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Jonathan Dean

I’m writing to inform you, with great sadness, that Jonathan Dean has passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly at home on May 24th. Jonathan, Associate Professor of Politics, was…

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‘Except Palestine’ event

Justice Without Borders: Connecting Local Activism and International Movements from Palestine to the World PLEASE JOIN US ON THURSDAY 20 JUNE 2024 IN BAINES WING SR (2.10) 1600-1800 Hosted…

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This page was last updated on 7 May 2024

Strikes starting Monday: what you need to know

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Picketing

  • Please sign up for picket duty here. You can just turn up on the day, but it’s helpful to get an indication of how many people we can expect. There’s a space on the form to let us know if there any adjustments we could make, or support we could provide, that would help enable you to picket.
  • Please come to the pink gazebo, which will be outside the main entrance from 7:30 am every day, to sign in and get placards and leaflets.
  • We’ll suggest where to go with the aim of covering all the entrances, but if you have a preference (e.g. if you’d like to picket near where you work) you can tell us when you sign in.
  • If you haven’t picketed before, we’ll make sure you’re with someone who’s experienced (not that it’s hard, honestly, you’ll be handing out leaflets and stickers and chatting to people).
  • Bring layers with waterproofs/umbrella – the weather forecast at the moment is rainy.
  • We’d love you to bring your own placard or banner.
  • Toilets – you can use the toilets (which include disabled toilets) in the Emmanuel Centre, a neutral location.
  • You don’t have to picket every day, do take some time for yourself.
  • Do take photos and talk about the strike on social media – it helps to create a buzz and keep others informed.  Please tag @leedsucu and use hashtag #ucuRISING.
  • We’d recommend everyone pickets on Monday 25th September as a show of strength
  • On Friday 29th September, the University of Leeds Unison and Unite branches will also be on strike and we look forward to standing together
  • On Friday 29th September we will have a Post your ballot day and encourage member to bring their ballot to campus, if not posted already, to post in the post box at Woodhouse Lane with photos taken for maximum impact and solidarity.

Rallies daily at 11:30

Pickets and supporters will be meeting up on the Parkinson steps at 11:30 each day for a short rally, including speeches, updates, visiting speakers.

Migrant members

We know that it can be hard for migrant members, who face the ‘hostile environment’ and many problems over visas and more, to join industrial action. It helps that the Home Office has updated its guidelines to specify that striking doesn’t count as unauthorised absence for visa (Tier 2) purposes, via an exception to the rule on absences from employment without pay.  The national UCU FAQs for migrant workers are the best place for up to date information about visas and striking, indefinite leave to remain etc. Your union will support migrant members in every way we can.

Notifying about striking, and strike deductions

You definitely do not need to notify anyone in advance that you are striking.  Please don’t, because it enables management to reduce the effectiveness of our strikes. You just need to notify HR on your first day back each time you come back into work after strike days. Remember you can claim from the national fighting fund and our local hardship fund if required.

Out of office message

Here’s a suggested email auto reply for use during the strikes – feel free to adapt as you see fit.

Thank you for your email – this is an auto-reply.  I am currently taking part in the University and College Union’s (UCU) strike action for fair pay and action on workloads, casualisation and pay gaps. More information here. Please request that our Vice Chancellor (vice-chancellor@leeds.ac.uk) work meaningfully with UCU on local issues and use her influence to urge the employer bodies to negotiate meaningfully with UCU nationally.

‘Striking Insights: Welcome to Solidarity’ Teach Outs

We are developing a programme for this and as.  If you’ve been considering offering a session, please add it asap to this spreadsheet.

Joining UCU

It is never to late to join and we are always glad to have new members even in the middle of industrial action! Individuals can join UCU at any point up to and including on the picket line on the day of strike action and lawfully participate in the strike.

We are currently balloting to maintain our ability to action in our pay and conditions campaign. Friday 27 October 2023 (12:00 noon) is the deadline for new members to join UCU and be automatically included in the ballot – but why delay, join today!

See you on the picket lines! 

Notice of scheduled general meetings 2024-2025

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This is a copy of the formal notice emailed to branch members of the scheduled UCU University of Leeds branch general meetings this academic year – the ordinary general meetings and the annual general meeting.

These are the meetings for all UCU members in this branch.

The branch doesn’t send Outlook invitations for these because some people’s Outlook calendars are not confidential so an invitation could disclose their trade union membership to a third party, which is not allowed. Meeting details will be sent by email nearer the time.

All UCU members of the branch can put items of the agenda – proposals for collective agreement or subjects for informal discussion.

You can find this list of meetings at any time this year at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/general-meetings-this-year/

Thursday 17 October, 12.45pm – 2pm

Submit motions by 12pm Tuesday 1 October.

If you want to send a motion to one of the UCU national equality conferences from the branch, this is the meeting to propose the motion to.

This meeting should elect the branch’s congress/conference delegates for the year.

