Friday, 17 September 2021

UCU campaign update Your support is needed Please support these campaigns.

·       UCU campaign update


Your support is needed

Please support these campaigns.

Support striking colleagues: donate to the UCU fighting fund

Colleagues who can afford to do so are asked to consider a donation to the UCU fighting fund. Donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes. As always, members are asked to only contribute whatever their circumstances allow. Any amount will be gratefully received by members taking action.

Current disputes

§  ! University of Leicester: defending livelihoods and academic freedom

§  ! University of Liverpool: striking for jobs and vital Covid-19 research

§  Aston University UCU fighting department closure

§  University of Dundee - local pension scheme closure

§  Birmingham City University: health and safety concerns

§  Capital City College: campaign to defend jobs, pay and conditions

§  Cardiff University: no unsafe return

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§  University of Exeter performance rights

§  Goldsmiths, University of London financial woes

§  Havant & South Downs College dispute

§  University of Hull: job cuts and sacking of branch president

§  University of Kent: redundancies

§  Kingston University: cuts

§  University of Leeds: job cuts

§  London South Bank University: shock and anger over course closures 

§  Northern Ireland further education

§  University of Portsmouth: redundancies

§  Royal College of Art: members vote for action on precarious contracts.

§  Royal Holloway, University of London

§  University of Sheffield: archaeology closure

§  Staffordshire University: new subsidiary company plans

§  University of Sussex compulsory redundancy refusal

§  University College Birmingham: shock as 73 at risk of redundancy

§  University for the Creative Arts: campus closure

§  University of the Arts London: LCF researcher plans

§  Warwickshire College Group: campus closure

§  Winning!

§  City College Plymouth win new deal staff

§  University of Chester job cuts

! University of Leicester: defending livelihoods and academic freedom

Support the boycott of the University of Leicester

The long-running dispute over redundancies at the University of Leicester stepped up significantly after UCU members began industrial action short of a strike on Tuesday 4 May. As well as working to contract, declining to volunteer for additional tasks (including an 'ideas strike'), refusing to engage in meetings over 50 minutes duration, and refusing to use online systems on a Friday, the action also includes a marking and assessment boycott.

The employer responded with confusing and threatening emails and on May served notices of compulsory redundancy on 26 members of staff.

UCU has therefore announced a global academic boycott of the University of Leicester, a rare and serious sanction. UCU is asking its members, other trade unions, labour movement organisations and the international academic community to support colleagues at Leicester by disengaging from the University. Leicester UCU is also asking all UCU members to contact anyone they know at the university - particularly heads of school/department, who sit on university senate - to ask them what they are doing to support ASOS and to defend the institution's academic integrity.

As the branch has seen no meaningful engagement from the university they were forced to move to full strike action, with walkouts taking place on 9, 10 & 11 June. 

! University of Liverpool: striking for jobs and vital Covid-19 research

Support the boycott of the University of Liverpool

Liverpool UCU are fighting plans to sack staff in the faculty of health and life sciences and are taking a second extended period of strike action from 4 August following  three weeks of strikes from 24 May over management's redundancy proposals. UCU members began a marking and assessment boycott on Friday 18 June, on top of working to contracted hours and boycotting all voluntary activities. The lack of engagement from management in resolving the dispute  led to almost 1,500 students failing to receive their degree results on time.

Members argue that the selection criteria for redundancy uses flawed data to assess research outputs which has wider implications for UCU members across the sector.

On 18 June the university told staff taking part in the lawful marking and assessment boycott that it will withhold 100% of their wages, despite staff carrying out a majority of their duties.

Aston University UCU fighting department closure

The branch launched a petition against the closure of the department of history, languages and translation at Aston University after members voted unanimously to resist the department's closure at a branch meeting.

Aston University told staff that at least 24 jobs were at risk of redundancy due to its plans to close the department. Closure would mean over 12 undergraduate courses being cut, including BScs in international business & modern languages, history & politics, and history & English literature. Around 220 students currently study within the department. The university wants to close the department to new students from September 2022, with all courses set to finish by 2026.

Although the branch has had some success in considerably reducing the number of jobs at risk in the history and translation studies departments, talks are still ongoing about the threat to staff in modern languages:

University of Dundee - local pension scheme closure

The University of Dundee proposes to close its local pension scheme, a defined benefit scheme, which is currently the pension scheme for the majority of support staff at the university. The employer plans to move its support staff to an inferior defined contribution scheme, where pension benefits will be significantly lower. Unison estimates staff will lose out on thousands of pounds worth of pension benefits in retirement. UCU has a handful of members in the local pension scheme, is in dispute and now has a ballot mandate for the small group of members affected to take industrial action. Unison has a ballot mandate for its members, and Unite is embarking upon a statutory ballot too. Any messages of support and solidarity can be sent to ducu@dundee.ac.uk.

