News

Anti-casualisation
Covid-19
Equality
Pensions
Workloads

Filter by category

Motion: Education and situation in Gaza

Members of the branch voted for the following motion at a general meeting 5 December 2023: This branch notes: Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to Israeli bombardment for…

Read More

Motion for UCU women’s conference

This motion was carried at an ordinary general meeting of members of this branch on 12 October 2023 Conference notes: OfS Consultation on regulating harassment and sexual misconduct (England)1…

Read More

Open meeting about USS Consultation

You may have seen the email to all members from the UCU General Secretary Jo Grady on the 25th September, concerning the members’ consultation about changes to the USS pensions scheme….

Read More

All news and updates

This page was last updated on 16 October 2021

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! 

Release University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

UCU University of Leeds branch supports the ALQST for Human Rights group campaign for the release of University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab from prison in Saudi Arabia. Members of the branch voted for the following motion at a general meeting 5 December 2023, following a talk by Lina al-Hathloul of ALQST for Human Rights.

This UCU branch notes that:

  1. University of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia, to be followed by a travel ban of the same length, for tweets in support of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
  2. On 7 July 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found her detention to be arbitrary and called for her immediate release, alongside Nourah al-Qahtani, sentenced to 45 years in prison, also in connection to tweets supporting women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
  3. Al-Shehab’s mental and physical health have deteriorated in prison: in March 2023, she participated in a collective hunger strike, which she ended several weeks later in order to be able to take medication.
  4. The University of Leeds has yet to issue a formal public statement calling for: a) her immediate, unconditional release; and b) the lifting of her travel ban.


This UCU branch believes that:

  1. Al-Shehab must be released immediately and unconditionally, and have her travel ban immediately lifted.
  2. The University must take urgent steps to promote her case.


This UCU branch resolves to:

  1. Seek an urgent meeting with management to call on the University to publicly speak out for al-Shehab’s release.
  2. Reiterate our call for her release in an open letter, which we will invite other trade unions, members of staff and students to sign.
  3. Organise a public event with a speaker on Saudi human rights in collaboration with ALQST for Human Rights and MENA Solidarity Network.
  4. Organise a vigil for al-Shehab.

This post is subject to the approval of the minutes of the general meeting 5 December 2023.

Motion: Education and situation in Gaza

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Members of the branch voted for the following motion at a general meeting 5 December 2023:

This branch notes:

Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to Israeli bombardment for more than 45 days;

As of 21/11/23, it is reported that 1200 people in Israel and over 14,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 5,800+ children, with 6,800 missing and 1.7 million displaced;

Israeli leaders have expressed genocidal intent, including direct and public incitement to commit genocide in Gaza;

The Israeli bombardment has damaged or destroyed over 250 educational facilities, including UNRWA schools and all three major universities (the Islamic University, Al-Azhar University, Al-Aqsa University)

More than 100 educational staff and 2000 students have been killed;

A rising tide of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

This branch resolves to:

  1. Stand in solidarity with Palestinian university students and staff;
  2. Contest Islamophobia and antisemitism, ensuring that Jewish people across the world are not held responsible for the actions of the Israeli state.
  3. Condemn the assault and siege on Gaza, and demand an immediate permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces including from the West Bank; 
  4. Establish a committee to implement UCU national policy to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions;
  5. Build links with scholars, universities, and academic unions in Palestine, including initiatives for joint teaching and research, exchanges, scholarships, and twinning;
  6. Protect academic freedom and freedom of expression for all staff and students at the University of Leeds, including a letter calling on senior management to provide explicit support and protection against harassment, racism, and silencing resulting from supporting Palestinian rights.

This post is subject to the approval of the minutes of the general meeting 5 December 2023.

Letter sent to University Secretary re: Police on Campus

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

23 October 2023

Dear University Secretary

We are writing to you concerning the presence of police on campus on 12th October 2023 with regards to a peaceful protest by Just Stop Oil (JSO). We are shocked and saddened to see police in large numbers around University Road and the Great Hall. We have been made aware that police were already on campus guarding the Ziff Building prior to the JSO action of painting the Great Hall (which was quickly removed by university staff). 