Rule changes motions can be submitted to this meeting (because of the gap between the motion deadline and the meeting).

Tuesday 3 December, 12.45pm – 2pm

Submit motions by 12pm Tuesday 26 November..

Wednesday 29 January, 12.45pm – 2pm

Submit motions by 12pm Tuesday 21 January.

If you want to send a motion to the UCU national anti-casualisation annual meeting, or the national annual meeting of academic-related, professional services staff, this is the latest general meeting to propose the motion to.

Tuesday 11 March, 12.45pm – 2pm

Submit motions by 12pm Tuesday 4 March.

If you want to send a motion to UCU Congress 2025 this is the latest general meeting to propose the motion to.

Thursday 1 May 12.45pm – 2pm, annual general meeting (AGM)

Submit motions by 12pm Tuesday 15 April.

Rule change motions can be submitted to the AGM.

If you want the branch to propose an amendment to another branch’s motion to UCU Congress 2025, this is the general meeting to submit that motion of amendment to.

Deadline for nominations to the branch committee is Wednesday 30 April.

Thursday 12 June, 12.45pm – 2pm

Submit motions by 12pm Tuesday 3 June

There will likely also be some extra-ordinary general meetings (which you or the committee can call) and some emergency general meetings (which elected branch officers can call), which you’ll be notified of separately by email.

General information about general meetings

There’s informal advice on turning your ideas into collective decisions – writing motions – and navigating formal general meetings at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/making-ucu-branch-general-meetings-work-better/ which includes a link to the formal ‘standing orders’.

Content notes and sensitive topics

There are now content notes on the agenda following recent feedback about when motions received for circulation address sensitive topics. We are working hard to get this right but, as inserting content notes requires subjective assessment of what might warrant a content note, we have also decided to include a summary version of the agenda at the top. Please let me know if you have any feedback about how to make content notes more useful to you.

Who decides the agenda?

All members of the branch (including you!) can submit motions to general meeting. The committee decides the order that members’ motions appear on the agenda (or the president on behalf of the committee if there is no committee meeting), but the motions are not from the committee (unless it specifically says they are on the agenda). Motions only become union policy if they are voted for by the meeting.

Can I vote if I’m a student member?

It depends on your membership type. If your membership type is “student” you are not eligible to vote in general meetings. For more details see https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/5143/Can-students-or-postgraduates-join

Can I register my vote if I can’t attend the meeting?

No. According to the branch rules, only members who attend the meeting can vote. The hope is that, while not everyone can attend every meeting, the members who can attend at that time will be broadly representative of the membership. If you’d like to discuss anything about the rules with one of the branch officers you could email ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

What do I do if I’m unhappy about something in the meeting?

If you’re unhappy about something in the meeting you can – at any time during the meeting – ask the chair to rule on whether something is ‘in order’. The chair will then make a ruling. You can read more about making points of order at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/making-ucu-branch-general-meetings-work-better/#point-of-order

Members should be considerate of each other in the meetings. It is an obligation of UCU membership to: “refrain from … all forms of harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination whether on the grounds of sex, gender identity, race, ethnic or national origin, religion, colour, class, caring responsibilities, marital status, sexuality, disability, age, or other status or personal characteristic.” https://www.ucu.org.uk/ucurules

How can I find out what decisions were made?

If you’ve missed the meeting, the quickest informal way is to ask a colleague or your department rep. Formally, the minutes of meetings are circulated in advance of the next ordinary general meeting (but that can be a long time to wait). Motions carried will often be provisionally posted on the website (you can use the search function or look at News filtered by the category ‘branch policy’) in advance of the minutes being approved, but this depends on the workload of the committee members and branch administrator. If you need to know urgently and you haven’t elected a department rep for your area, you could ask one of the branch officers by emailing ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

Joint Trade Unions’ statement on the rise of fascist violence in Leeds and the UK

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The University of Leeds Unite, Unison, and UCU trade union branches express our solidarity with and support of all communities living in fear of targeted violence. We unequivocally condemn the far-right and fascist rallies, lynch mobs, racist, Islamophobic, and anti-immigrant violence and abuse directed at communities, mosques, and hotels and other facilities for refugees and asylum-seekers across the UK. All our members, students, and wider Leeds community are affected, especially those from Muslim, immigrant and racialised backgrounds. We know many of our members and members’ families are living in fear, worried about safety and how to live a ‘normal’ life at home, socially, commuting to work and school, and about the safety of loved ones across the country.

The City of Leeds and our local area have been subjected to and borne witness to racist and violent gatherings currently being instigated by the far right across the UK. We were horrified to learn that the University of Teesside campus was targeted during violent anti-immigration riots, facing enormous violence as windows were smashed. International students have been subject to arson attacks and many staff and students across the country now face calls to stay at home and to be vigilant in the hope of protecting themselves. In Leeds itself, staff have woken up to swastikas daubed on cars in their local area. 