Birmingham City University: health and safety concerns

BCU UCU have been in dispute over failure to agree on on-site learning under Covid-19, and this January won their industrial ballot to take action. The employer scheduled several open days to take place on campus which members have real concerns about being required to attend. The employer announced a three-week extension of the deadline for submitting end-of-year assessments but has not similarly extended the marking deadlines for staff.

The action short of a strike which began on 8 June continues. This consists of: refusing to attend on-site and instead moving online all non-essential activity that can be carried out online, including open days; and working to contractual hours only.

Capital City College: campaign to defend jobs, pay and conditions

Members at Capital City College Group (CCCG) are in dispute over the failure of CCCG management to meet the UCU pay and other issues 2020/21 claim in full. The claim seeks a 3.5% pay rise; the harmonisation of London weighting; a workload agreement; an agreement on an inclusive teaching and learning policy; the avoidance of compulsory redundancies and no cuts in remission hours of lead tutors. CCCG management has notified two ongoing restructures across the group affecting more than 60 staff and cutting at least 30 posts. An industrial action ballot closed on 14 July alongside the other FE branches balloting as part of the #RebuildFE campaign. Members at CCCG voted overwhelmingly for strike action with a 95.9% YES vote on a 65% turnout.

Cardiff University: no unsafe return

Cardiff UCU have declared a dispute over the university's failure to provide a commitment that members will not be compelled into face to face work on campus. The branch are currently planning a ballot to determine if members are willing to take strike action in furtherance of the dispute.

 

University of Exeter performance rights

UCU at the University of Exeter has gone into dispute over a new digital learning resources policy submitted to the university's senate and which is trying to licence their performance rights for five years. The branch also argues it doesn't comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and is not fit for purpose. At a recent meeting members reported concerns over the policy proposals in their current form, and whether they were even legal. The branch overwhelmingly passed a motion which declared the  dispute necessary to improve the policy to protect members interests.

Goldsmiths, University of London financial woes

Members at Goldsmiths voted in a meeting earlier this week to present a number of demands to their employer following developing news of the institution's financial position. The branch will be writing to management this week to communicate those demands, including that they take significant numbers of threatened redundancies off the table, step away from financial plans that would give too much influence to lending banks, and work with the staff unions to produce a new, sustainable plan to reduce the institution's deficit while safeguarding jobs and student learning conditions.
 
Management have a deadline to respond by 6 September, or they will face a fully supported campaign to resist any proposed cuts:

Havant & South Downs College dispute

UCU members at HSDC, along with colleagues in NEU, have entered a trade dispute with the college.  HSDC is in a financial crisis due to failure of management and governance by the college. UCU members recognise that due to FE commissioner intervention, HSDC is obligated to resolve its finances. However our members are dealing with the consequences of the failures through redundancies and pay cuts. UCU members have been outraged that the principal has accepted a £10k pay rise (including bonus), whereas HSDC has reneged on a pay agreement with UCU, with an promised 1.5% increase still outstanding. Negotiations have now begun between UCU and NEU and management about the crisis.

University of Hull: job cuts and sacking of branch president

Members at University of Hull are being consulted over potential industrial action on two issues: proposed redundancies in languages and the sacking of our branch president Keith Butler. Industrial action ballot opened 18 June and closes on Friday 9 July 2021. 

University of Kent: redundancies

Members have voted for industrial action (54.4% turnout) over management refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. UCU is now in talks with the employer with a view to resolving the dispute. However we are prepared to take strong action should we need to.

Kingston University: cuts

In April, Kingston University announced the closure to new applicants of its BA Politics, Human Rights, International Relations courses, the final closure of its BA History course, and proposed severe staffing cuts in Media and Communications and Film Studies. This represents a concerted attack on the provision of social sciences, arts and humanities. The university has given notice that up to 55 staff members are at risk of redundancy.

University of Leeds: job cuts

Please sign the petition to stop proposed job cuts in medicine and biological sciences at Leeds. The university refuses to rule out compulsory redundancies, reports an operating surplus of £38 million and has failed to provide any financial rationale for the cuts.

London South Bank University: shock and anger over course closures 

UCU at LSBU are mobilising to fight the sudden closure of courses in the School of Law and Social Sciences, plans to axe or redesign others by September 2022 and attacks on staff terms and conditions. The branch have now lodged a failure to agree that there has been consultation in accordance with the agreed Redundancy and Redeployment Procedure or the Recognition Agreement:

Northern Ireland further education

The employers have advised all six of Northern Ireland's further education college branches that the most they could offer for a pay increase is 7% over four years without additional funding from government. The school teacher pay award has recently been published, taking their pay increase from 2013/14 to the present to 11.25%. By contrast FE lecturers have received 3.8% over the same period. Members took a day of strike action at all six colleges and this is now followed by a campaign of 'action short of strike' involving working to contract and refusing additional duties.

