Miscellaneous

In this Bulletin:

AGM Reminder

AGM Provisional Agenda

Nominations to the Branch Committee

Local Subscriptions 2025-26

University of the Future

L-SL Progression

Harmful Gambling Training

Check Your Details

Branch AGM Reminder

Members are notified that the UCLan UCU Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 23 April, from 13.30 – 15.00 on Teams. Members for whom we have a UCLan email address have already been sent a calendar appointment. Anyone else will need to join via the link we have emailed.

AGM Provisional Agenda

 Election of the Branch Committee (see below for details of the nomination process)

Branch Secretary’s report

Treasurer’s report

Equality Officer’s report

Membership Secretary’s report

Health and Safety report

Motions

• Local Subscriptions 2025-26 (see below for further information)

Any Other Business (AOB)

Nominations to the Branch Committee

 Nominations for election to the Branch Committee should be submitted by e-mail to the Branch Secretary, And Rosta (and.rosta@gmail.com) by 18.00 on Tuesday 15 April. Each nomination must be supported by separate emails from two members (one nominating, the other seconding) and an email from the nominee accepting the nomination.

Local Subscriptions 2025-26

The AGM will be asked to set the Local Subscription levels for the next academic year. Last year’s rates were set at a deliberately high level, in order to quickly build up a significant fighting fund. This has been successful, and we are on track to raise £60k in the current academic year. Assuming hardship payments of approx £60 per day of salary lost (eg due to strike action or pay docking during an assessment boycott) this could represent 1,000 person-days of industrial action. An extremely potent weapon! The Branch can therefore now consider reducing the local subs. The AGM will be offered three choices: low, medium and high. If all three options are rejected, there will be no local subscription next year.

Low Option

Salary £60k+ £1.50 Salary £40k+ £1.00 Salary £30k+ £0.50 Salary £22k+ £0.30 Salary £15k+ £0.20 Salary £ 5k+ £0.10 Salary below £5k, retired members & attached members (not employed by UCLan) £0.00. This option would add approx £7,200 to the fighting fund over the course of the year.

Medium Option

Salary £60k+ £10.00 Salary £40k+ £5.00 Salary £30k+ £3.00 Salary £22k+ £1.70 Salary £15k+ £0.80 Salary £ 5k+ £0.20 Salary below £5k, retired members & attached members (not employed by UCLan) £0.00. This option would add approx £36,000 to the fighting fund over the course of the year.

High Option (current subscription levels)

Salary £60k+ £15.00 Salary £40k+ £10.00 Salary £30k+ £7.50 Salary £22k+ £5.50 Salary £15k+ £3.755 Salary £ 5k+ £1.25 Salary below £5k, retired members & attached members (not employed by UCLan) £0.00. This option would add approx £70,000 to the fighting fund over the course of the year.

University of the Future

As you will know from previous discussion of this topic, management have agreed with UCU that for each course where a move to block teaching is being considered, there will be direct unmediated discussion between management and the course team to determine whether the move to block delivery is suitable for the course. Members across the University report that this has not been happening: instead, course teams are being told there is no choice, and block delivery is being steamrollered through without discussion. Accordingly, UCU have requested resolution via the new Resolution Procedure, and met with senior management representatives on 19 March to present examples from Psychology & Humanities, Sport, Business, and Arts & Media. We were hoping to provide an update in this Bulletin, but, regrettably, management have still not responded to this request. We will update further at the AGM and discuss next steps.

L-SL Progression

Similarly, we were hoping to be able to report on our attempts to get management to confirm that L-SL progression will resume this year. Unfortunately, management have still not confirmed this, and we are still waiting to hear. Meanwhile, we are pressing managers to confirm, at least, that eligible members have met the criteria to progress, so that they are not suddenly presented with extra hurdles when it does resume. If you were held up last year, or are due to progress this year, and have not already given UCU your details, please email us on ucu@uclan.ac.uk

Harmful Gambling Training

You may remember in 2023, UCLan was the first University in the country to sign up to the Harmful Gambling Charter which offers practical ways in which employers and trade unions can commit to promoting the health and wellbeing of colleagues and students who may be at risk due to gambling related harms. We continue to work with Beacon Counselling Trust,  who specialise in supporting individuals experiencing Gambling Related Harms as well as offering support to organisations to raise awareness on gambling related harms in the workplace.

People Team have arranged 2 webinars in 2025 with Beacon Counselling Trust, titled ‘Harmful Gambling Awareness – Bet you can help now!’. The key learning outcomes for participants attending the course are highlighted below:

• Learners will develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes concerning gambling related harms (GRH).
• Learners will explore and better understand the nature of gambling and gambling related harms and their impact on health and wellbeing.
• Learners will develop confidence in providing help and support to an individual at risk of, or experiencing, gambling related harms and how to signpost to specialist support services.