This wave of fascist violence is very much a University of Leeds issue. Our staff and students urgently need support and understanding. We therefore welcome the University’s signalling of well-being resources in a recent statement, but we also ask that the University puts in place and clearly communicates immediate emergency measures for all students and staff members who may not currently feel safe to travel to work or be on campus. Emergency resourcing is also required to support students of colour and international students who may be away from home and their usual support networks. 

We share our employer’s condemnation of the violence and racism taking place, and we call on University of Leeds’ senior management team to recognise and name the Islamophobic nature of this violence and the rhetoric which stokes and perpetuates it. Threats of extreme physical violence and intimidation are targeted at Muslims – especially women wearing hijabs, People of Colour and people seeking asylum, all of whom are being used as scapegoats for inequality caused by the continued failure of those in power to address poverty and inequality. We condemn all those who fund and fan these flames, and the lack of public challenge over increasingly dangerous rhetoric that has brought us to this point. Hate has no place in our society, and as an education institution, the University of Leeds must play a vital role in bringing communities together to challenge it wherever it arises in the public conversation.

As workers in education, we all have a role in responding now and over the long term. Anti-racist work must be understood as integral to all our lives and responsibilities – we cannot assume it is for others to do. We commit to working with our members to keep developing our immediate and longer term anti-racist work, together. 

We will share details of communities coming together to contest any planned racist gatherings. We urge those who are able to come together to take action, collectively. As trade unionists and anti-racists we stand in solidarity with every person of colour in the UK and in our city and on campus.

We ask that the University:

  • Recognise the right of staff to work from home without line management approval if they fear violence
  • Management to organise safe transport for staff who need to be on campus or fund additional expenses for travelling in a secure manner
  • Recognise the violence as explicitly Islamophobic (as well as more broadly racist) and therefore specifically targeted at Muslim staff and students and all community members of colour and put additional supports in place for these groups
  • As a HE institution and a major employer in Leeds, commit to support minoritised and vulnerable groups, both in the University and the wider city
  • Clearly pledge to anti-racism through education, robust allyship practices, and empowering students and staff to speak up against discrimination and systemic inequalities

University of Leeds UCU
University of Leeds Unite
University of Leeds Unison

LeedsUCU podcast episode 13: branch news 19 July 2024

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

In today’s episode (recorded 8 July): pay and grading review offer, workload, the general election, and remembering Jonathan Dean

With Aisha Walker, Rachel Walls and Alan Smith.

If you prefer your union branch news direct to your ears, search for LeedsUCU wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe so you get notified about new episodes. 

See all the episodes and transcripts at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/podcast/

To join UCU go to ⁠https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

Episode links

https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/support-and-benefits/local-industrial-action-hardship-fund/

Direct links to the LeedsUCU podcast 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ht1Iks9WPR6qbmGXXOXfS

Amazon Podcasts https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/1f16de89-30ec-444a-83ac-54bcbe0bcac6/leedsucu-podcast

Pocket Casts https://pca.st/pacoaeqd

Also available on Apple Podcasts

Transcript

Intro

Rachel

Welcome to the LeedsUCU podcast for members of the University of Leeds branch of the University and College Union. I’m Rachel Walls, one of your podcast hosts. I’m also a UCU department rep for Lifelong Learning Centre, branch committee member and saxophone or clarinet player in our occasional picket line band Orchestrike!

Alan

And I’m Alan Smith, co-host for this podcast, and the branch’s administrator and organiser. We thought it would be useful for members of the branch to have an alternative channel for getting your local news because reading long emails or website posts is not everyone’s first choice.

Rachel

So we’re here to be a friendly voice from the UCU University of Leeds branch to keep you in better touch with what is going on, such as what the elected officers are working on and what opportunities there are for you to get involved in UCU discussions, socialising, activism and decision making.

[Brief music]

Rachel

Hi everyone and we’re joined by Aisha worker, president of University of Leeds branch of UCU, to give us the latest news today. Hi Aisha.

Aisha

Hi, Rachel. Hi Alan.

Alan

Hi Aisha

Rachel

Good to see you both well. Quite a lot’s been happening recently. There’s been some emails this week about the pay and grading. Ohh, it was last week actually, so they’re just running into one another and we’ve had some emails last week about the pay and grading review with the university. So what’s been going on there?