As a union we care deeply for the safety and wellbeing of staff and students at our university, as well as their right to protest and freedom of speech. Therefore we seek clarification on police presence on campus which was unprecedented in the following items listed below.

Permission to be on campus

Given the University of Leeds is on private property, were the police invited into campus? Our understanding from dealing with previous university secretaries is that they have advised the police against entering campus when protests are occurring or have liaised about a perimeter presence. Given this context please clarify 1) if the police were invited on campus and 2) if so, the reasoning behind this.

Freedom of protest and speech

The heavy presence of police prior to the protest would seem to be a breach of the university’s own policy of Freedom of Expression (see here). Particularly, “The University is committed to promoting and positively encouraging free debate, enquiry and protest”. “The university has an explicit duty in law to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is secured for members, students, employees and visiting speakers. This duty includes a responsibility to ensure that the use of University premises is not denied to any individual or group on the grounds of the belief or views of that individual or any member of that group or on the grounds of the policy or objectives of the group.” We would suggest that the invited presence of the police would knowingly act as a deterrent or inhibition to the freedom of expression as outlined by the University’s own commitments. 

This policy also states that “Freedom of expression also has to be set in the context of the University’s values, and the values of a civilised, democratic, inclusive society. The university expects speakers and those taking part in protest activities to respect those values”. The protest highlighting universities’ role in climate change aligns with the University of Leeds’s values and action points on climate change (see here). 

We also believe the protest reflects the values enshrined in the University of Leeds Decolonising Framework Key Principles (see here). Specifically, the protest sought to elevate the voices of students and young people who are concerned about the university’s role in climate change and urge the university to transform its practices. This reaffirms the university’s commitment to decolonising, particularly addressing the below key principles outlined in the uni’s decolonising framework:

  • “To ask whose knowledges and voices are undervalued and silenced.
  • To work proactively to rebalance such unequal power dynamic
  • As well as addressing questions of curriculum and pedagogy, it also encompasses wider university structures and practices.”

We believe the protest was aligned with the above values by confirming, consolidating and accelerating them through one direct action (which was swiftly cleaned up by university staff and no harm was done to the building). 

Staff and students wellbeing

The University of Leeds’s Access and Student Strategy (see here) highlights the university’s intention to increase the presence of groups which have historically been excluded from attending Higher Education such as students from low participation neighbourhoods, mature students and Black and Ethnic minority students. These are communities who are more likely to be harassed and racially profiled by police. We have already highlighted how the increase of security staff in the Ziff building has made students from underrepresented backgrounds feel unsafe in our communication at the Joint Committee of the University and UCU meetings in the year 2022/23 in relation to the closing of the Ziff. Having police on campus decreases the likelihood staff and students from marginalised backgrounds feel a sense of belonging and inclusiveness on campus.

Finally, we are incredibly concerned about the possibility of a breach of the (legally binding) Student Contract (see here). What measures were taken to ensure the health and safety of the people present in the JSO rally? This is particular relevant to the single protestor who painted the building and was met with disproportionate reaction of a large number of police officers handling them while they were not resisting. Is this not a failure of the university Health and Safety obligations if this young person, or any other, is injured by police action on campus? 

We look forward to hearing from you regarding the above concerns.

Given our members’ concern for the events which occurred on 12th October, we will make this email public.

Aisha Walker

On behalf of University of Leeds UCU branch committee

General meeting about the Israel/Palestine emergency

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

As agreed at our general meeting we urge members to offer humanitarian support if they are in a position to do so. The motion below includes a list of indicative charities.

Motion: Supporting branch members directly impacted by the current Israel/Gaza escalation

This branch notes that UCU issued a statement about the current Israel/Gaza crisis on 10 October: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13229/UCU-statement-on-IsraelGaza

The branch believes that care for members of the UoL UCU community should be the branch’s priority. The branch is aware that at the UoL there are both staff and students who are directly impacted by these events inasmuch as they have family or friends in Israel or the Gaza strip. UCU supports all its members who have been affected in any way.

