protection of migrant members is a priority for UCU. Proposed eloquently by Dima Chami, it was carried unanimously (with a friendly amendment), as was Motion 10, from the University of Cambridge, which requires UCU to negotiate nationally for universities to provide financial and HR support for migrant workers.

After lunch, Congress went on to pass motions demanding accessibility for disabled people, both within the union and outside of it (13) and to push employers to provide better data about LGBT+ employees in the sector (14). We also passed motions in support of the Stansted 15 (11) against the deportation of Bamidele Chika Agbakuribe, a blind Nigerian student at the University of Dundee (12), and in support of Feysi Ismail who has been employed on fixed term contracts at SOAS since 2011 and is being refused a permanent contract (L2), and we sent solidarity to the National Union of Journalists on the death of Lyra McKee, as well as approving a donation to her legacy fund.  Motion 17 on sexual harassment in the union caused some debate and two points were removed from the motion and remitted. Point a, which would require UCU to expel from membership members found guilty of sexual harassment, needed, it was thought, further thinking, given the way disciplinary procedures can be used against our members (see motion HE29). Point c, requiring us to campaign for employers to refer sexual harassment cases to the police, needs rewording to clarify the need for survivors’ consent in this.

The rest of the motions were timed out, including motions 20 and 21, on gender identity after the Gender Recognition Act, and on dialogue on gender identity and diversity to which Leeds UCU has proposed amendments.

Education

Congress called on UCU to focus on challenging managerialism in our schools and colleges (24), to support the development of National Education Service which promotes open and critical thinking (25), to sign the FSFE Public Money Public Code declaration on open software in education (26); and for UCU to continue to develop negotiating guidance on lecture capture (27). We also want to support school strikes and student organising around climate change, and call on our institutions to take measures to move us towards carbon neutrality in 2020, including divestment and reductions and offsets in travel (28). 

The remaining motions were remitted to NEC.

Recruitment, organising and campaigning

Here we discussed many of the practical issues in organising a growing membership who want to campaign on equality, workload, but also on pay. We called on NEC to prioritise support for branches to recruit, organise and campaign, in dispute and out of it (32). We heard from and about those victimised by managements trying to stop us from organising, recruiting and communicating with our members: Tony Brown at UCL (33) and Lee Humber at Ruskin College, Oxford (B18)

We continue to oppose Prevent and the impact that it has on staff and students (34 and 35). There followed strong motions on anti-casualisation – not only challenging and opposing on an individual level (36) but also collective action backed up by industrial action to make the strongest possible case (37, 38), the building of national networks and awareness raising, particularly of the intersectional aspects of casualisation, including equal pay (39, 41) and the naming and shaming of companies profiting from casualisation in education (40). We heard about the issues faced by workers at private pathway providers such as Study Group, and passed unanimously a motion calling for organising amongst those workers (B6)

We called for a campaign against anti-Trade Union laws which make it harder for us to back up our positions with strong strike action (42, 43) and for improved organising training accessible to all members, funding for hubs to support smaller branches in particular (45) and a reps network to support reps who can feel isolated dealing with highly stressful confidential situations as part of their voluntary union activism (49). We called for environmental organising around the climate emergency; carbon neutrality, food waste and just transition (46, 47, 48), and for campaigning in defence of the welfare state (50) and to adequately fund social care (52).

We instructed UCU to commission critical accounting reviews and challenge in particular breaches of agreements driven by financialised motivations, drawing particular attention to the situation of Academic Related and Professional Services staff (ARPS), whose national agreement has never been implemented by HEIs (51). We supported the trade union Call It Out Campaign against bigotry, sectarianism and anti-Irish racism (L3) and the campaign to Save Stourbridge College (L7).

Higher Education Sector Conference

 This part of Congress includes delegates from Higher Education only (there is a parallel Further Education Conference): we discussed the pay claim, pensions disputes and a range of other issues that affect our sector.

Pay

The first motion, HE1, asked us to approve the recommendations of the national negotiators on pay. Somewhat unusually, this was lost. The reason for this centred around the recommendation for a consultative e-ballot on the employers’ offer, followed, if members reject the offer that way, by a statutory postal ballot. It was argued that over-balloting is a problem in getting the vote out for statutory ballots, both because of the confusion it causes for members and the extra work it creates for officers in branches – it would be better to move immediately to a statutory ballot. Leeds University UCU delegates, noting that our branch had sent an amendment to a motion to the November 2018 HESC on pay calling for HEC to investigate these kinds of risks of consultative ballots, voted against the report.