Aisha

Well, this is really exciting because finally, after you know several months of negotiations, we can actually talk about the pay and grading review because I’ve been coming into the podcast studio for how many months now and Alan or Rachel, you’ve been asking me about the pay and grading and I’ve been saying it’s been going really well, but I can’t say. anything. And now you’ve seen the information from the university. You’ve seen the e-mail from us. And you know that what’s going to happen basically is that anybody in grade 2 to 9, everybody in grade 2 to 9 is going to bit of get a bit of a boost in your pay packet in August of this year. And then there’s going to be more to come next year. I’m not going to go into all of the changes right now, but, I think the two really important things to note, apart from more money, which is, obviously that’s a good thing, is that this has come about because of our industrial action. So as I said before, we stood down the MAB, the marking and assessment boycott, in 2022 on the promise that the university would carry out a review of where the grades sit on the pay spine. And that has now happened, and it’s involved all three unions we have worked together, the three of us and we have pushed the university. The university has made significant changes to some of its proposals. For example the time scale they’ve really brought that forward at the insistence of the unions. So it’s really, really good that we finally got a response to this and it’s what we want because it is going to be a pay boost for everybody in grades 2 to 9. But it’s you really you the members that we have to thank for it because it’s your work, it’s your sacrifice. And the talks have been really constructive. And as I say, university management has listened to our concerns and they have made changes in response to our concerns and that’s why we have reached this point. So yes, so it is great news and hopefully we will get the final sign off next week if it’s approved by all three of the trades unions.

Rachel

Great.

Aisha

Right. So it is important that we are able to approve it.

Rachel

Absolutely yes. Thanks to all the members of all three unions. OK, well, that’s … We look forward to hearing more about that, how that goes.

Aisha

Yeah, I think the university is going to put out more information to help people understand exactly how it’s going to affect you individually. OK, we have asked for a calculator so that you can work it out because there are some other changes such as changing the increment date so over the next year everybody will get their increment at the normal time and then their next increment will be in August of 2025. So that’s going to make that the impact of that’s going to be different for different people. So we have asked for a calculator and I think the university will also give us some worked examples again so that you can see how it might affect you.

Rachel

OK. Well, thanks for the. Yeah, the information and the update. And yeah, that sounds useful to have a calculator.

Aisha

Yeah, and thanks to all the Members who came to the meeting on the 11th of July.

Rachel

So we are turning our attention to workload now and, yeah, what’s been going on with workloads?

Aisha

Can I give a big sigh at this point? Because academic colleagues are getting their workloads for the next academic year and we are still seeing people being workloaded to 1650 hours. We’ve seen examples of people being told they’ve got 25 days leave instead of the 26 that we now have. And of course, the 1650 hours doesn’t take into account the extra day of leave and it doesn’t take into account the extra closure days. So,if this is happening to you, please contact your rep or ucu@leeds.ac.uk. We keep raising this with management that people are now being officially workloaded, so it’s not just that the nominal hours are fictional – because we know that the workload doesn’t match what you actually do, we know that if you’re given X number of PGR supervision hours for an example, you’re almost certainly going to be spending twice that much time reading their work and, you know, talking to them and supporting them – but it should at least add up nominally to the number of hours in the working year. Which is now around 1635, not 1650. So if you’re still being workloaded to 1650 with actual work, please do let us know.

Rachel

OK. And you can e-mail ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you have concerns about that.

Alan

So, next up since we last met, there has been a general election which has resulted in a change of government. I imagine it’s early days yet, but do we have any idea how things are going to change?

Aisha

Well, it’s really exciting actually. Of course, UCU is not affiliated to any political party. So we don’t have that that relationship with any specific political party, but we are looking forward to seeing what changes there are in relation to workers’ rights. So the incoming government has promised changes to workers’ rights, to boost workers’ rights to give people additional rights. And I think what we’re hoping for, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen, is that some of the worst trade union legislation will be repealed. So there’s been some really challenging legislation over the past 14 years, there’s the minimum service levels which have only just come in, but which could potentially affect us because we work in education, where if there’s a strike, management has the power to nominate people who can’t strike. Hopefully that will be repealed. I also would like to see a repeal of the 2016 Act, which puts onerous conditions on strike ballots. Firstly, that it has to be conducted by post, it can’t be done online, and, nowadays, when so much is online and the postal service is has sadly been deteriorating under the previous government – I mean that might change. And the second thing is that at least 50% of your membership have to take part in the ballot by post, and that’s a very onerous condition and it’s very hard for unions to make that threshold. We have achieved it several times and generally in Leeds we have succeeded in meeting that threshold, so well done Leeds members, but it is an onerous condition and it does mean that that unions where there’s a strike vote that’s very strongly in favour of strike, maybe fails simply because less than 50% of the membership actually got their votes posted on time, and this is a condition that doesn’t apply to any other kind of vote. It doesn’t apply to parliamentary votes, for example, we don’t have to have 50% of MPs taking part in a vote for a piece of legislation to pass. It doesn’t apply to elections. It only applies to union strike ballots. So maybe that will go. I hope so.

Alan

Well, we look forward to seeing what happens with that. And finally, we were all very sad to learn of the death of Jonathan Dean, who for a long time was the UCU department rep for the School of Politics and International Studies.

