Dear colleagues
Apologies for the delay in updating members on the current dispute but matters are complicated and there is also an increase in workload for the Officers which is seriously impacting on all aspects of our union work UEL. We will discuss this at the next Branch meeting.
There is much to report on and some VERY important issues to bring to your attention such as: the on-going dispute, new UEL Attendance Policy, verbal Instructions to from Field Leaders or Subject Heads, dismissal and victimisation of Unite Branch Secretary, Tony Britton, student demonstration 21st November arrangements, farewell and thanks to Peter Mottershead, London Living Wage Report and dates of next branch meetings.
On-going Dispute
Negotiations have paused and the Branch Committee and Regional Officials have been considering what is on the table. An important email communication will be coming out shortly from UCU National and the negotiators which will be followed by an electronic ballot about the proposed workload allocation model presented by management. Please can ALL members make sure that their preferred email address is up to date or recorded on their UCU record as we note that some members have not confirmed an email address with UCU National. To access your record simply go to: https://members.ucu.org.uk/ if you have not done this before you will need to register. If you have forgotten your membership number please contact Rae Beaver.
Please can we remind all UCU members that as part of the dispute there is still a work to contract action in place. Please put a message on your emails that you are working to contract and there might be a delay. Please also consider how you can observe the work to contract. We appreciate that everyone is absolutely snowed under such are the workload problems at UEL which management actually want to make worse. However unless we make a stand and observe the work to rule then this is a toothless action we which we should not vote for it in future.
New UEL Attendance Policy
UCU has placed this policy on the Agenda of our joint union meeting next week with management. We have already been contacted by many members about the implications of this policy for staff and students and many concerns have been raised. Whilst this is obviously an issue that students are going to have to take up management there are serious practical and workload issues to be considered. We would like to hear from members across the university as those comments have mainly been from two schools. How is the policy working within your school? We would also like to hear from those who think the policy is a good idea or to hear suggestions for an alternative attendance policy.
Please come back to me by Tuesday evening so responses can be collated in time.
Stress Survey at UEL
This week is UCU Anti- Stress and Bullying Week as concerns are growing across the sector about rising levels of both. UCU at UEL has seen a dramatic increase in stressed and quite frankly distressed staff at UEL as colleagues have left and workloads have increased to completely unreasonable levels. In response to concerns all unions have about an increase in bullying and stress at UEL a Stress Survey has been created which we ask all members to complete and send back to me through the internal post. Download the Stress Survey here UEL Staff Stress Survey – Joint Unions
Verbal Instructions to from Field Leaders or Subject Heads
UCU would like to advise all members to ensure that any instruction from a Field Leader or Subject Head needs to be put in writing to you i.e., please do not act purely based on a verbal instruction. If given a verbal instruction write back to the Field Leader or Subject Head asking them to confirm their instruction. We regret having to advise members to do this but we are dealing with a serious disciplinary case which UCU is truly shocked about and which highlights this need to avoid any possibility that these instructions can be denied.
Dismissal and victimisation of UNITE Branch Secretary TONY BRITTON
Tony is a valued colleague who was suspended and then dismissed from UEL on ‘spurious’ charges according to Unite’s Regional Official after 35 years of service to UEL. Unite believe that Tony’s dismissal is as a result of his role as trade union representative and has been done to undermine the Unite union and all unions at UEL. Tony tirelessly fought for his members and was a very vocal voice in opposition to outsourcing at UEL. A major campaign against this decision is starting, including Unite a call for a ballot over industrial for Unite colleagues; the Branch Committee have offered support for any campaign. Please email the Vice Chancellor and the Pro-Vice Chancellor Dusty Amroliwala to protest at the treatment of Tony. Tony is going to Appeal and we would like a MASSIVE demonstration to take place outside that appeal so our voices in protest at this crass decision can be heard. A copy a letter from the Unite Regional Official which discusses what has happened will available on our website: http://uel.web.ucu.org.uk/
NUS Student demonstration against austerity and the cuts in education Wednesday 21st November
The student demonstration against the fees and cuts will take place on Wednesday 21st November. Students are meeting at 9.00 in University Square or at 11.00 at Temple Station. Sadly I will be unable to attend because of union meetings which are very important to attend. Please can I urge colleagues who are intending to go to meet with students and join them on their demonstration. Students have shown solidarity to us during our attempts to fight back against a management who are completely out of touch with what is going on the university and particularly cynical in relation to how they treat academic staff. For more information about the demonstration please visit: http://www.demo2012.org.uk/
Peter Mottershead Leaving UEL
Peter Mottershead will be leaving UEL after many years of service to UEL and colleagues through UCU. Peter has been a key member of the Branch Committee and has helped many staff at times of great need. He has also been a key negotiator with management and a wise and valued colleague in relation to the difficult matters that UCU has had to deal with, especially in the last two years. Peter will be greatly missed by the Branch Committee and we would like to say a big thank you Peter for all his work UCU at UEL and wish him all the best for life post UEL.
London Living Wage at UEL
Like the Hourly Paid Agreement the success of a Policy agreed with this management rests on its actual implementation. As we have seen with the Hourly Paid Agreement attempts are made to subvert the good faith that these agreements are made under. A report has been compiled by colleagues at UEL that looks at the implementation of the London Living Wage at UEL. UCU thanks the busy colleagues who took time to create the report which highlights that despite all the promises things have not actually improved for the majority of the hard working cleaning staff at UEL. The full report can be found on our website: http://uel.web.ucu.org.uk/. There will be a launch of the report on 26th November between 12-1pm in EB.G.14. Speakers include: Tim Hall (academic staff member and UCU), Ana Lopes (academic staff member and UCU), Marc Perera (cleaning staff and Unison), Jason Dickson (Support Staff and Unison Chair), Emmanuel Gotora (London Citizens), and Dannie Grufferty (NUS Vice President Society and Community).
Please show solidarity and support for the cleaners and UEL and attend the meeting to hear the findings and help frame how to respond to it.
Date of next branch meetings:
Wednesday 5th December Docklands 1-2pm Room TBC.
Monday 10th December Stratford 1-2pm Room TBC.
Sorry this is so long but there is much to update you about and not much that is very positive; from my perspective things are getting worse at UEL almost weekly. Please get involved with the issues we raise and feed back to me any comments you have about what is happening at UEL. We also desperately need new colleagues to join the Branch Committee and to be Reps in ADI, RDBS and Psychology. If you are interested in getting more involved in these difficult times and would like to know more about what is expected then please contact me or Rae Beaver to discuss.
Regards
Jacqui
UCU Branch Secretary
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