As you will know, our union has voted overwhelmingly to take strike action. We all understand that this is the last resort after every other avenue of influence has been exhausted. We believe there is no other way to make employers change their position on our demands.
This Is a very serious sanction and it is most effective when every member observes the strike. The longer the picket line, the shorter the strike. With this in mind, we’re asking all members to join us and take part in industrial action on the following days:
Thursday 24 November
Friday 25 November
Wednesday 30 November (with a national demonstration at Kings Cross in London at 13.00)
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS A post from our employer has now been uploaded to the intranet regarding the upcoming strikes. Please read the information below as it provides crucial information with regard to your rights.
You are under no obligation to inform your manager that you plan to strike before the first strike date.
The law states that employers can ask employees if they are planning to strike, but employees do not have to reveal these plans in advance. If you’re still not sure how to respond to a request from management, the following line will suffice: “My union advises me that I am not legally obliged to answer that question until after any strike action that has taken place“.
Non-members are eligible to take part in strike action. Please ensure you communicate this message to your colleagues who may not be UCU members, but do not wish to cross the picket line.
Once you are back to work following the strike action, you should respond truthfully to any query from your employer as to whether you have taken or are taking industrial action. You should not, however, respond to any such query while you are on strike.
‘Action short of strike’ means working to contract. It means you do not start early and do not work late. Make sure you take your full lunch break, every day. Do not check or respond to emails outside of working hours. Take the time you need to complete your work during any action short of a strike. Do not cover absent colleagues. Do not reschedule lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action. Do not undertake any voluntary activities. You can say NO to activities that do not form part of your formal roles and responsibilities.
UCU has provided an extensive FAQ for those who have questions about their rights, and more generally about taking industrial action. Please give them a look and become a source of reliable information for your colleagues!
TAKING ACTION & PICKETING You might be asking: “When we take strike action, what am I expected to do?” Simply, UCU asks that members do not do any work for all of the days specified by the union: 24, 25, and 30 November.
This includes, for instance, time before 09.00 and after 17.00, and includes any activity which is part of your work such as teaching, administration, meetings, emails related to work, marking, research, or conferences where you are representing your employer. It also means not doing any preparation for work that you are due to do when you return to work after you strike.
More importantly, the best possible thing you can do is volunteer to help at the picket lines—and ask colleagues in your department to join you. Picketing is a vital opportunity to get support for your action from students and other colleagues.
Practically what that looks like is standing alongside colleagues outside of Senate and Stewart House, holding placards and sharing information about why we’re taking action. We’ll also visit neighboring picket lines to share our support.
Whilst it’s a last resort, picket lines are full of joy!
JOIN THE MEMBERS MEETING THIS FRIDAY
We’ll be sending more details about an all-members meeting over Zoom on Friday morning from 10.00 – 11.00. We’re also planning an in-person meeting prior to the start of industrial action, so do keep up to date with local and national UCU communications, and make sure to follow UCU on Twitter for breaking news and information!
Lastly, let’s all hope that employers can negotiate with UCU and avoid strike action! As always, if you have any questions, please send them to ucu@london.ac.uk.
The following motion was passed unanimously at our last members meeting. It has now been sent to JNCC management representatives to provide a response.
Worker and student representation on the Board of Trustees
UCU Senate House Branch notes:
That despite our branch’s continued advocacy and representations for more worker representation at the highest level of governance at the University of London, there is still none;
That although the University of London state that the Board of Trustees is set up “In line with the Committee of University Chairs’ Higher Education Code of Governance” (https://london.ac.uk/5436htmlcentral-university-governance/board-trustees), the current arrangement of the Board of Trustees excludes any worker or student representation;
That the Higher Education Code of Governance 2018 states:
“There is an expectation, often enshrined within the constitutional documents of HEIs, that governing bodies will contain staff and student members and encourage their full and active participation.”
“Student and staff members of the governing body share the same legal responsibilities and obligations as other members and must not be routinely excluded from discussions.”
Staff, student and trade union membership of highest governance of university is standard practice across the Higher Education sector (examples are provided below). According to a survey undertaken in early 2022, the University of London is the only member of the University of London Federation that does not have staff membership of the Board or Trustees of the equivalent highest governance committee of the university. We are falling behind in terms of the sector and our own Federation. This is in urgent need of reform:
At the University of Bristol, there are 20 members of the Board of Trustees, with a lay majority. The members are the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Treasurer, up to 15 lay members elected by Court upon the nomination of Court’s Nominations Committee, a member formally nominated by Convocation, 3 members of the academic staff, 2 members of non-academic staff and 2 students. Elected and appointed members serve for renewable three-year terms, with the exception of student members who serve one-year terms.