Aisha

Yeah, this is really it’s shocking and it’s really sad. Jonathan died suddenly in late May. And he was a UCU department rep for something like 10 years. I think he was a really valued colleague, but also a really valued member of our rep team. He did a great job representing his department, but also representing UCU to the school, encouraging people to join the union, pointing out the value of the union. And he was a regular on our picket line. So he’s going to be missed. He’s going to be missed by his colleagues and also by us as a union. We are we are less without him. And that’s really sad. I wasn’t unfortunately able to go to the memorial event on Monday, because I was away. But I hope that the people there were able to really remember Jonathan, to celebrate his memory and to enjoy a bit of memorial bird watching. Which is very much in keeping with the person that he was. He asked that any memorial donations be made to Leeds UCU and it’s really appropriate for them to go into the hardship fund. Actually, our hardship fund is, sadly, depleted after all of our strike action and our marking and assessment boycotts, so it’s really powerful actually, that anything in Jonathan’s memory will be going to support colleagues if we have to take strike action again in the future.

Alan

OK. Thank you, Aisha. And that’s all for today. So thank you for bringing us the branch news.

Aisha

Thank you.

Rachel

Thank you.

[Brief music]

Outro

Rachel

That’s all for today’s LeedsUCU podcast. Thank you for listening. Please subscribe on whatever platform you’re listening to us on, so you’ll know as soon as we publish our next episode.

Alan

If you’re not yet a member of UCU, head to ucu.org.uk/join to find out more if you work at the University of Leeds in an academic or academic related, professional or managerial role, or as a postgraduate student doing paid teaching. Wherever you work, make sure you join the union for your workplace.

Rachel

This podcast is made on behalf of the committee of the University and College Union, University of Leeds Branch. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail our branch offices at ucu@leeds.ac.uk. See our website leedsucu.org.uk for alternative contact details and for a transcript of this episode.

Solidarity with Professor Emeritus James Dickins

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

We stand in solidarity with Professor Emeritus James Dickins, a dedicated scholar and advocate for Palestinian human rights. The University of Leeds’ recommendation to revoke his emeritus status is unwarranted. Professor Dickins did not encourage any protest at Hillel House and he has a long history of promoting academic freedom.

This case highlights the failure of due process: Professor Dickins was not given any evidence in support of the complaint against him although he provided evidence that contradicts the complaint. Professor Dickins was not given any information about the right of appeal or a timeline for appeal. Finally, there is no information about the procedure for revoking emeritus status in Statutes and Ordinances, so it is not at all clear what process the University has followed.

Transparency and fairness are essential values in institutions of Higher Education but they do not seem to have been followed by the University of Leeds in this case. We demand a transparent process, clearly established in Statutes and Ordinances. 

Sign this petition to urge the University of Leeds to reconsider its decision and uphold the right to express support for Palestinian rights.

LeedsUCU podcast episode 12: no branch news 3 July 2024

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Today’s episode was due to be recorded 3 July, but, as a member of UCU staff and of Unite LE127 union branch, Alan Smith was on strike, and UCU branch committee members would, of course, not cover his work while he is striking. We have released this special LeedsUCU branch news episode without any branch news, to illustrate that the industrial action has an impact.

With Rachel Walls.

If you prefer your union branch news direct to your ears, search for LeedsUCU wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe so you get notified about new episodes. 

See all the episodes and transcripts at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/podcast/

To join UCU go to ⁠https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

Episode links

Moorland sounds from bbc.co.uk – © copyright 1966 BBC – https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=NHU05104247

Direct links to the LeedsUCU podcast 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ht1Iks9WPR6qbmGXXOXfS

Amazon Podcasts https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/1f16de89-30ec-444a-83ac-54bcbe0bcac6/leedsucu-podcast

Pocket Casts https://pca.st/pacoaeqd

Also available on Apple Podcasts

Transcript

Rachel

We were unable to record Episode 12 of the podcast because of a strike by UCU staff who are members of Unite LE127 branch. The committee of UCU University of Leeds Branch stands in solidarity with UCU staff and hopes an agreement is negotiated to settle their dispute. In the meantime, here are the sounds of a moorland from the BBC sound effects archive.

[Sounds of a moorland, late spring/summer, with ring ouzel alarm calls and song raven, curlew, red grouse, meadow pipit, sheep and flies, and a stream]

LeedsUCU podcast episode 11: branch news 25 June 2024

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

LeedsUCU podcast episode 11: branch news 24 June 2024

In today’s episode (recorded 19 June): pay and grading review, freedom of expression protocol, review of HR policies, department rep elections

With Aisha Walker, Rachel Walls and Alan Smith.

If you prefer your union branch news direct to your ears, search for LeedsUCU wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe so you get notified about new episodes. 

See all the episodes and transcripts at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/podcast/

To join UCU go to ⁠https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

Episode links

Choosing your UCU department representatives

Direct links to the LeedsUCU podcast 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ht1Iks9WPR6qbmGXXOXfS

Amazon Podcasts https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/1f16de89-30ec-444a-83ac-54bcbe0bcac6/leedsucu-podcast

Pocket Casts https://pca.st/pacoaeqd

Transcript

Intro

Rachel

Welcome to the LeedsUCU podcast for members of the University of Leeds branch of the University and College Union. I’m Rachel Walls, one of your podcast hosts. I’m also a UCU department rep for Lifelong Learning Centre, branch committee member and saxophone or clarinet player in our occasional picket line band Orchestrike!