UpdatedUniversity of Portsmouth: redundancies

Portsmouth UCU is in a dispute with University of Portsmouth about redundancies in the department of English literature. Portsmouth UCU is determined to seek justice for members in the department and to ensure that the treatment endured by our members does not happen to other UCU members elsewhere at the University of Portsmouth. Portsmouth UCU branch officers are in negotiations with the university to resolve the dispute, and this has included meeting with the vice-chancellor. Talks with the university are continuing, and Portsmouth UCU branch hopes to be able to reach an agreement with the university. Portsmouth UCU will report back to members in September:

Royal College of Art: members vote for action on precarious contracts.

Mounting frustration of members at the RCA has culminated in a resounding call for action to end insecurity and unacceptable terms and conditions at the college.  Ill-conceived plans to change all MAs from 2 years to a 12 month rolling programme and scrap enhanced statutory redundancy procedures for academics are also being resisted.  Members have now overwhelmingly voted for strike action in an industrial action ballot with 82.8% for strike action and 93.1% for action short of a strike on an excellent turnout of 63%.

Royal Holloway, University of London

The senior management team (SMT) at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) recently proposed changes to academic staffing levels as part of a so-called 'academic realignment exercise', which was presented as an element of the college's three-year strategic plan. A number of academics were identified as having their jobs at risk.

Academic staff at RHUL were not made aware of the plans until they were unveiled at hastily convened 'briefings' on 21 June, only a week before the academic board and the council were to be asked to approve the plan. The full proposals subsequently given to the academic board included plans to move additional colleagues from research and teaching contracts and from open-ended posts on to teaching-only and fixed-term contracts.

Although SMT since announced that they had decided to pull the 'realignment proposal' in its current form, their proposals are due to return in October 2021.

The management team claim that the proposal has been subjected to a rigorous process of consultation, yet the trade unions were at no point asked for their views and input. RHUL's local UCU committee had made repeated requests for more information over the course of many months on possible redundancies, which were consistently ignored:

University of Sheffield: archaeology closure

The University Executive Board at the University of Sheffield has recommended that the Department of Archaeology be closed, despite an international outcry over the prospect that has been covered by the BBC, the Guardian and many local news organisations. Staff and students at Sheffield held a rally in support of the department on  25 May and have been in touch with local politicians and heritage partners.

Sheffield UCU and the other campus unions are determined to resist the closure plans, which would affect academic, technical and professional services staff in the department.

On 15 July a meeting of over 200 members voted to ballot for sustained industrial action during the autumn semester if the university does not reverse its decision to close the archaeology department.

To support the campaign against closure:

Staffordshire University: new subsidiary company plans

Staffordshire University are planning to recruit all new academic staff into a subsidiary company rather than in the main university with effect from 1 August 2021. This will mean that these staff will no longer have access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme.
 
The branch are concerned that this will have an adverse impact on the ability of the university to recruit and retain highly-qualified and experienced staff, who will go instead to institutions that offer better pension provision. Over time this will impact on the viability of the university as quality is likely to be a casualty of the proposal.
 
They are also concerned that academic staff employed by the subsidiary company may not be eligible to be entered into the Research Excellence Framework as they will not be university employees. They may also not count towards the staff/student ratio metric.
 
These concerns with management who say that financially something needs to be done to avoid even more drastic measures.
 
Staff are naturally alarmed at this attack on their pensions and the branch will be issuing a formal failure to agree notice.

University of Sussex compulsory redundancy refusal

The University Executive Group at the University of Sussex has refused to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of a widely criticised Size and Shape programme. The branch has now declared a dispute and will shortly be moving to an indicative ballot:

University College Birmingham: shock as 73 at risk of redundancy

University College Birmingham have recently put 73 senior lecturer roles at risk of redundancy and asked to re-apply for 42 new senior lecturer roles. Many of these lecturers have served the students at the university for well over twenty years. All lecturer job descriptions have been changed to reflect a huge increase in workload. The proposals also see non-negotiated changes to the pay and grading structure. No collective consultation has taken place with UCU to date  which is a clear breach of its legal obligations. The university are offering a severance package that is less than the contractual notice entitlement of members and is using Acas to conclude termination of employment agreements with members, denying members the opportunity of one-to-one independent legal advice. This saves the university having to pay for said advice. UCB plans to bridge the shortfall in staff by using more Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and lecturers at the bottom of the pay spine.