At the Open University, the Council has a membership of 21. The majority (11) are external non-executive members, of whom the chair, the Pro-Chancellor, is one. There is also one executive member, the Vice-Chancellor, five members of the Senate one of whom shall be an associate lecturer appointed by the Senate, the President of the Open University Students Association and one other student, one associate lecturer and one member of the non-academic staff.
At the University of Manchester, the Board of Governors meets formally at least five times in each academic year. Its membership of 25 has a majority of persons who are not employed by the University, known as lay members. The Chair of the Board of Governors is appointed by the Board of Governors from within the lay category of the membership. Members of the Senate, members of the support staff and a student representative also serve on the Board.
(This list is in no way exhaustive and further examples can be provided on request.)
UCU Senate House Branch believes:
That workers and students are affected more than any other group by Board of Trustee decisions and deserve a say in how they are made;
That the University of London does a disservice to its students, its workers, and itself as an organisation by refusing to have appropriate representation on the Board of Trustees;
That appointing worker and student representatives would make the Board of Trustees a more diverse, transparent, and better operating component of the University of London.
UCU Senate House Branch resolves:
To call on University of London to appoint worker and student representatives to the board of trustees;
To call on University of London to work with Unions and students in order to determine what this representation looks like – we propose:
Representatives from each recognised trade union,
elected worker representatives,
elected student representatives;
To lobby the OfS and other regulatory bodies, and consider other options if these reasonable requests are not met.
In 2020, branch membership increased by 11%, staff on levels 6 and below enjoyed their first year of 30 days annual leave (negotiated + fought for by unions), cleaners and security staff became university staff (negotiated + fought for by unions) and we worked very hard to resist redundancies through change management and secured some minor wins (e.g. improved VR terms) in relation to this.
It’s been a gruelling year for UoL staff, not least as COVID has forced us to adapt the way we work in ways we could never have imagined. Our new VC has established a new and very ambitious strategy.
At least four major change management programmes were instigated, and the way they were handled by university management leaves a lot to be desired.
We’ve had a number of very well-attended branch meetings. On Wednesday we passed a motion that resolves:
to call for an immediate commitment from the University of London Senior Management that there will be no compulsory redundancies resulting from restructuring.
to review the situation, and report back to members in the new year after the results of the new VR scheme have been made available.
to lodge a dispute and prepare for industrial action if the employer does not rule out compulsory redundancies.
to demand the University of London extends the VR deadline beyond the 5th of January so that colleagues have more time and information to consider their futures.
At our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING on 28th January, members can shape the composition of the branch committee for the new year. This is an important milestone in what will be a trying 2021. A union branch is only as strong as the members who step forward and help us do the work that brings about change.
If you want to get more involved in UCU Senate House, there’s no better time than 2021.
We are going to go into 2021 fighting the same fights we were fighting in 2020. So rest up and enjoy your time off. But we’d ask you to consider a question before we return: “What one thing can I do next year to make my union stronger?”.
Following the last branch members meeting, we immediately informed management, formally, of our intention to enter dispute unless they commit to no compulsory redundancies and improved Voluntary Severance (Redundancy) terms.
We were able to do that because of the huge mandate that you as members gave us when passing the following motion:
Senate House UCU Motion PROPOSED BY SENATE HOUSE BRANCH COMMITTEE
Branch notes
The University of London has begun a process of restructuring which they claim is part of realising the new strategy, the restructuring requires that the University of London produce a “balanced budget”.
This follows years of ‘planned deficit’, to allow UoL to set up projects such as Co-Sector, which have never delivered the financial returns promised. Unfortunately, this ‘planning’ did not include a contingency for this, and so money to plug the gap is being sought from a reduction in the staff budget.
The University of London plans savings of over £9m, with half of that coming from staff savings. We believe this puts over 100 members of staff across the organisation at risk of redundancy.
Departments have been asked to make savings of between 10% and 20% with little consideration(other than with change management procedures) on what that means for the running of the organisation, or reassessing Organisational priorities.
Two of the restructure consultations launched propose an increase in new higher graded roles.
The University of London continues to invest in property, in this time of ‘dire financial straits’ at the expense of its staff members, despite the future viability of this business model being at risk.