Alan

And I’m Alan Smith, co-host for this podcast, and the branch’s administrator and organiser. We thought it would be useful for members of the branch to have an alternative channel for getting your local news because reading long emails or website posts is not everyone’s first choice.

Rachel

So we’re here to be a friendly voice from the UCU University of Leeds branch to keep you in better touch with what is going on, such as what the elected officers are working on and what opportunities there are for you to get involved in UCU discussions, socialising, activism and decision making.

[Brief music]

Hey everyone, we’re joined by Aisha Walker today, president of the University of Leeds branch of UCU, to give us the latest news. Hi Aisha

Aisha

Hi, Rachel.

Rachel

We also have Alan.

Rachel

Hi, Alan.

Alan

Hi, Rachel. Hi, Aisha. So the first thing we want to ask you about Aisha is the pay and grading review where we know that negotiations have been going on.

Aisha

Yeah, and this is really exciting actually, Alan, as you know, and I hope that our members also know, back in 2022, we had a marking and assessment boycott. The ballot for the marking and assessment boycott was disaggregated, which means that each branch voted individually and not every branch won the ballot to take part in the action. But we did. And our management agreed that if we stood down the marketing and assessment boycott, they would engage with us on various issues. One of them was pay and grading, another one was casualization. And we’ve been seeing the fruits of that. Again, it’s not perfect, but we have actually significantly reduced the use of casual contracts at Leeds. Another one was workloads, so we have workload principles in place. Also not perfect yet, but it’s progress. It’s all progress. So they also agreed to talk about pay and grading and what this means is looking at where the different grades sit on the overall pay spine. So the pay spine is determined centrally between UCEA, which is the universities’ body, the employer body, and the unions. And there are actually 5 unions involved nationally in the negotiations, but we have three different unions at Leeds so there’s UCU, there’s Unison and there’s Unite. So we are all taking part in local talks with the Leeds management to try and revise where the different grades sit on the pay spine. So how much money somebody earns in at each point in each grade. So this isn’t about regrading jobs. If you’re Grade 8 at the moment you’ll still be grade 8 after the review. But where you sit on the pay spine hopefully will be different. A lot of this is still very highly confidential. We’ve heard a couple of proposals, good proposals, I mean it’s looking really promising. We’ve had a couple of proposals from management, but there are still some details to work through. So we are still working on it jointly. At some point there will be some joint communications from the university and the unions to explain what the final proposal is, and at that point we’ll be organising a general meeting. We’ve got one pencilled in for the 11th of July. I think a notice went out about that this morning. So when we will be again explaining it and we’ll be taking a vote because we’re going to put this to the membership in the hope that it’s good enough for you to feel that you can agree to it.

Alan

So does this affect the national pay bargaining?

Aisha

No, it doesn’t. It absolutely doesn’t. The national pay bargaining will hopefully give us a percentage rise, and that is completely different from what we’re doing here at Leeds. This is not about giving people a percentage pay rise. Is about changing where the grades are on the national pay spine. So the national pay spine is decided in the national bargaining. We’re just looking at how that is implemented here at Leeds.

Alan

OK, so we should find out more about that from the negotiating team before the general meeting on the 11th of July hopefully?

Aisha

We certainly should.

Alan

Excellent, right. I look forward to that. And the next thing that I want to ask you about was freedom of expression. We understand that the university has been putting some proposals around that.

Aisha

Well, the university already has a freedom of expression protocol, but it’s not actually compliant with the most recent legislation and the most recent advice coming from the Office for Students, so we’ve had a draught of a revised freedom of expression protocol. So that’s been sent to the unions and we need to give our feedback to the university on that. And the intention is that should be compliant with Office for Students and current legislation. I can’t say that we don’t have concerns. There are concerns, so hopefully those will be ironed out before it’s finally approved.

Rachel

Well, thanks for that explanation and we’ll keep our eyes peeled. We wondered what had been going on with regards to reviewing HR policies recently.

Aisha

Well, all of the universities policies are under review, and they should be. I mean, it’s something that should be done regularly, and they are reviewing them with the unions. And we just saw – and when I say just, I mean on Friday, it’s Wednesday today when we’re recording this, and this was last Friday – we saw terms of reference for the policy review, so that’s the stage that we’re at, is agreeing terms of reference –

Rachel

Early days!

Aisha

– but every policy will be under review. Some of these are matters for consultation and some of them are matters for negotiation. And that’s an important difference, because anything that has to be negotiated with the unions also has to be agreed by our union’s central organisation, and that’s the same for all three of us.

Rachel

OK. So at this point, just business as usual then getting on with the – a

Aisha

Well, yeah. But you know, if you have any comments on university policies, do send them in because at some point they will be reviewed with the unions. So you know, if you’re finding that things like annual leave or parental leave or – what else have we got? – sickness policy, everything. Absolutely everything that is a policy – dignity and mutual respect. They’re all going to be reviewed at some point.