Dates, booking links and further information for booking can be found below:

Harmful Gambling Awareness – Bet you can help now! Monday 28 April from 14:00 – 15:30

Harmful Gambling Awareness – Bet you can help now! Thursday 12 June from 10:00 – 11:30

Check Your Details

All members should have received an  email in the last month or so, asking you to check that your details on the UCU membership database are accurate. Please do this, as it is extremely important that information such as school name, building name, salary band etc are correct. Errors could, for example, lead to a ballot for industrial action being ruled invalid.

Please log on to MyUCU at https://www.ucu.org.uk/myucu, check the “Employment” tab and update as necessary. If your particular school name/building name combination is not available in the drop-down list, email Membership Secretary Cath Sullivan on csullivan@uclan.ac.uk

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

In this bulletin:

BGM Report

University of the Future

L-SL Progression

NEC Elections

Workload & New Regulations

Adjustments to Annual Workload Hours

BGM Report

Thank you to all the members who attended the Branch General Meeting in January. The Branch heard an update from the Secretary, And Rosta, about the threat of redundancy facing several teams as a result of course closures. You will recall that our e-ballot last year was strongly supportive of strike action if necessary to defend these colleagues’ livelihoods. Fortunately, the negotiators have continued to make good progress in this, and we do not yet feel that we need to move towards a formal postal ballot while that remains so. Meanwhile, as the University has reported better-than-expected financial performance last year, we will be pressing for a reversal of the fractional reductions and stalled progression that many members have suffered.

Next, the Treasurer, Mike Eslea, reported on the development of the Branch Hardship Fund, which is being built up as a result of our new local subscriptions. These subs are adding approximately £5,000 per month to the fund, which means that by the time the subs are up for review at the AGM, we will have roughly £60,000 in the bank. If we used this money to fully repay colleagues suffering 100% pay docking due to industrial action, we could potentially support 600 person-days of action. This could be extremely effective, particularly if only certain areas of the University were targeted. Mike will present some more detailed scenarios to the AGM before we decide whether to change the subs for next year.

The next item of discussion was the upcoming national ballot on industrial action over pay. Andrew Baron presented the Branch Committee’s view that the HEC decision to ballot, following a tiny majority voting in favour in an e-ballot with dismally low turnout, was tactically foolish, especially at a time when so many universities are in financial trouble and threatening redundancies. We do not, therefore, propose to make any GTVO efforts for this ballot.

Next, the BGM discussed management’s plans to insist upon teaching cover for colleague absence. UCU’s position has always been that individual course/module teams are the best placed people to decide how colleague absence is handled, and that management’s “supply teacher” model might be counter-productive, as well as stupidly expensive if workloaded properly.

We also discussed the “University of the Future” project – see separate item below.

Lastly, there was some discussion of the University’s name change. Members expressed surprise that the change was approved by OfS despite objections from Lancaster. It appears that the bulk of the work to implement the change will fall to professional services colleagues, but members were asked to let UCU know if it seems likely to cause any issues for academics too. Email ucu@uclan.ac.uk

University of the Future

Block teaching: Management have agreed with UCU that for each course where a move to block teaching is being considered there will be direct unmediated discussion between Management and the course team to determine whether the move to block delivery is suitable for the course. If those discussions have not yet happened for the course teams you belong to then the course’s inclusion in block delivery will not have been decided yet. If you or your course team find that your school management is not abiding by this agreement then you can ask UCU to intervene on your behalf to ensure the agreement is honoured. Email us on ucu@uclan.ac.uk, including if possible the names of the UCU members in your team.

L-SL Progression

Are you due to progress from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer? You should be due to progress from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer if you are currently at Scale Point 38 (top of Grade H) and have not chosen to remain at Grade H rather than progress to SL. However, the chances of this progression actually happening are much increased if you engage the support of UCU. We are currently working to secure the progression of the batch of UCU members that have already engaged our support; if you contact us then we will add you to the batch. Email ucu@uclan.ac.uk

NEC Elections

In the last few days, you should all have received your voting papers for the election of a new UCU Vice-President, NEC delegates and an assortment of other national roles. Please do use your votes! Turnout is usually very low, so a small number of votes can make a big difference. Normally, the Branch Committee does not make a specific recommendation of who to vote for, but this time we feel that the vote is so important, given the foolishness of some of the decisions made by NEC recently (see BGM report above) we urge all members to vote for Dyfrig Jones for Vice-President, and for the other candidates recommended by Dyfrig here: https://dyfrigjones.com/necslate