The branch resolves to show solidarity with all its members affected by the violence, and will vigorously support them should they have any labour-related issues linked to the consequences of the violence, including—but not limited to—difficulties with obtaining compassionate leave, or performance issues (such as missed deadlines).

The branch urges members to offer humanitarian support if they are in a position to do so; an indicative list of relevant charities is provided as an addendum following this motion.

Addendum: indicative list of relevant charities

  • Voices for Hostages

Contribute to the freeing of hostages by signing the open letter (women’s organisation, I think they want people who identify as women). https://voicesforhostages.org/

  • The Parents Circle – Families Forum

PCFF is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 600 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict.  https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/pcff-home-page-en/

  • British Red Cross

https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory-appeal?c_code=170460&c_source=google&c_name=International%20Relief%20Fund&adg=&c_creative=brand&c_medium=cpc&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6Pt18n7gQMV0O3tCh3WqAs9EAAYASABEgLvXvD_BwE

  • World Food Programme Palestine Emergency Appeal

https://www.wfp.org/support-us/stories/palestine-appeal?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=14484934461&utm_content=128338538564&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI38i7va76gQMVl_ftCh0NMgOEEAAYASABEgJ-ZPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

  • Oxfam Gaza Crisis Appeal

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam-in-action/current-emergencies/gaza-crisis-appeal/

  • Medical Aid for Palestinians

https://www.map.org.uk/) 

  • Women Wage Peace

https://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/en/

Motion of no confidence in the general secretary

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This motion was carried at an ordinary general meeting of members of this branch on 12 October 2023.

This branch notes that:

  • The General Secretary (GS) published a strategy “2023 Winning the dispute”, involving discontinuous strike days and a summer MAB
  • HEC voted for escalating action in January, but the pattern of industrial action 22/23 followed the GS’s strategy
  • The GS was censured at Congress 2023, but this has not been communicated to members
  • The GS & leadership* have failed to carry through multiple Congress 2023 motions, including a long summer ballot and raising the Fighting Fund cap
  • The failure to re-ballot over the summer undermined the MAB & autumn strikes & has left a gap in our mandate
  • The GS & leadership has had over four years to ‘build the union’

This branch believes that:

  • Members involved in the MAB were not sufficiently supported by the GS & leadership
  • The decision to make PGR organisers redundant is not consistent with a commitment to building the union
  • Re-ballot delays caused by the GS & leadership are a strategic error and barrier to building member engagement
  • The credibility of UCU has been compromised by these damaging actions

This branch resolves:

  • That it has no confidence in the GS & leadership, for the way the dispute has been conducted

*The “General Secretary & leadership” refers to GS, senior paid officials acting under the direction of the GS and supporters of the GS from at least two factions, who have an HEC majority.

(The minutes of the meeting will be approved at a subsequent general meeting, and this text is subject to that approval. This is a copy of the motion and there may be formatting variations from the original motion in the minutes.)

Motion for UCU women’s conference

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This motion was carried at an ordinary general meeting of members of this branch on 12 October 2023

Conference notes:

  1. OfS Consultation on regulating harassment and sexual misconduct (England)1
  2. Research2 shows most students are not comfortable with romantic and sexual staff-student relationships.