Rachel

Great. So it’s a good time for feedback. If you want to e-mail ucu@leeds.ac.uk.

Aisha

That’s the one.

Rachel

Another thing that is still happening is department rep elections.

Aisha

Yes, we have had, actually, we’ve got a lot of new departmental reps or some of them are actually returning departmental reps, some of them are new. I think Alan has just sent a list. So congratulations to everybody who has been elected as a departmental rep and thank you very much for putting yourself forward

Rachel

Yeah.

Aisha

Forward. Unfortunately, the deadline for the elections coincided with a really, really busy marking period. So we’ve got a deadline for additional nominations, which is Monday the 1st of July. So if you can have a look at the list that Alan sent out and if your department, if your area, doesn’t yet have representation, consider putting yourself forward, or consider who you might want to nominate as a rep. I know I’ve said this before, but it really is useful for your area to have a rep it keeps us in touch with what’s happening in your area and it enables you to feed back to your area what’s going on centrally. If you have a representative, team of representatives, you will get better representation from your union and the reason for that is simply that we know what’s going on.

Rachel

Yeah. And speaking as a department rep myself, I go to a meeting with other reps and I hear what’s going on from them and I can feedback what’s going on in my department and it’s not an onerous job, it’s a nice job where people know you. So I always recommend being a department rep and I believe that e-mail went out last night this morning, so it’s quite fresh in your inboxes I think. So have a look at that as soon as you can. So moving on, I guess we’ll look at what’s coming up. So we have a social coming up. Aisha, do you want to say a little bit about that and anything else that’s coming up?

Aisha

We’ve got another lunchtime social it’s on the 26th of June 1 till 2. It’s a bring your own lunch, but it’s in the Ziff. What used to be the Ziff Cafe. I can never make the Wednesday lunch time socials, we have our meeting with HR at that time. But I hope you all have a great time there.

Rachel

Ah. Yeah, so, level 10, I believe is where the cafe used to be. And yeah, you can, you can get things from vending machines,

Aisha

Level 9

Rachel

Is it level 9, OK?

Aisha

I think – it might be level 10, I don’t know.

Rachel

I think it’s level 10!

Aisha

Because there’s this peculiar thing in the university where the levels are based on the contour line, so level 9 in in the newer buildings is actually the same height above sea level wherever you are in the university. But it could be the ground floor of the building that you’re in.

Rachel

Yes. That’s right, as in the case with Ziff.

Alan

Yeah. And we all navigate by height above sea level, don’t we? I think that’s.

Aisha

We totally do!

Rachel

Well, I think that’s everything for this week, isn’t it? Or is there any last kind of comments from Aisha?

Aisha

No, I think that’s everything.

Rachel

Well, we hope to see you at the general meeting. On Thursday the 11th of July 1245, keep your eye on your inboxes for news of that pay and grading review, and yeah, even sooner than that, the lunch time social Wednesday, the 26th at 1:00 in the Ziff.

Alan

Thanks Aisha.

Rachel

Bye.

[Brief music]

Outro

Rachel

That’s all for today’s LeedsUCU podcast. Thank you for listening. Please subscribe on whatever platform you’re listening to us on, so you’ll know as soon as we publish our next episode.

Alan

If you’re not yet a member of UCU, head to ucu.org.uk/join to find out more if you work at the University of Leeds in an academic or academic related, professional or managerial role, or as a postgraduate student doing paid teaching. Wherever you work, make sure you join the union for your workplace.

Rachel

This podcast is made on behalf of the committee of the University and College Union, University of Leeds Branch. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail our branch offices at ucu@leeds.ac.uk. See our website leedsucu.org.uk for alternative contact details and for a transcript of this episode.

Jonathan Dean

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

I’m writing to inform you, with great sadness, that Jonathan Dean has passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly at home on May 24th. Jonathan, Associate Professor of Politics, was a UCU department rep and a valued colleague to those who worked alongside him in The School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) and knew him through UCU.  

Jonathan was the POLIS UCU Rep for 10 years, almost as long as he’d been employed in Leeds. He famously wrote long emails to the whole school about how joining a union generally, and in our case UCU specifically, was essential to challenge the ‘neoliberal university’ and the erosion of HE. With his characteristic wit and conciliatory manner he would detail in these emails what was at stake, gently but firmly cajoling people to take up collective action in all of our interests, as he was passionate about social justice.

We will leave the comments below open in case you want to add your own memory of or tribute to Jonathan. You can find more tributes here Jonathan Dean – An Appreciation | Centre for Contemporary Political Theory (leeds.ac.uk), the main obituary written by colleagues here Dr Jonathan Dean | Secretariat (leeds.ac.uk) and a website that has been created to share memorial events by his family here Celebrating Jonathan Dean (google.com). Jonathan’s partner has suggested that if anyone wants to make donations to charitable causes in his name, they can do so to Leeds UCU itself. Jonathan was a regular member of our picket line so we suggest donations go to UCU Leeds LA29 (Hardship Fund), Unity Trust Bank, Account Number: 20391511, Sort Code: 60-83-01. He will be very much missed by all of us.