Workload & the Effects of New Regulations & Policies

When it comes to workload, the university’s Academic Workload  Guidance (linked below) is paramount and is not superseded or rendered inapplicable by new regulations and policies. For example, a recent change to the regulations has potentially increased the time required for moderation by several hundred percent: nevertheless, you can only be expected to follow the new regulation if your workload allocation for moderation is increased accordingly; and it is your line manager’s responsibility to increase it. A further example is the appearance in the university timetabling policy and various other school management communications of measures to cover for the absence of module tutors: you can only be expected to comply with these measures if they are consistent with the standing university agreements on academic workload and academic working times and locations.

https://msuclanac.sharepoint.com/sites/DevelopmentPortal/SitePages/Academic-Workload-Management.aspx

Adjustments to Annual Workload Hours

1. As mentioned in the last bulletin, for the current academic year, we were given an extra day of annual leave. For academic staff, this means that your target annual workload total (1581 hours, pro rata) should be reduced by 7.4 hours (pro rata).
2. All staff were also given an extra two hours off for Christmas events. For academic staff, this means that your target annual workload total (1581 hours, pro rata) should be reduced by 2 hours (not pro rata).

Best wishes

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

Happy New Year! We hope the new academic year has started well for you. In this Bulletin:

BGM Reminder
2024-25 Meetings
Issues Raised at OMM
Block Teaching (“Project Next”)
Local Subscriptions
Extra Day of Annual Leave
Impact of VR

BGM Reminder

The first Branch General Meeting of the year takes place on 16 October, 1.30-3.00 via Teams. Remember that BGMs and AGMs are official union meetings and you are legally entitled to time off to attend them. Senior mgmt have promised that no teaching sessions or other staff meetings will be scheduled to clash, but some managers do seem to forget this, so please let us know if you encounter any difficulties.

Members for whom we have a UCLan email address have been sent a calendar appointment. Others please join via the link we have emailed.

2024-25 Meetings

Dates for your diaries:

Branch General Meeting: 22 January 2025
Annual General Meeting: 23 April 2025
Both 1.30-3.00 via Teams. Links and calendar appointments will be sent shortly before each meeting.

Open Member Meetings: Informal, no-agenda meetings for members to bring any concerns or ideas to the Branch Committee. These will be hybrid meetings via Teams and in person in Vernon VE050, at 1.00-2.00pm on 27 November, 5 March & 28 May.

 Issues Raised at OMM

 Thank you to those members who came to the first Open Member Meeting of the new academic year. Members discussed the new local subscriptions and how they might be used (see Bulletin item below). Members also raised the impact of VR on colleagues remaining at UCLan, and the plans for block teaching (also see Bulletin items below).

 Block Teaching (“Project Next”)

Management are engaged in discussing with UCU their ‘Project Next’ plans, which involve moving courses to block delivery (four consecutive 30-credit six-week modules delivered over up to three days per week) if it is suitable to do so. UCU have insisted that for each course there must be direct unmediated discussion between Management and the course team to determine whether the move to block delivery is suitable for the course. If those discussions have not yet happened for the course teams you belong to, then the course’s inclusion in block delivery will not have been decided yet. If you encounter any Management communication at odds with this position, please contact UCU with details.

Local Subscriptions

Following the decisions taken at the AGM in April and communicated in the May and June Branch Bulletins, our new local subscription has started being collected with the September payment. We plan to build up a significant fund that can be used to support members facing hardship as a result of industrial action in defence of local jobs. The decisions (setting up the subscription, and setting the contribution rates) will be reviewed at the 2025 AGM, where the Treasurer will present some alternative scenarios for how the money might be used.

 Extra Day of Annual Leave

Management have announced that for the current academic year, staff will be given an extra day of annual leave. For academic staff, this means that your target annual workload total (1581 hours, pro rata) should be reduced by 7.4 hours (pro rata).