A motion concerning multi-year pay negotiations and settlements was remitted to HEC (HE2) and another more complex one fell (HE3). The amendments to HE3 were voted in parts: Leeds University delegates voted in different ways on (i) of HE3A1, on going back to disaggregated ballots, as there is no clear branch view. They voted in favour of (ii) and (iii) of the same amendment. All parts of this amendment passed, meaning that the motion became one that required a return to disaggregated ballots. They also voted in favour of amendment HE3A.2 to remove the mandate for a multi-year claim, believing in particular that multi-year claims do not always work effectively for casualised staff. Even as amended, however, Leeds University delegates voted against HE3, on the basis that, on the issues of aggregated/disaggregated ballots and multi-year claims, it is important not to tie the hands of negotiators or HEC.

HE4, which was carried, called for campaigning to start now for a pay ballot in the autumn. In all of the debates on pay, the centrality of equality and anti-casualisation elements was made clear.

USS pensions

HE5 asked us to approve the recommendations of the Superannuation Working Group. The key question was whether the report was strong enough and whether we should be taking action now. Conference voted to reject recommendations 3, 4 and 5, on the grounds that they did not take a strong enough position in support of No Detriment (which is existing policy). Leeds University delegates voted to reject these recommendations. Once they were excluded, the report was carried.

Further, Conference called on employers to pick up any additional contributions, including contingent contributions and resolved to enter into dispute immediately if they do not do so, with Lesley McGorrigan making a particularly powerful contribution to the debate (HE6). We called for the resignation of Bill Galvin and resolved to mount a confident political campaign in defence of USS and against our employers using increased pension contributions to damage research projects. (HE7) We resolved not to accept any increase in member contributions, because there is no deficit (HE8).

HE9, calling for UCU to remain open to making a legal challenge against USS, was passed unanimously with a friendly amendment, adding more concrete instructions, from Leeds University UCU, moved by Chloe Wallace. L5 resolved that we have no confidence in the board of trustees and resolved, by an amendment, to instruct HEC to ballot for strike action in September if UUK refused to confirm by 1st June that they will not impose contribution increases. This was carried overwhelmingly. In a similar vein, HE10 called on UUK to join us in resisting contribution increases and further detriment. L6 offered strong support to Jane Hutton, the USS Trustee who has whistleblown with regard to the 2017 USS valuation, and seek advice on whether UCU trustees can remove themselves from the Trustee board until her concerns are addressed. L8 addressed Trinity College Cambridge’s decision to withdraw from USS and calls on staff to refuse to accept engagements and voluntary or discretionary roles at Trinity until they reverse their decision.

HE11 and HE12 concerned the Teachers Pension Scheme, on which Leeds delegates did not vote as we are not members of that scheme. These important motions called for campaigning against increased charges in this scheme, which is used in the Post ’92 sector and in FE.

Anti-casualisation, equality and workload

We then moved on to consider work on anti-casualisation, calling on UCU to explore the use of collective agreements to tackle casualization (HE13) and campaigning against short term contracts (HE14) and a national agreement against contracts shorter than 12 months (HE15). Vicky Blake moved a supportive amendment to include ARPS staff in HE 14 and Dima Chami spoke to highlight the particularly detrimental impact of short term contracts on migrant staff. HE15 called for post-contract support for precariously employed academics and for a boycott of Senate House to support of outsourced cleaning, catering and security staff.

A number of motions on equality issues followed, on addressing the gender pay gap (HE17), the race pay gap (HE18), highlighting and campaigning against workplace racism (HE19); the risk of restructures to LGBT+ studies and staff (HE20); challenging far right activity on campus (HE21); surveying LGBT+ colleagues’ confidence in universities when challenging hate speech; and developing a plan to support staff and students involved in cases of sexual harassment.

We moved on to workload, emphasising in particular the fact that workload is a health and safety issue (HE24). We resolved to work for the adoption of reasonable workload models (HE25) and to research workload planning more generally (HE26), acknowledging in debate that workload models are not the whole answer to the problem of workload. We recognise that workload stress is often a result of cuts and redundancies (HE27) and that it is a particular issue for disabled members and those with caring responsibilities (HE28).