Conference believes:

  1. Better measures must be developed to prevent abuses of power between staff and students
  2. UCU must campaign for a consistent approach to sexual misconduct, emphasising differential power relations

Conference calls on WMSC to:

  1. Centre campaigning on abuse of power which underpins sexual misconduct
  2. Work with NUS and 1752 to advocate for effective mechanisms to end abuse, drawing on their knowledge and expertise
  3. Support policies which prohibit staff-student relationships where the staff member has a direct responsibility for, or involvement in student’s study
  4. Demand proper resourcing to accompany any relationship registration approach, noting the need for appropriate data handling (NUS consultation response S11b83) and training
  5. Focus on developing policies that ensure safe studying and working environments

References:

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/292f4ba4-0938-4bf3-a9b8-bde76f663185/harassment-and-sexual-misconduct-consultation-2023-final.pdf

Should sexual and romantic relationships between staff and students be prohibited? (Yes)

https://www.nus.org.uk/ofs-harassment-consultation-response

(The minutes of the meeting will be approved at a subsequent general meeting, and this text is subject to that approval. This is a copy of the motion and there may be formatting variations from the original motion in the minutes.)

Open meeting about USS Consultation

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

You may have seen the email to all members from the UCU General Secretary Jo Grady on the 25th September, concerning the members’ consultation about changes to the USS pensions scheme. USS members should also have received a formal invitation to that consultation. On Friday 6 October I led a webinar on this consultation.  I talked through the consultation questions and their implications, and took questions. The recording of that webinar is below, followed by information which I included in my original invite to the meeting.

Alternative direct link to the video

There has to be a consultation of members and of employers before pension changes are implemented, even if those changes are broadly positive. In this case, you will be pleased to learn that you are being consulted on whether you want your benefits to go back to where they were before they were cut in 2022, and to start paying less each month for that. I have been working hard on your behalf as part of an elected negotiating team, going to USS meetings once a month, and being involved in informal meetings with representatives of UUK, to achieve the UCU mandate of restoring benefits to pre-April 2022 levels. We are very close to the finishing line. You should note that this has only been possible due to industrial action. I know it doesn’t always feel like striking works, but this is evidence it has, and every month in retirement the income you receive will be higher because of the industrial action taken in the last year or on the USS issue. Some are saying that the improved financial situation of the USS made the restoration of benefits inevitable. As I am as close to the horse’s mouth as you will find, I can tell you that is definitely not the case: the headwinds were in the right direction, certainly, but we had to tack and navigate carefully with nuance and heads full of data, calculations and evidence to get towards the final destination. 

Below my signature, fo those who want some more written detail and care about what members can still do via the consultation, I offer some thoughts that I expanded upon in the webinar.

Professor Mark Taylor-Batty
University of Leeds UCU Pensions officer
Member of the USS’s JN Committee

Restoration of benefits

While the restoration of pre-April 2022 benefits is on the cards, the consultation will ask if you want to pay a cheap as chips option for retaining the current reduced level of benefits. As that would be recipe for an inadequate pension income in retirement, and the opposite of what we have all been striving to achieve, that is not an attractive option. The restoration of full pre-April-2022 benefits could be achieved at somewhere between 6.2% and 8% of salary, as opposed to the current 9.8%.

Recovery of 2022-24.

We have been negotiating to get some pay-back for the benefits lost from April 2022, by using the amount in the notional ‘surplus’ that represents the amounts overpaid since then. Your support for this is important. As this change would be a universal benefit, it is not as required part of the consultation, but that is a space where you can mention it. 