Despite making continued ‘investment’ in property, the University of London cannot afford a respectful Voluntary Redundancy package for staff, being made redundant in the worst economic situation in decades.
The University of London has actively WORSENED its Voluntary Redundancy scheme since the crisis, in direct contrast to many higher education institutions, including those in rose financial positions. VCEG tells us that this is all ‘they feel they can afford’ But a rumoured £1.5M seems to have been found to purchase back the lease of Faber & Faber buildings from SOAS.
UCU and UNISON attempted to find solutions to some of these issues through extraordinary JNCCs triggered by local dispute mechanisms.
Our branch participated in an indicative vote on a union response to these issues.
96.7% of respondents said that it is right for us to go into formal dispute with our employer over the terms for voluntary redundancy.
78.9% of respondents said that they would be prepared to consider Industrial Action in the event of compulsory redundancy in order to fight to protect jobs and ensure better VR terms.
The University of London UCU and UNISON branches have written to the University of London senior management on numerous occasions reiterating opposition to compulsory redundancies, requesting an urgent meeting with financial data informing course and job cuts as well as the measures the University of London intends to take to mitigate redundancies.
Branch believes
Academic and Professional service staff cuts will affect the ability of the University of London to achieve the goals set out in its strategy.
Cuts to and closure of world-renowned institutes will diminish the University of London and reduce its distinctiveness as a centre for excellence.
The current VR offering is not respectful of staff, many of whom have made great sacrifices to ensure the success of the University over decades, and recently, in the face of the pandemic.
The current VR offering is not the best the University can afford, and offering more favourable terms would, likely, avoid the need for compulsory redundancies through change management processes.
The restructuring process has been deeply flawed with departments given savings targets that are unattainable without significant redundancies. Detailed financial data, equality impact assessments, revised job descriptions, detailed plans, or populated structure diagrams for the overall process were not given to the recognised trade unions in advance of discussions, or indeed at the launch of change management processes.
The University of London UCU should continue to support campaigns calling for government intervention or to support higher education and institutions like the University of London through the COVID-19 crisis.
Branch resolves
This branch calls for an immediate commitment from the University of London Senior Management that there will be no compulsory redundancies resulting from restructuring.
This branch calls for an immediate improvement to the terms of the current VR policy and to extend this option to all members of staff, including those immediately impacted by live change management processes, to ensure that those staff who do seek to explore this option have a viable way to survive being made redundant, and that redeployment to unoccupied roles is more viable an option.
This branch reaffirms its commitment to opposing compulsory redundancies.
The branch instructs the branch committee to seek such commitments but in the absence of such a commitment, to move forward to formal dispute and to prepare for industrial action if compulsory redundancies are announced; involving a statutory ballot for one or more of the following: strike action, external marking boycott, ASOS. The ballot to be launched as soon as possible.
We are pleased to say that UNISON has also passed a similar motion and communicated it to management.
We are awaiting a response from management and will be going forward into formal dispute this week if we do not have anything satisfactory to come back to members with.
Updates from two emergency JNCC meetings held in September 2020
Today the recognised unions attended the second of two Extraordinary Joint Negotiation and Consultation Committee (JNCC) meetings, the method through which Management and the Unions reach agreements on staff-facing changes. These were called at the JNCC meeting held in July, where the changes to incremental freezes and a more detrimental Voluntary Redundancy scheme were not agreed to because Management have failed to produce the information requested by the Unions, in order to enable members to make informed decisions.
What is clear is the following:
There is a lack of parity of detriment to staff pay in the face of COVID-19
The seven or so members of VCEG (max 7 members staff on salaries over £100K) have taken voluntary salary cut of 10%
Staff on L10 and not in VCEG (including a minimum of 9 members of staff on £100+K) are not receiving their cost of living increase, in line with that negotiated by JNCHES, so estimated to be a max of 1%. (However, National Pay increase is set at 0%)
Everyone else, circa 1,000 staff, on Spine points 16 – 54 have had a cut in salary imposed, without any formal agreement being reached. The pause to incremental increases plus lack on National Pay Increase (agreed each year by JNCHES) is roughly 4.6% per person.
The majority of the highest paid members of staff are therefore suffering the least financial detriment.
A new voluntary redundancy (VR) scheme is being introduced for those within the scope of any change management plan:
For some staff, the level of VR payment will effectively be the statutory minimum, without the cap on the total amount to be paid.
Statutory minimum is the least an employer can pay, without it being illegal.