This will have a detrimental effect on all staff as well as the student experience. UCU vigorously opposes both the need to make job cuts and the process being used to effect this:

University for the Creative Arts: campus closure

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) is planning to close one of its four campuses and scrap its FE provision with the anticipated loss of around 150 jobs. The university says it wants to create 'centres of excellence' which will involve closing the Rochester campus and moving courses to Epsom.

UCA claims £18 million pounds of repairs are needed at the Rochester campus but staff believe there has been chronic underinvestment in the estate for many years while shiny new buildings have gone up on the Farnham and Epsom campuses. UCU argues that, even if the existing Rochester site is unsustainable, UCA has an obligation to the community, which has one of the lowest rates of take-up of post-16 education anywhere in the country, and should investigate a new site in the Medway towns.

University of the Arts London: LCF researcher plans

The London College of Fashion branch at UAL have called 'foul' on the plan to axe research contracts at the college and have urged the university to abide by its commitments under the Researcher Development Concordat. Branch members have also passed a resolution calling for no compulsory redundancies, confident in their support from the other UAL branches and committed to fight to protect researchers at UAL. The branch have given the college an opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue but, as they have not received any reply, will be notifying the college about a Failure to Agree.

Warwickshire College Group: campus closure

Warwickshire College Group (WCG) has announced plans to close the Malvern campus completely by August, while cutting provision at Evesham College by two-thirds, and moving supported learning and access to HE courses to another site seven miles away. UCU has previously condemned WCG's failure to properly consult with students, staff, or the local community, and argued that management has overseen a process of 'managed decline' since 2016.  

UCU held a public meeting on 4 May as part of its campaign, followed by protests in July, and has now written to the college's chief executive officer accusing WCG of failing to consult properly and ignoring the views of the local community:

Winning!

City College Plymouth win new deal staff

After 2 months of hard negotiation and excellent member engagement, newly-elected branch officers at City College Plymouth beat the anti-trade union law turnout threshold to win local deals for members. Members have voted to settle for a pay deal which includes backdated rises of 2.5% for the lowest paid and 1.5% for others. The deal also includes more leave, agreements on workload, flexible working, increased lecturer autonomy and moves to tackle inequalities. Congratulations are due to all involved especially our members at City College Plymouth and their excellent new branch committee.

University of Chester job cuts

Negotiations continue with the University regarding the final 4 people left on the list of 86 as notified on the section 188 notice in February 2021. No compulsory redundancy notices have been issued and we expect that the remaining 4 will be redeployed or allowed to leave under a VS package. In which case the dispute will have been successfully resolved.

Novus prison education: Covid-19 safety dispute

Following an extended period of industrial action,  a sertis of strikes planned for August 2021 were suspended after agreement was reached at Acas.

Bangor UCU avoids compulsory redundancies

Bangor UCU has ended a protracted and difficult restructuring that lasted nine months, and managed to close the consultation without any compulsory redundancies. The branch also got some important concessions out of the university on their future working relationship.

New City College: restructuring redundancies & redeployments

Members at New City College have been in dispute since May 2021 over a restructure of supported learning following the failure of the college to rule out compulsory redundancies and detrimental changes to pay and contracts. UCU ran a consultative e-ballot of members with 95% voting YES for strike action on a 60% turnout. Following collective organising to resist compulsory redundancies, and after many hours of negotiations, the employer has confirmed that there will be zero compulsory redundancies. UCU remains opposed to some aspects of the restructure and will continue to campaign for a better deal for supported learning staff and students.

Northumbria University: safe work win

Congratulations to Northumbria University branch of UCU who have used their successful industrial action ballot as the leverage to secure an agreement with management that anyone who is uncomfortable with returning to the campus can continue to work remotely.

United Colleges Group: call for respect

Members at both UCG colleges - the City of Westminster College and the College of North West London - are fighting against imposed changes to contractual terms and conditions, cuts to tutor remission, and the management decision to tear up the agreed 2018 post-merger harmonised contract (unilaterally reverting staff to pre harmonised contracts). UCU members voted overwhelmingly for strike action over changes to agreed contracts imposed by management that will see workloads increase. 99% of UCU members who voted said they were prepared to take strike action. 100% of members who voted said they were prepared to take action short of strike.

Following intensive negotiations between UCU negotiators and UCG management, UCU members have approved - in principle - a revised harmonised contract, incorporating CPD remission for all teaching staff and additional remission for tutorials. Industrial action is suspended pending the finalisation of the harmonised contract and a collective agreement. This outcome would not have been possible without the staunch support of UCU members and the support and solidarity from across UCU.

 

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