Demonstrably sustainable

As you will recall, UCU and UUK signed two joint statements, in February and March, in which we agreed that we should together aim to make sure that the restoration of pre-April 2022 benefits should be achieved in a ‘demonstrably sustainable’ way. This means that we should be paying a contribution rate for those benefits that will make sure we do not end up in a notional ‘deficit’ again when we come to the 2026 valuation, and consequently risk falling back into dispute and being pressured to yet again see an increase in our contributions. The USS provided data on the cost of those returned benefits based on the latest valuation data, and gave that as needing a joint contribution rate of 20.6% BUT they heavily caveated this for employers, indicating in effect that this was not a demonstrably sustainable rate (a high chance of needing higher contributions again in the next six years). UUK’s actuary AON also indicated that a rate of 25.2% was a more sustainable benchmark rate. (This would imply a contribution from us of comfortably under 8%, down from 9.8%, for our restored benefits, and with much less risk of future increases or dispute). We expect employers such as Leeds, who have published statements about the need for a demonstrably sustainable solution, will reject the too low 20.6% figure on that basis, and I have already seen some results of the employers’ consultation that indicate this honouring of ‘demonstrably sustainable’ is happening across the sector. This is to be welcomed, though we do also anticipate that some employers will jump to the cheapest option for restored benefits, even if this is not demonstrably sustainable. The motivation here will be the huge savings that institutions can pocket from reducing their contributions. The University of Leeds, on a demonstrably sustainable basis, stands to ‘save’ over £12M annually in its staff costs budget. We do not yet know what the balance is of employer responses on this matter from their consultation, which ended last week. While 20.6% would have the attractive result of slightly cheaper contributions, the risk of them going back up again after the 2026 valuation (and the need again therefore for dispute) would be something we now need to focus on. It may seem odd that the trade union is the one arguing for a cautious, sensible and slightly higher contribution rate than some employers, but we made a public commitment to a demonstrably sustainable solution, and your negotiators all believe it is important to avoid future dispute by embedding a strong solution at this valuation, whilst restoring our benefits and gaining a lower cost for those. 

Vice chancellor resigns after pressure from staff

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Following motions of no confidence passed in June/July by all three staff trade unions (UCU, Unison and Unite), the University of Leeds vice chancellor and president Simone Buitendijk has announced that she is stepping down with almost immediate effect. Professor Buitendijk’s tenure has seen a steady deterioration in industrial relations and democratic engagement with staff and students at the university. This is reflected in multiple student occupations, simultaneous strikes by all three campus unions, two marking and assessment boycotts and a generalised loss of trust and goodwill at the university. Whilst the majority of industrial action is a matter for national sector-level negotiations, the situation at Leeds has been exacerbated by punitive measures leading to additional strike action by UCU in June 2023.

Throughout her tenure, Professor Buitendijk has been reluctant to meet with trade union representatives. In addition, during her time at Leeds, the number of elected staff representatives on the senate has been reduced and elected staff representation has been removed from the university council. In consequence, there are decreasing avenues and fewer mechanisms for staff voices to be heard by university management. Genuine staff engagement has been replaced by infrequent ‘Town Hall’ meetings, which have been stage managed and do not include genuine opportunities for staff questions and discussion. Such a lack of voice was reflected in the 2023 Employee Engagement survey, in which only 29% of staff agreed that they felt their voice counted and less than a third stated that they felt there was honest and open two-way communication at the university. The survey further evidenced widespread discontent amongst staff, with particularly poor scores for the level of confidence held in senior managers, with less than a third of staff indicating that they felt that senior managers had the capability to deliver the university strategy.

Staff have not been the only members of the university community to feel disaffected by Professor Buitendijk’s style of leadership. Students have also critiqued the ways in which their concerns have been handled (or ignored), particularly relating to treatment of staff and to climate policies, which has resulted in several occupations by students. The recent closure of the purpose-built student hub – the Marjorie and Arnold Ziff Building – and consequent relocation of the Lifelong Learning Centre has been a particularly controversial decision. We hope that this resignation paves the way for the incoming leadership to return the Ziff building to students, as a reflection of their commitment to remaking the university as an institution which puts the interests of students at its centre.

Picket lines have become a regular feature of life at the University of Leeds in recent years as staff have come to feel that industrial action is the only option. University leadership has failed to engage seriously with staff or to make progress on workplace improvements agreed with trade unions. Staff unions have consistently urged Professor Buitendijk to engage in a positive way with employer bodies UCEA and UUK to support staff and bring a positive resolution to the disputes. Sadly, Professor Buitendijk has consistently declined to do so.

We hope that Professor Buitendijk’s resignation indicates a recognition that it is time to start listening to and negotiating with staff unions instead of the senior management trying to defeat the staff. We look forward to rebuilding trust and goodwill on campus through more constructive dialogue between Professor Buitendijk’s successor and senior management, and staff and their representatives.

