Colleagues,
In this Bulletin:
BGM Report
New Ballot Rules for Industrial Action
Peer Observation
Workload
Security of Employment
Recruitment Drive: Can You Help?
Branch Succession Planning
Public Lecture: Labour Revolt in Britain
New Trade Union Library for Researchers and Activists
AOB
National Dispute with Secretary of State
Financial Advice
BGM Report
Thank you to all who came to the Branch General Meeting on 14 Oct. Over 100 members were there, which is great. Here is a summary of the discussions.
New Ballot Rules for Industrial Action
The Membership Secretary updated on the good news that new ballot rules allow unions to hold e-ballots instead of ballot papers having to be sent to home addresses. However, only private emails can be used for this. Members with only work emails listed have been contacted and asked to add a non-work email address. You can still make your work address the default for non-ballot comms if you prefer. Please visit www.ucu.org.uk/myucu if you haven’t already.
Peer Observation
The Branch Secretary updated on the issues arising from unilateral changes to the Peer Observation scheme in the School of Engineering and Computing, and congratulated members on their vigilance in their School. The Branch Committee was under the impression that the instruction to carry out Blackboard surveys had been removed, thus resolving the matter in a satisfactory manner, but comments from members in the School pointed out that this was not what the latest email communication implied, so UCU will keep working on the case.
Workload
The Branch Secretary updated on issues in the School of Nursing and Midwifery wanting to introduce School-specific models or interpretations that have not been negotiated with UCU despite the Branch’s willingness to discuss School- specific models if asked. UCU understands that Management in the School of Nursing and Midwifery are looking at ways to undermine the agreed workload guidance, for example implementing a rigid model with no preparation time for repeat sessions. In discussion, two Members who found their Line Managers were imposing workload plan not consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the workload guidance were advised not to accept that workload plan and to engage support from UCU. There were lots of comments regarding this matter during the BGM, so a link to the workload guidance was shared in the chat. Members having any other issues in relation to workload were also encouraged to contact UCU outside of the meeting. Such issues included having mentoring FHEA colleagues classed as self-managed research & scholarly activities (SMRSA), zero hours being given to materials development for writing Block modules, mandatory training being treated as part of SMRSA, all of which were not consistent with agreements with UCU. Members were also reminded to get in touch with the Branch if they were concerned about how workload allocation for Block teaching was handled. Finally, as more general issues around workload, members were reminded not to use the new appraisal forms suggested by Management.
Security of Employment
The Branch Secretary recognised we are experiencing the worst crisis in the history of UK higher education, and that in this climate the Branch’s top priority was preservation of livelihoods. The university has so far succeeded in weathering the crisis better than other universities and much of this is due to the efforts of UCU. Last year we were able to get a management assurance that there would be no redundancy threat that year. This year we are meeting with Management to seek that assurance again, and we have better mechanisms in place to avoid a repetition of the heinous way Management attacked Chemistry, so on the information we currently have from Management we can be confident we will not be in the same situation as in Easter 2024. There are, though, areas of concern in Maths and Physics, Humanities and Business.
Recruitment Drive: Can You Help?
As a Branch we have identified Schools with low membership density, like the Business School and the Vet School. In order to improve numbers, the Union Learning Rep Andrew Baron announced that after Achievement Week, i.e. week commencing 2 November, some Branch Officers will be carrying out some recruitment activity involving door knocking in order to have face to face interactions with potential members. Members were encouraged to contact Andrew abaron@lancashire.ac.uk with their availability if there were able to help with that.
Branch Succession Planning
Members were reminded about the item included in the latest bulletin calling for people interested in becoming Branch Officers. The Branch Secretary thanked those who had already replied to the call and wanted to repeat the call since this academic year is going to be his last one; plus, other members of the Branch Committee may be close to their retirement or currently on sick leave, thus putting a strain on the Branch which may become more acute next year. The Branch Secretary pointed out how vital experience is in union work. Collective institutional memory is relied on by UCU and Management; the branch committee has many decades’ worth of it; and we risk losing it; so ideally we want to recruit people while that collective memory is still there. Members were reminded of the support and training available in the Branch and to get in touch should they be interested.
Public Lecture: Labour Revolt in Britain
A poster and a link were shared to promote this public lecture organised by colleagues in History and the Lancashire Unite Community branch on Wednesday 21 October. Organisers pointed out that this event would be a good opportunity to learn what we can learn from the past and would feature discussions on the legacy of the ‘Labour Revolt’ for today’s trade unions.
New Trade Union Library for Researchers and Activists
Information about a library and archive of working class literature being established at the Unite offices in Ferry Road, Preston was shared. Members interested in finding out more about trade union and socialist history can contact the library at unite11500@gmail.com.
AOB
There was an appeal from Health & Safety reps to get in touch if members are aware of potential issues.
Members expressed concerns about the pressure put on them regarding checking attendance. The Branch position that while academic staff shouldn’t be forced to undertake duties that are not inherently academic, module leaders have responsibility for measuring engagement on their modules.
Members were reminded that the teaching recording policy was not agreed with UCU, but the agreement with Management is that compliance with that policy is optional. There are cases in which teaching recording may be a requirement – as is the case for some degree apprenticeships – but they fall outside the scope of the policy.
New software called MEVA is being piloted as part of the student platform UNITU, to replace MEQs which the university doesn’t want to use because students don’t engage with them. While MEQs were negotiated with UCU, Management didn’t bring the introduction of MEVA to UCU attention, so members are encouraged to let the Branch know if they spot any issues with the new platform.
National Dispute with Secretary of State
There is little doubt that many of the woes of Higher Education can be blamed on Government decisions – student funding cuts, visa restrictions etc – rather than individual employers. Accordingly, recent UCU Congresses have passed resolutions asking the union to investigate the potential for a national dispute against the Government, particularly the Secretary of State responsible for universities, Lucy Powell, over pay cuts and redundancy threats across the sector. Unfortunately, there are many difficulties with this idea, the most serious being that industrial action for political purposes is illegal, so such action could present grave danger for the union and for individuals taking part. It also places branches in the devolved nations in a difficult position, since Powell is only Secretary of State for universities in England. Accordingly, the Higher Education Committee (HEC) has been reluctant to start the dispute process.
UCU rules allow for Special Conferences to be held where enough branches (over 20) demand it, so a Special Conference was indeed called last week by branches wishing to force the HEC to start the dispute. UCU Lancashire delegates were present, and, having heard the arguments, voted against such a move. Unfortunately, the motion was still carried, so there may well be a consultative ballot over whether members are willing to take industrial action against the Government. If it happens, the Branch Committee will be urging members to vote “no”.
Financial Advice
In casework, we often discover that members have little idea how their pensions work or what options they have to vary them in order to enjoy the best possible retirement. Too often, members only really begin to take an interest once they approach retirement age, by which time it may be too late for changes to have any meaningful impact. Furthermore, we have found that high-street financial advisers often know little about the TPS, and can’t really help. So here are some useful links to services we believe do have some TPS expertise.
UCU has a financial advice service for members, Quilter (previously known as Lighthouse): https://www.ucu.org.uk/quilterfinancialadvice
We have had positive reports about Teachers Financial Planning https://www.teachersfp.co.uk/
…and Wesleyan https://www.wesleyan.co.uk/pensions-and-retirement/teachers-pension
David Fountain is a very useful source of info (YouTube videos etc): https://dfountain.co.uk/
Lastly, the Facebook group Teacher to Teacher is a good place to ask questions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/230186658803343
Lancashire UCU Branch Committee