HE29 drew our attention to the disproportionate overuse of disciplinary procedures against minority and protected groups, and we resolved to keep data and challenge this practice where it arises. We discussed our increasing concern about the use of lecture capture for disciplinary purposes in particular (HE30) and resolved to explore a national campaign to take back control of module questionnaires so that they are not used in inappropriate ways (HE31).

HE32, on academic freedom to discuss sex and gender, was a difficult debate. Leeds University delegates note that the wording of the motion repeats existing policy, but believe that the motion was brought in order to conflate the robust challenge of views on sex and gender identity with abuse of those holding certain views, and to suggest that the former, as well as the latter, constitutes a restriction on academic freedom. We believe that academic freedom does not extend to the right to denying the right to identity of our trans comrades and colleagues. The motion was amended by the LGBT+ committee to moderate it and Megan Povey moved the amendments. Leeds delegates voted in favour of both amendments but then voted against the amended motion, on the grounds that amendments did not make it clear that a space where transphobic views are permitted is not, by definition, a ‘safe space’. The motion fell.

Conference went on to instruct HEC to campaign for better- resourced student counselling services (HE33) and to launch a #loveourARPS campaign to ensure that academic-related and professional services staff are included in UCU campaigning, including specific campaigns on role profiles and CPD.

Finally, we discussed REF, resolving to campaign against the use of REF criteria for performance management, to demand that outputs from staff made redundant be ineligible and ultimately for the abolition of the REF (HE35 and 37) and to produce materials supporting the negotiation of REF codes of practice.

The remainder of the motions were remitted to HEC.

Strategy and Finance

After the appointment of auditors and the formal receipt of financial statements, Congress was asked to consider the proposed budget for 2019-20 and subscription rates. The debate here focused on the gradual move towards more proportionate subscription levels, increasing rates for members on higher incomes and decreasing them for members on lower incomes. Vicky Blake argued strongly against the proposed rates, on the basis that we need to move more quickly towards proportionate subs to make it easier for low paid casualised staff to join the union and be supported, in accordance with existing policy. Leeds University delegates voted against the proposed subs rates on this basis. The motions were carried and proposed subscription rates approved. We resolved to ensure that expenses are paid out promptly and that travel and accommodation should be booked by UCU for delegates directly where possible, using ways that preserve the dignity of low-paid members (57). We called for more efficient membership data management to facilitate our GTVO efforts for future ballots (58).

There followed a range of solidarity motions relating to UCU’s international work, highlighting in particular our solidarity with education unions in Brazil (61) and our support for trade unions involved in protests in Sudan (62). A motion on Venezuela proved more controversial: after a tight vote, on which Leeds University delegates took different positions, paragraph d was excluded on the basis of concerns about the legitimacy and behaviour of the current government of Venezuela. Once this was done, the rest of the motion, deploring US interventionism and economic warfare in Venezuela, was carried, with Leeds University delegates voting in favour. 

An important motion on legal advice, grounded on a sense that the legal services provided through UCU are insufficiently accessible, particularly to casualised staff, was remitted for further consideration as to detail (66). Congress further resolved to challenge the increasingly common employers’ practice of monitoring electronic communications (68), to put in FoI requests to monitor the use of Non-Disclosure agreements (69) and to pay particular attention to their use in race discrimination cases (70).

The remaining motions were remitted to NEC.

Democracy commission and rule changes

This final session began with a report by the Democracy Commission, set up after Congress last year, to look at aspects of UCU’s operation, including recall of the General Secretary and the way in which disputes are organised. This work is ongoing, and whilst some motions came forward here, a Democracy Special Congress will be held in November. The provisional report was adopted by Congress (76)

The first rule change involved a removal of the cap of Congress delegate numbers per branch, to ensure that large or merged branches are sufficiently represented (77). This was uncontroversial. Motion 78, however, was anything but: this motion had the effect of substantially reducing the number of FE Congress delegates. After a protest, where large numbers of delegates from both FE and HE queued to be able to speak against the motion, it was overwhelmingly voted down. Leeds University delegates were proud to support the protest and our comrades in FE.

Congress then voted to reorder the agenda to allow for motions 83-85 to be debated first.

These motions followed from motion 9 and proposed rule changes to reflect in UCU structures the decision to recognise migration status as a protected characteristic. Motion 83 from UEA UCU was moved powerfully by Michael Kyriacou (UEA) and seconded by Dima Chami: it formally adds migration status to the list of characteristics against which UCU will actively oppose harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination. Motions 84 and 85, from Leeds University UCU, were moved by Laura Loyola and seconded by Dave Muritu of the Black Members Standing Committee. They proposed the creation of a Migrant Members Standing Committee and the inclusion of migrant members representatives on NEC. They were carried overwhelmingly; the moving and emotional-charged speeches received the acclaim of Congress and brought much of the hall, not least the Leeds University delegation, to tears.