Small flags of the three unions UCU Unison and Unite in grass in front of University of Leeds main entrance

Support Professor Hakim Adi: Save the MRes in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The following motion was carried the Emergency General Meeting held on the 12th September 2023.

This branch notes

  • University of Chichester has suspended recruitment for the masters by research (MRes) course on African History and the Diaspora and made its programme leader Professor Hakim Adi redundant.
  • Professor Adi is a world leading expert in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora and the first person of African descent to become Professor of History in the UK.
  • the M. Res and Professor Adi’s mentorship plays a unique role in empowering students of African and Caribbean heritage – many of them mature – to train as historians.

This branch believes

  • the programme closure is an attack on the right of students of colour to study and is a product of the systemic racism of UKHE;
  • the case against Prof Adi’s dismissal is an important case for how Black students and academics are treated and the degree to which they are able to progress in UKHE.

This branch resolves to

  • Join the list of supporters to the Save MRes campaign, which is supporting Prof Adi’s grievance against his dismissal and calling for the reinstatement of the programme;
  • Call on the GS to instruct UCU legal team to provide support to Prof Adi’s case against unfair dismissal on the basis of its significance for racial justice in UKHE

Post edited 2 October 2023 to correct the text to the motion as carried by the meeting.

A letter to students about the September ’23 strike

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

Dear students,

Welcome to solidarity. From 24th – 29th September 2023, Leeds University UCU members will be on strike. Pay and working conditions negotiations between unions and the employer’s governing body, UCEA, reached an impasse in March,and after a marking and assessment boycott failed to bring employers to the negotiating table, UCU’s Higher Education Committee (HEC) called this action to further pressure our employers into returning to the negotiating table. Our dispute is called Four Fights – more information here – because we want action on:

  • Pay
  • Casualisation
  • Workload
  • Gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps

At the University of Leeds, we are also keen to use this strike to improve local conditions and to demand management pay staff in full since they are now doing the marking they boycotted in summer – many staff lost 100% of their pay for up to 21 days, despite continuing to work and now making up the marking. The university has offered to return 50% of their wages but this is not enough. Staff morale and trust in senior management is low and the university needs to commit to work closely with unions and return wages in full in order to start to repair the damage and build towards better working conditions in the future. Better paid, more securely employed, healthier staff would mean a better learning environment for you.  

We, your teachers and professional services staff, want to continue to put the interest of students first, as we have tried to do throughout these disputes. It has been extremely hard to decide to strike during welcome week, when relationships with students are built and renewed – but we gave the university every chance to prevent this strike and they did not take it. Although we cannot welcome you into your studies in the usual way, we will be on the picket line and available to talk about collective action and the power of standing together. This is why we are referring to this strike as ‘Welcome to Solidarity’ – we hope our example will be empowering and you can be involved in unions in your own life to improve your own situation and that of others. While a volatile situation, we will continue to communicate with you.

What is in your power

You can raise a Notification with the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS is the regulatory body for UK Higher Education and relies on students raising concerns (as well as regular reporting by university governing bodies) to address issues with the student experience. A formal complaint is a lengthy process, but a ‘Notification’ makes OfS aware that the Leeds Senior Management Team has, whatever their claims, allowed disruption to students’ education.

 

Stay in touch

We will keep you informed via our website. We want to keep you in the loop and continue to work with students to build a university that is supportive of everyone.

During the 24th-25th of September, you are welcome to join us on our picket lines on Parkinson steps at 1130 every day, and/or join us online for some truly free education via our teachout programme, which is currently a work in progress but watch this space.

You can reach out to us to discuss concerns and plans. You can find the Leeds UCU union branch on twitter (@leedsucu) or via ucu@leeds.ac.uk  Leeds Student Staff Solidarity has a helpful overview of student support. You can find them on twitter (​@SSSLeeds).

We hope that with your help, the Senior Management Team will engage in meaningful negotiations so that together with management we can improve your learning conditions and our working conditions.


In solidarity,


Your teachers and professional services staff.