Would you like to add your name to a joint letter from academics at University of Leeds calling for tougher action to reduce the climate change impacts of air travel?
The letter is being put together by the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA).
If you wish to put your signature to the open letter text please email GalbaUK@protonmail.com by 8 September.
You can find out more about the GALBA campaign at galba.uk
This page was last updated on 7 September 2021
UCU has now called a boycott of the University of Liverpool over the university’s refusal to halt the sacking of 21 health staff. Liverpool UCU have taken strike action, and are now doing a marking boycott. Liverpool management are deducting 100% of wages of staff not marking. The way staff were selected for redundancy is very worrying – they used flawed metrics to assess research outputs, and this could have wider implications for UCU members across the sector. The university has refused to meet with UCU to resolve the dispute, or to allow ACAS to mediate between UCU and management. So the boycott was called to push the university to stop the planned redundancies and to hold urgent talks to resolve the dispute.
Please support the boycott by:
Please let staff at Liverpool know about your support and the actions you have taken using social media, tagging @ULivUCU2 and using the hashtag #BoycottLiverpoolUni. And if you can, please donate to their hardship fund.
See more about how you can support the boycott
Academic boycott is a serious sanction, taken as a last resort by the union. Universities know a boycott will damage their reputation. It’s sad that Liverpool’s management’s appalling decisions, and lack of negotiation, have brought them to this. But there is hope that the situation can be turned around with our support. We need to stand in solidarity with our colleagues at Liverpool.
The academic boycott of University of Leicester continues, as previously explained, so please continue to observe that boycott and to share your support for Leicester UCU (@LeicesterUCU and #BoycottLeicester).
Some good news from the Open University though – UCU has negotiated a deal there which means improved pay and job security for more than 4,000 associate lecturers who will be moved onto new permanent contracts.
Thank you for your solidarity with Leicester and Liverpool.
Cheers
Ben
Ben Plumpton
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
University of Leeds UCU President
This post is from an email sent to branch members 15 July 2021
This page was last updated on 16 July 2021
From email sent to branch members 6 May 2021
Dear members
I expect you’ve heard about the Governments latest plans to decimate arts provision in Higher Education – see for example https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/06/plans-for-50-funding-cut-to-arts-subjects-at-universities-catastrophic
A 50% cut to arts funding would be disastrous both across the UK and for this university and our amazing arts schools.
I am writing to urge you to support the Public Campaign for the Arts, see https://www.campaignforthearts.org/petitions/stop-the-50-percent-funding-cut-to-arts-subjects-in-higher-education/ by signing their petition.
Also, the government is holding an extremely short consultation about this, due to end at 23:59 today. You can input to this consultation here:
https://survey.officeforstudents.org.uk/s/RecurrentFundingConsultation2021-22/
Please do this if you possibly can.
Please share this widely, including on social media.
Ben
Ben Plumpton
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
University of Leeds UCU President
This page was last updated on 6 May 2021
A quick reminder that Leeds UCU has organised an Open Meeting on USS this Thursday (11 March) 12 noon – 1 pm. Please come along to find out what’s going on with the latest valuation. Our pensions rep Mark Taylor-Batty will be expanding on the brief contribution he was able to make to the recent university ‘Conversations’ sessions about USS, and we are keen to discuss this with you. Please encourage your colleagues to attend too, whether union members or not, and please forward this invitation to as many people as possible – thank you.
Read moreThis page was last updated on 22 March 2021
Our next scheduled branch general meeting is on Wednesday 10 March, 12pm – 1pm
If you would like to submit a motion to UCU Congress 2021, to help shape UCU’s national policy and strategy, this will be our last meeting to agree the motion.
The deadline for motions to this meeting is 12pm Tuesday 2 March. Please email any motions for this meeting to ucu@leeds.ac.uk.
Details of all the scheduled general meetings for this academic year
Motions to UCU Congress need to be no more than 150 words, plus title of no more than 10 words.
This page was last updated on 22 February 2021
Please contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk by 1st March if you would like to represent the branch at either of these events (to be held online):
This page was last updated on 22 February 2021
Senior management are currently consulting the campus unions and staff networks about changes to the university’s disability equality framework and trans equality policy. The UCU negotiating team has strenuously expressed the concerns raised by members about detrimental proposed changes to both of these policies. If you’d like to be involved in the UCU equality working group or disability working group, please contact equality officer Lorraine Youds.
Senior management are also consulting unions about potential changes to the university flexible working policy (current version here). We are being consulted at an early stage which is good, because it means we can all input fully rather than reacting to a finished draft. Contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk with any suggestions for what you think a new flexible working policy should include – our next consultation meeting about this is on Friday 19th February.
The university will be circulating another staff wellbeing survey soon. Issues identified from these surveys are discussed with the campus unions, and the branch committee would encourage you to fill in the next one, which will include questions about workload, and highlight any concerns you have. The surveys are confidential and reported in an aggregated form.
This page was last updated on 22 February 2021
Branch officers are continuing to push for fixed term contracts to only be used in very limited circumstances. We are having some success in particular areas, and we are also monitoring the university’s job adverts so that we can raise concerns at an early stage. If you would like to be involved with our anti-casualisation working group, which will be discussing and re-launching our anti-casualisation claim, please get in touch with our anti-casualisation officers, Xanthe Whittaker and Joanne Armitage.
This page was last updated on 22 February 2021
The Voluntary Leavers Scheme (VLS) in FBS/SoM has concluded. 64 staff in total across the two areas applied, and 33 will be leaving the university under this scheme. The campus unions have still not been provided with either full financial details for FBS/SoM or the criteria that were used to decide which VLS applications were accepted. Our dispute is still live – our three requirements to end the dispute are that university management should:
Read moreThis page was last updated on 22 February 2021