The final motion debated was 82, a rule change to create a disputes committee for managing disputes, comprised of branch representatives, rather than leaving decision making to NEC.  Branch delegates voted in favour of this, but it narrowly missed the 2/3 majority required for a rule change, amidst concerns that it might be too large to function properly.

All other rule change motions were remitted to the November Democracy Congress, including Leeds University UCU’s motion to fix the problems of quoracy for special conferences.

This page was last updated on 26 July 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, climate and ecological emergency, Equality, Gender pay gap, LGBT+, Mental health, Migration and refugees, Pay, Pensions, REF, UCU democracy, Workload

Update on anti-casualisation negotiations

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 27 March 2019 by Alan Smith27 March 2019

The first anti-casualisation meeting with the university HR team took place yesterday. Our concerns were listened to and we provided information/clarification on questions arising from the official claim we had submitted earlier this year. You can read the claim here: leedsucu.org.uk/ucu-anti-casualisation-claim-submitted-to-university-of-leeds

The university has agreed to identify parameters they think they can align with to publish a joint statement on casualisation. We anticipate formal time-limited negotiations to begin shortly but further steps in this regard require active engagement from our casualised members. We are putting together a survey to find out the details and extent of the casualisation problem at Leeds and also planning towards a meeting of all casualised staff that will soon be announced.

This page was last updated on 27 March 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Campaigns

Job ad highlights need to eradicate culture of casualised work

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 7 March 2019 by Alan Smith7 March 2019

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.

This page was last updated on 7 March 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation

Anti-casualisation talks start 26 March

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 7 March 2019 by Alan Smith7 March 2019

Negotiations between UCU and the University of Leeds over the UCU anti-casualisation claim to the University of Leeds will start on Tuesday 26 March.

Full details of the claims are at leedsucu.org.uk/ucu-anti-casualisation-claim-submitted-to-university-of-leeds

This page was last updated on 7 March 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Campaigns

Important UCU updates: Ballot + General Secretary + Leeds general meeting + elections

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 25 February 2019 by Alan Smith26 February 2019

Text of email sent to all members 25 February 2019 by branch president Vicky Blake

In this email:

·        2 important updates: ballot result and General Secretary resignation

·        Your feedback for future UCU strategy

·        Reminder of very important UCU General Meeting (13 March) + motions deadline (5 March)
INCLUDING call for Congress delegates + motions!

·        Thank you Leeds UCU

Updates:

Ballot:
We received [news] on Friday that the UCU UK-wide aggregated ballot of higher education members came out strongly in favour of taking action and action short of strike (ASOS), but that this result has again been stymied by anti-democratic, anti-trade union laws. We are very disappointed that we are unable to take action at the UK-level at this time, but we are also very determined to make progress in our local work over our formal Anti-Casualisation claim for which negotiations will begin in March, over the gender pay gap claim we’re already pursuing, and on joint-unions work to address workload at Leeds.

The Trade Union Act 2016 requires all ballots over industrial action to reach 50% turnout, which is a greater restriction than is placed on turnout for the election of politicians who make these decisions. Prior to 2016, we would have gone back into UK level negotiations over Casualisation, Equal Pay, Fair Pay, and Workload with a much stronger hand, because our employers’ representatives would have known UCU was preparing for action.
 
General Secretary:
We have also received word this morning that Sally Hunt, UCU’s General Secretary, has stood down owing to long term ill health. I hope that members will join Leeds UCU committee in wishing Sally well at this juncture. There will be an emergency NEC meeting this Friday (1 March) from which I will report back as soon as possible. The NEC will be tasked with making decisions about the timing and format of the next General Secretary election. Particularly of note here is that the UCU Democracy Commission was tasked with (among many other areas for democratic review) looking at the role of GS and associated terms, in order to make recommendations at UCU Congress, which is Congress’s sovereign policy-making body. At this point I do not know whether NEC will be asked to consider arranging the election for a new GS before, or after the date of UCU Congress. I would be very grateful of any views you may have on this matter and invite you all to email me about this (please use header “NEC feedback” or similar, so I spot it more easily!)

