I work 1548

Solidarity greetings for your your strike tomorrow from Cambridge UCU. (more…)

Solidarity on Thursday from UCU at the University of Westminster. (more…)

On behalf of the CU Branch Executive Committee  I want to extend our support for your branch’s efforts to struggle for  an equitable  workload  agreement  in the face of  management’s attack on lecturers’  terms and conditions. (more…)

Hi there. Just to send our support and solidarity for Thursday’s strike. We too in FE face overwhelming workloads and attacks involving flouting agreed policies and procedures. (more…)

Stratford – Wednesday 17^th October, 12:30pm Room RB.1.17

Docklands – Friday 19^th October 12:30pm Room EB2.44

What You Don’t Know

Did you know that the Vice-Chancellor received a 9% increase in his already considerable salary in the last reporting period, whilst most staff have only been offered 1%?  Probably not, because it’s one of those embarrassing facts that does not feature very prominently in InFocus, along with:  (more…)

It is very important that all UCU members observe this strike action.  It is the first time that we are taking action at UEL over a local dispute and is a very important moment for academic staff at UEL.   Sign up today for picket duty.  We will be operating a picket from 7.30-5.30.  Please do not stay at home; we need a strong collective presence at all entrances. 

  More information about picketing is provided below but if you have any further questions or you wish to volunteer for picket line duty on Thursday pplease do not hesitate to contact  j.mitchell@uel.ac.uk . (more…)

Please convey our solidarity to your members and picket lines. As commercialism takes a hold, there is a heated drive to squeeze more ‘productivity’ out of us. You are right to fight back, but at the same time UCU should be building a national campaign on this issue. The NUT had a very successful workload campaign a few years ago and we should be doing the same.  Perhaps this is an issue we need to take to Conference.We would like to invite you to talk about your campaign at a branch meeting here. (more…)

City University UCU Branch send support for your strike on Thursday and wish you every success in your industrial dispute.
In solidarity (more…)

Just to record the support of London Met Co-ordinating Committee and London Region REC (Regional Executive Council) for your strike on October 18th. Will try to make a picket line.

Allow me to convey a message of support on behalf of the UCU branch at UCL over your struggle over workloads. (more…)

Sending you all the best to you and UEL colleagues for next week and in winning your dispute, from Queen Mary UCU.
In solidarity, (more…)

UCU were forced into calling strike action to defend staff working conditions at UEL after the UEL management team failed to agree to UCU’s justifiable amendments to the UEL workload document. UCU’s position is that 1) the notional 1548 hours that members are required to work should not be increased to 1650; 2) changes to working conditions outside of the norm for a member of staff should be mutually agreed by the staff member and the line manager; 3) there should be an indication of what elements fit into each category of the new workload load model; 4) a reasonable amount of scholarly activity time must be allocated within the model; and 5) the entire workload document, once agreed, can only be changed with agreement by both parties. The full letter from the Branch chair to members is given below: (more…)

According to the Times Higher UEL has come top of one of the leagues for comparing universities. Apparently we are the institution in the sector that works the longest hours see- article by Grove ‘Stressed academics are ready to blow in pressure-cooker culture’.   So if you are feeling stressed then you know why now.

Plackards spotted at the UEL UCU demonstration at Stratford campus today read

UCU members demonstrate at Stratford

• Negotiation not Imposition
• ‘UEL – the Wild West East ;
• ‘Wanted – a Fair Deal at UEL‘;     and
• ‘Bottom of the League – Sack that Management‘.

UCU members made it clear that they were willing to undertake further industrial action until such time as the UEL senior management team changed their approach from an impostion (and some said a bullying) management style to one  where negotiation and consultation were the normal way of operating at UEL.

(more…)

The demonstration at Stratford Campus today was a success with a number of staff making their feelings on the current dispute known. The demonstration was addressed by a number of speakers who expounded that the UeL senior management team was trying to make a name for itself by breaking the working conditions of staff at UeL. These speakers outlined that developments in this dispute were being keenly watched by a number of other university management teams and that, although this is a local dispute, it has national ramifications.

The UCU National official and president were impressed by the turnout for the demonstration at Stratford today.  With so many people attending, despite that they were also attending assessment boards today, showed the strength of feeling amongst the membership. This feeling is now so strong amongst staff at UEL that a number of staff, who were not previously members of UCU, joined UCU today. More information on the current dispute can be found at the national UCU site at http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?artcileid=6166