This is approximately a 75% reduction to VR terms previously used by University of London, meaning that for each £1 a member of staff would have previously received, they will now only get 25p.
This is far below that being offered by other members of the Federation, including those facing immediate significant financial difficulties. In today’s meeting, we presented evidence showing that current VR terms at UoL are around 33% less generous than those at LSE, half as generous as those at Queen Mary, 3.5 to 4 times less generous than those at Goldsmiths, and 4 to 5 times less generous than those at SOAS. These are all schemes that have been active since COVID hit.
The Recognised Unions have not agreed to what UoL is currently offering but we are being told they cannot afford more, as paying out too much now will mean they may have to make greater staff cuts in the future.
No specific evidence to support the University’s position has been presented, no benchmarking data, and no comment on why UoL terms are less favourable than institutions whose financial position is arguably worse than ours.
There are likely to be redundancies in the future:
This has been stated publicly in the Town Halls.
The Recognised Unions have received no information to confirm the overall scope of any intended redundancies.
The Recognised Unions have received no information to confirm that any area is outside of the scope of these redundancies.
Whether intentional or coincidental, there is a slow erosion of the rights and working conditions of those at the lower spine points, whilst those at the highest continue to only feel a pinch they consent to.
We need YOU to tell us what you want! What is fair? Should the majority of those earning the most have their pay cut than those earning the least? Should a VR scheme that is barely above the lowest legally permitted go through as the sector faces the most financially unstable time in recent history? Or, would it perhaps be fair for the University tell staff what the plans for future redundancies are, so that Recognised Unions can engage in meaningful negotiations, to protect the most jobs?
If you’ve answer ‘yes’ to any of the above, we need you to join our next members meeting and tell us.
Please also use the anonymous ‘Ask a question’ function at Monday’s Town Hall to ask anything you want.
The University is failing to uphold the spirit of Recognition Agreement with its Recognised Unions and therefore leaving no option but to inform members of what is going on, so we can have the necessary conversations publicly.
It is your future, tell us what you want us to fight for.
After more than 2 years of negotiation and continued scrutiny of the University of London’s plans, we have received written confirmation from the University of its plans to return cleaners and security staff back to its direct employment. This represents real progress. The key features of the University of London’s commitment include:
Security staff to be in-house by May 2020.
Cleaning staff to be in-house by November 2020.
In-housing of staff will not be subject to the previously-used methodology of market testing where in-housing is conditional on favourable comparisons with external bids.
Work has commenced on these tranches of in-housing. We understand that the current contractors have already been informed of last week’s Board of Trustee’s decision and that meetings are being organised to discuss the TUPE process requirements.
The Unions have challenged the decision to keep the Estates Maintenance Services contracted out to a specialist supplier. The Unions will continue to scrutinise and challenge this outcome.
Of course, promises are worthless unless they are followed through. We hereby commit to scrutinising every step of the TUPE process to the best of our ability, and to doing what we can to hold the University to the new commitments it has made.
That said, we do believe that the University’s commitments are genuine and that this agreement should lead to serious discussions about the terms for suspending the boycott.
The boycott has unintentionally focused on events organised by union members at the School of Advanced Study. Many of these members are on precarious contracts and the additional work-related stress caused by the boycott has impacted on their mental health and wellbeing.
The Senate House branches of UCU and UNISON welcome the decision made by the Board of Trustees to support the Vice Chancellor’s commitment to insource our colleagues in the Cleaning and Security teams, which was announced today.
This is a significant step forward by the University of London and we will continue to engage with the larger in-housing process and of course be scrutinising the decision around estates management.
We look forward to working with the Vice-Chancellor and her team during the insourcing process and recognise the dedication and commitment of all those involved in ensuring we have collectively reached this point.
We look forward to welcoming our colleagues back in house.
In this post, we summarise motions that were debated and passed at a branch meeting on 4 July 2019. These motions (full text at the end of the post) mostly relate to the Senate House Boycott (motions 2, 3, 4).
Motion 1 relates to a victory for UCU Senate House. We called on the University to consider introducing a standardised package of post-contract support for research-active staff reaching the end of their contracts. This new policy will be implemented soon. At the meeting, we reported to members that an earlier motion on this subject went to UCU Congress 2019 and was passed unanimously. We are not claiming that this is the answer to casualization, but we would encourage UCU branches around the country to negotiate for similar policies.
Motions 2, 3 and 4 call on all parties to find the common ground needed to bring the Senate House Boycott to an end.
Senate House UCU 