Your feedback for future UCU strategy:

We have now been balloted twice over the 2018/19 pay and pay related matters claim. The first time it was conducted on a disaggregated basis, where every branch was balloted individually over whether we would take action on the claim UCU negotiates on at a national level with our employers’ representative body (UCEA). The second, most recent ballot was conducted on an aggregated basis wherein all members were balloted together as a larger group – this follows the decision of the special Higher Education Sector Conference on 7 November. Results for both the ballots were very similar, with a high proportion in favour of taking strike action and action short of a strike to pursue our claim. The overall turnout was also very similar for both: just shy of 41% in the most recent ballot, and just shy of 42% in the Autumn.

There has already been a lot of informal discussion about our ballot disappointment. The reasons for not breaking 50% turnout are multifactorial, and need to be examined closely to inform future strategy. We should expect to see evidence-based planning for future rounds of negotiation, and this is an issue I continue to raise at meetings of the national executive (NEC) and Higher Education Committee (HEC). As the email we received from HQ on Friday noted, we need ‘reflection’ on what the result tells us. But any attempt to reflect and learn will be meaningless unless we do so with members’ input and help.

After the first ballot, we wrote to members to ask that people who did not vote let us know why (anonymously unless you wished to be identified). This gave us incredibly helpful feedback for shaping how we communicated about the subsequent ballot, and we would like to ask for your input again through a similar survey  — but please do email us your views and importantly, bring them to the General Meeting so we can discuss them together! We will also be sharing our survey template with the UCU Branch Solidarity Network, to try to coordinate similar feedback gathering at other branches.

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

See call for motions [here]

Our next general meeting on 13 March is where we will decide which motions our branch will propose to the 2019 UCU Congress, and who we would like to send to Congress as branch delegates (we have had to roll this election over from a previous meeting where we did not quite make quorum).

UCU is a democratic union. We make our local policies together through branch-level general meetings, and our national policy is decided at UCU annual Congress. If you would like to submit:

·        Motions you’d like to see become local policy and direct local campaigning

·        Motions you’d like to ask the branch to send to Congress so we can put them to the vote for UK-wide policy

… you need to submit them by our local deadline of 12 noon Tuesday 5 March. Please send motions to ucu@leeds.ac.uk. Any member can write a motion – if you want help in phrasing it, it can be good to talk to a union rep, or to have a look at motions from a previous Congress (PDF).

If you would like to put yourself forward as one of Leeds UCU’s 5 Congress delegates, please let us know by12 noon on Tuesday 12 March, as we will hold the election at the meeting on 13 March at the General Meeting. If you would like to put yourself forward or have questions about the role, please emailucu@leeds.ac.uk.

Thank you Leeds UCU

We have some huge thank yous: thank you to everyone who voted in the ballot. Thank you to everyone who made sure they discussed the ballot with others and encouraged members to all have their say. And a very, very big thank you to all our reps and activists who poured their energies into the ballot to try to make sure that everyone knew there was a vote, and why it matters so much that we build a culture of always voting in these ballots.

We know that a huge amount of work went into getting the vote out (“GTVO”) at Leeds, and given we missed the 50% barrier here in the previous disaggregated ballot last time by only 15 votes, we have good reason to hope and believe that we might have achieved higher than 50% turnout locally, given the better timing of the latest ballot in term-time and the elevated levels of GTVO activity.

Have your say!

There is a lot going on — and we hope to see lots of you at our upcoming General Meeting to discuss it! In the meantime please don’t forget to post your votes in the current [UCU election] for national officers and the NEC – the envelopes are pre-paid 2nd class so to be ultra-safe, make sure you get your vote in the post tomorrow – if you wait til Wednesday you might want to add your own stamp!

In solidarity,

Vicky and Committee

This page was last updated on 26 February 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Gender pay gap, General Meetings, Members emails, Pay, Workload

Strength in numbers: don’t be silenced

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 19 February 2019 by Alan Smith19 February 2019

Text from email to all members sent 19 February 2019

Dear Members,

The message is very simple. We have even made another song to illustrate it: enjoy!

We need you to vote in the current ballot, and we would ideally like you to vote “YES YES” in support of willingness to take strike action and action short of a strike in the pursuit of a decent offer from our employers on (click each heading for a link):

  • Secure work 
  • Gender pay gap
  • Fair pay
  • Workload

If you have already voted, THANK YOU for helping to keep our union strong. Please help us to get the remaining votes out by spending 5-10 minutes talking to colleagues and friends in higher education to make sure they have too! We need all votes to be received by Friday 22 February, meaning Wednesday is the last “safe day to post (but if you find anyone yet to post on Thursday, it’s still worth it!

