We understand the University is going to say that you need to inform them in advance of your intention to strike. This is entirely false and constitutes an attempt to mitigate the effect of our action.
Author: Jon Bitmead
Strike still on…
The strike on Wednesday and Thursday is still going ahead. This is our latest information.
It is very doubtful any meaningful and enhanced offer will be made until the employers have realised the strength (or not) of the action being taken.
We have received support from external organisers of meeting due to take place in Senate House on the days of action, informing us their events are being cancelled so that the picket line is not crossed.
UCU has prepared a FAQ. (opens in new window)
Please note that the best way of guaranteeing protection from the consequences of being absent from work on a strike day is to be a member of UCU. The University appears unlikely to take action against anyone who agrees not to cross the picket line, but the safest approach is to encourage all colleagues who wish to support our campaign to join UCU as well.
STRIKE
UCU will be holding a national strike over the pay dispute on Wednesday 25th May and Thursday 26th May.
The University has had notice served of this action.
We expect all UCU members to stay away from work on these two days.
In addition we hope you can join us on the picket line on these days. We need volunteers in the morning from 8-10am primarily.
Please get in touch if you would like to be involved in the strike organising.
Rep required for congress 1-3 June 2016
The Senate House branch would like to send one of members to the UCU annual congress. The position was filled at the AGM, but is now vacant.
It is in Liverpool and starts on Wednesday 1 June for three days.
All reasonable expenses will be paid, including food, travel and accommodation.
You do not need to be a member of the current committee if you would like to attend, but we might ask that you join the committee, at least as a guest for the remainder of the term (November 2016)
Please contact Jon Bitmead or Helen Dutton if you are interested.
Pay ballot
We are all going to be receiving today, tomorrow or Monday a paper ballot on the current pay dispute. Please do not ignore it. Please do vote and post it back.
The current state of play is that we have claimed a 5% uplift and the employers have offered 1%. Clearly there is a large disparity between the two sides.
We need you to vote YES to the questions asked on the ballot in order to strengthen UCU’s hand in negotiations. A YES vote will indicates we are willing to escalate the dispute if the employers are not willing to budge on their position. Consequently a NO vote will mean that we will have to accept the 1% increase that has been offered.
It’s that simple.
Election result
If you are a UoL member of staff, you will have seen the summary of the election results in that the Level 7-10 ballot resulted in the UCU and UNISON candidates being elected.
On behalf of myself, Angela and Sam, I would like to thank you for reaffirming your faith in UCU and UNISON and us as your elected representatives. First and foremost elected by you as subscribing UCU members at our AGM, but now also in this wider staff ballot, which included those who do not subscribe to a union.
Naturally we are disappointed that Laura and Franco did not also get elected, so we should not pretend this is a complete victory. It is not. We will reflect deeply on this outcome.
The committee of the 5 elected representatives will likely begin meeting with University representatives in April to discuss a way forward on the matters of Information and Consultation with staff. Being concurrently (and temporarily) an elected representative of the Grade 7-10 constituency as well as the elected representative of UCU members we (myself and Angela) should not have a great deal of conflict of interest, due to naturally overlapping membership and interests. Part of the manifesto that we presented to staff during the election was that whether or not you were a member of UCU, we nevertheless represented those Grades in many collective issues. Staff in grades 7-10 overwhelmingly seem to have agreed with us in this respect. We encourage all staff in grades 7-10 to join UCU and get involved in industrial relations via this channel.
In summary therefore, we will primarily I will report progress on negotiations to UCU members but we do reserve the right to communicate information to the grades who elected us.
No Surgery Today
The committee is meeting today at 12pm to discuss the forthcoming election strategy. Consequently, there will be no surgery today. Members are more than welcome to arrange an appointment outside surgery hours with one of the committee to discuss problems at work.
Forthcoming election
The Senate House committee is meeting on Monday to decide whether UCU should engage in this process and if so, which candidates would be allowed to have the endorsement of UCU in their declaration.
This does not mean that other members of UCU cannot legitimately stand in this election process, but they would do so without UCU endorsement and possibly against the wishes of the committee. Therefore may I ask that all members of UCU refrain from submitting any application on Monday until the committee has had an opportunity to meet and decide the approach we are going to take.
Primarily our focus is likely to be on endorsing candidates for the L07-L10 constituency, so if you, as a member wish to be involved in this process, even as a candidate, please get in touch with me ASAP.
In addition we do know some of you are in the L01-L06 constituency. If so, I would be particular keen to speak to you regarding candidacy in this constituency. This may be very helpful.
Weekly drop-in session
There will be no drop in session this Monday. The next session is scheduled to be on the 1st February 2016
Senate House UCU 