Aisha Walker, UCU Leeds Branch President.

Department rep election results + new deadline for additional nominations

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Firstly, the results of the department rep elections are below.

Secondly, the committee has decided to extend a deadline for additional nominations (where there are still available roles) because the nomination period ended up being quite short and the deadline was during a busy period for a lot of UCU members.

Nominate more colleagues!

The idea is in larger departments you can elect a small team of UCU reps to work together. Here’s the number of reps you can elect for your area. (That number includes those who have already been elected – see below.)

The new deadline for nominations is the end of Monday 1 July.

You can find out more about the UCU department rep roles and how to nominate a colleague at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/choosing-your-ucu-department-representatives/

Election results

The following candidates were elected unopposed. (This means there were the same number or fewer candidates nominated than available roles so there is no need to conduct a ballot.)

This list doesn’t include candidates whose nominations were completed after the deadline of 13 June – they will be taken with the other nominations received by 1 July.

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

School of Languages, Cultures and Societies (except Language Centre)

Corinne Painter, health and safety rep

Fabio Sarranito, department rep

Ingrid Sharp, health and safety rep

Leah Wang, department rep

Ruba Khamam, department rep

Sarah Hudspith, health and safety rep

Sarah Waters, health and safety rep

Language Centre

Angela Hume, department rep

Sara Montgomery, health and safety rep

School of Media and Communication

Helen Thornham, department rep

Joanne Armitage, department rep

Miriam Kent, department rep

Performance and Cultural Industries

ally Walsh, health and safety rep

Matty Elliot, department rep

School of Music

Ewan Stefani, department rep

James Mooney, health and safety rep

Faculty of Business (Leeds University Business School)

Abbie Winton, department rep

Alex Seehaus, department rep

Andreas Georgiadis, department rep

Gulbanu Kaptan, health and safety rep

Jane Holgate, department rep

Stefan Kesting, department rep

Vera Trappmann, department rep

Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences

School of Chemistry

Lavinia Onel, department rep

Sandy James, department rep

Faculty of Environment

School of Earth and Environment

Jonathan Busch, department rep

Natalie Kopytko, department rep

Valeria Tolis, health and safety rep

Institute for Transport Studies

David Watling, department rep

Paul Timms, department rep

Faculty of Medicine and Health

Institute of Clinical Trials Research (LICTR)

Duncan Wilson, department rep

Leeds Institute of Health Sciences

Dan Howdon, department rep

Sue Richards, health and safety rep

Faculty of Social Sciences

School of Law

Amanda Keeling, department rep

Carrie Bradshaw, health and safety rep

Chris Dietz, department rep

School of Education

Richard Badger, department rep

Professional services

Digital Education Service

Claudia Rogers, department rep

IT

Andi Rylands, department rep

Human Resources including ODPL

Jenny Rivas Perez, department rep

Libraries

Emily Haikney, department rep

‘Except Palestine’ event

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Justice Without Borders: Connecting Local Activism and International Movements from Palestine to the World

PLEASE JOIN US ON THURSDAY 20 JUNE 2024 IN

BAINES WING SR (2.10)

1600-1800

Hosted by Leeds UCU

Featuring:

  • Dena Qaddumi, Fellow in City Design and Social Science, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
  • Laila Alodaat, human rights lawyer and activist
  • Anne Caldwell, Teaching Fellow in the School of History, University of Leeds whose research focuses on the intersection of Jewish Identity, Nationalism, and Colonial Agrarianism in the British Media during the Mandate Period
  • Dani Abulhawa, Lecturer in Contemporary Applied Performance, University of Leeds
Poster for Except Palestine event. Image shows stylised painting of woman hugging a white dove to her face. Text is the meeting invitation from the post and the list of other events linked to in the link in the post https://linktr.ee/exceptpalestine?utm_source=linktree_admin_share

Other ‘Except Palestine’ events at https://linktr.ee/exceptpalestine?utm_source=linktree_admin_share

LeedsUCU podcast episode 10: branch news 7 June 2024

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

In today’s episode (recorded 5 June): pay and grading review, hybrid working, anti-casualisation improvements, department rep elections, general meetings and socials

With Aisha Walker, Rachel Walls and Alan Smith.

If you prefer your union branch news direct to your ears, search for LeedsUCU wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe so you get notified about new episodes. 

See all the episodes and transcripts at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/podcast/

To join UCU go to ⁠https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

Episode links

Choosing your UCU department representatives

Direct links to the LeedsUCU podcast 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ht1Iks9WPR6qbmGXXOXfS

Amazon Podcasts https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/1f16de89-30ec-444a-83ac-54bcbe0bcac6/leedsucu-podcast

Pocket Casts https://pca.st/pacoaeqd