If you have not yet voted, PLEASE dig out that ballot and get it in the post right now. This matters; it is a matter of our collective strength and standing up for one another.

Every single vote, in every single branch, in every single university counts. Every single vote counts towards the important 50% threshold for turnout we now have to meet just so we can have our collective voice heard. Without that, our employers’ will deploy ‘fake news’ tactics that there is ‘no strength of feeling’ over issues of casualisation, equal pay, fair rates for the jobs we do, and the need for a manageable, healthy workload. We know that there is. We know we all deserve better than the status quo.

If you are wavering, please consider:

  • Every posted vote boosts our collective bargaining power in every area, on every claim – whether that’s about secure work, equal and fair pay, workloads, pensions…
  • Every posted YES YES vote drives home the message that we know there is money in our sector, we are on to the interesting financial practices at work, and we want better for our workforce and for our students.

We have written to you already about how the four pillars of this claim intersect, and how the result of this ballot directly affects the strength of hand UCU negotiators take into any meeting with our employers.

Every single member of our union is affected in some way by issues of casualization, workload, equal and fair pay. If you are currently able to “manage” please consider those who cannot, and that any of us can be “next” — post that vote.

A few minutes talking to colleagues and friends can make a difference.

Don’t be silenced. Don’t let your colleagues be silenced. Please VOTE.

In solidarity,

Vicky and Committee

This page was last updated on 19 February 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Campaigns, Gender equality, Gender pay gap, Members emails, Pay, Workload

Counting the costs of casualisation survey open now

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 1 February 2019 by Rachel Walls1 February 2019

Currently, 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 do so too.

This page was last updated on 1 February 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Uncategorized

Dispute over casualisation, equal pay, workload and fair pay

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on 1 February 2019 by Alan Smith24 June 2019

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

This page was last updated on 24 June 2019

Posted in Anticasualisation, Gender pay gap, Pay, Uncategorized, Workload

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Contact

The branch office is currently closed because of the covid-19 pandemic. Please use email if possible.

ucu@leeds.ac.uk

Emails will be received by the branch administrator/organiser and some of the elected branch officers.

Phone 35904 (external: 0113 343 5904) (please use email if possible while the office is closed)

Post: UCU, Room 7.51, EC Stoner Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT. (The office is currently closed – if you need to physically post something please contact us by email or phone to discuss.)

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    • Joining the unionJoining Leeds UCU All academic and academic-related staff of the University of Leeds, permanent or fixed-term, are eligible to join Leeds UCU. This includes students studying to teach in further education who are eligible for free membership. For further information contact the Leeds UCU Office. The quickest, easiest and safest way of joining is online via the UCU website http://joinonline.ucu.org.uk/. Subscriptions The subscription is payable monthly, quarterly or annually by direct debit, and is made up of anational subscription and local subscription, both on a sliding scale. This table shows the main national and local rates:   Employment income: Current monthly subscription for full UCU members National Leeds TOTAL Code £40,000 and over £17.99 £2.40 £20.39 F1 £30,000 – £39,999 £16.36 £2.40 £18.76 F2 £20,000 – £29,999 £15.43 £2.40 £17.83 F3 £10,000 – £19,999 £9.41 £1.20 £10.61 F4 £5,000 – £9,999 £4.26 £0.60 £4.86 F5 Below £5,000 £2.43 £0.60 £3.03 F6 Tax relief Members are entitled to tax releif on 67% of their National Subscription. See further details by following this link Further Information For further information please contact the UCU Office.
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    • Committee members 2021-2022UCU members at the University of Leeds elect a committee to run union affairs in between the all-member general meetings. (General meetings of all members are the primary decision making mechanism locally, committee meetings are the secondary one.) Election is for one year from 1 August. The committee can appoint up to four additional committee members. Committee members elected for the academic year 1 August 2018 to 31 July 2019 are:

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      Gabriella Alberti George Ellison Alaric Hall Hugh Hubbard Laura Loyola-Hernandez Lata Narayanaswamy Brendan Nicholls Malcolm Povey Alan Roe Andi Rylands Paul Steenson Mark Taylor-Batty Peter Tennant Mark Walkley Chloe Wallace Rachel Walls Andy West Kelli Zezulka
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