Impact of VR

Members at the OMM (mentioned above) expressed many concerns about the impact of VR on those left behind. In some cases, this has meant the sudden departure of people who have been valued colleagues and friends for many years: a situation similar to bereavement. Added to this is the stress of finding ways to redistribute their work, keeping the students happy while resisting mgmt pressure to take on unreasonable workloads. If you encounter the latter, please contact UCU. If you need support with the former, please consider contacting the staff wellbeing services listed at https://msuclanac.sharepoint.com/sites/StaffWellbeingandSupport or the Education Support Network https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

In this Bulletin:

Compulsory Redundancy Threat

Strike Ballot

Graduation Week

Project “Next”

Local Subscriptions

Compulsory Redundancy Threat

UCU have continued to make progress in discussions with UCLan management around trying to make savings in staffing costs in four Schools (Psychology & Humanities; Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences; Arts & Media; Health, Social Work & Sport). We are confident that we could reach management’s savings targets through voluntary means, given enough time. However, management has consistently refused to rule out compulsory redundancies, and continue to insist that all savings must be made by the end of July. This means it is still a real possibility that colleagues could be fired in just a few weeks. We cannot allow this to happen. We need to send to management the strongest possible signal that UCU will defend our members’ livelihoods by every means available to us. That’s why we need EVERY MEMBER to vote in our ballot for industrial action.

Strike Ballot

The postal ballot for industrial action has opened today, so you should see voting papers arriving in the next day or two. Vote straight away, and vote “YES” to strike action and “YES” to action short of a strike! Then, as soon as you have posted your ballot paper, please click here to tell us you have voted: https://forms.gle/RzEVFy57ZF1FojpT6

If, by next Wednesday (3 July), you have not received your ballot paper, we will be sending out a link by which you can request another. This link will allow you to specify a different address, solely for the purpose of this ballot, to send the paper to. It can therefore be used if you are away from home, to get a paper sent somewhere else in the UK. The ballot will close on 16 July, so the last realistic date for posting will be Saturday 13 July. Please DO NOT leave it until the last minute!

If you are willing to help get the vote out, please let us know.

Graduation Week

As mentioned in the last Bulletin, we are planning a number of protest rallies during graduation week, to raise awareness of the redundancy threat. We will have leaflets aimed at academic staff, urging UCU members to vote in the strike ballot, and any non-members to join (new members can join in any industrial action, whether or not they were included in the ballot). We will have leaflets for students and families, too, making sure they understand that some of the dedicated colleagues who have helped them gain their awards could be fired by the end of the month. We will encourage them to let the VC know how they feel about this!

Details of dates/times will be circulated nearer the time, but please do let us know if you will be around to give your support, especially if you will be in a platform party and would be willing to come in your robes for a media photo opportunity.

Project “Next”

Management are proposing that in general, courses should consist of four consecutive nonconcurrrent 30-credit modules per year, each module distributed over up to three days per week for seven weeks. UCU will be in monthly discussions with Management over this proposal. Our first priority is to ensure that every course team is given the opportunity to establish whether this model of delivery is suitable for their course; Management recognize that it is not suitable for every course. We are pressing Management for a course team consultation plan, and in due course we’ll be checking with members that it is being followed.

Local Subscriptions

We have now submitted the required paperwork for the local subscriptions (detailed in the May Bulletin) to start. Assuming the approval process goes smoothly, the additional subs will begin to be taken from September onwards. You don’t have to do anything, it will happen automatically with your normal subs payment. The level of local subs will be reviewed at the next AGM.

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

In this Bulletin:

AGM Report 1: Redundancy Prevention

AGM Report 2: Local Subscriptions

AGM Report 3: Your New Branch Committee

Unison Learning At Work Week

UCU Equality Conference

Check Your Details

AGM Report 1: Redundancy Prevention

Prior to April 2024, Redundancy Prevention Committee had been focused on Humanities, but had been suspended as a plan was in place to resolve the issues there. UCU were seeking to negotiate a conditional agreement that for a rolling period of at least three years there will be no compulsory redundancies that would result in loss of livelihood. Management indicated their willingness to enter into negotiations on this matter, but the negotiations remained at a very early stage. In April 2024, Management announced that the financial outlook was far worse than predicted, and that UCLan was facing a £25m deficit for 2024-25. UCU HQ’s financial expert will check over UCLan’s figures (when they’re given to us properly), but the problems are sector-wide so we have no real reason to doubt the financial picture being painted, and the danger has been on the horizon for a long-time.

* If any members have financial/accounting expertise and could help us scrutinise the data when it comes, please email ucu@uclan.ac.uk

UCLan Management’s recovery plan is to try to cut costs by £15m next year, to reduce the deficit to £10m. Approx £5m can come from non-staffing costs, leaving £10m to be cut from the staffing budget. This equates to approximately 160 jobs. UCU have secured a Management commitment that Phase 1 (under way now) is to be confined to genuinely voluntary redundancies, and that any future process that might culminate in CRs would be begun anew.

UCU’s overriding aim is to secure members’ livelihoods. There’s a good chance we can continue to achieve this aim. Nevertheless, we must be ready for resolute industrial action if further persuasion is necessary. The following motion was passed overwhelmingly, with 99% in favour, only one vote against and one abstention:

This branch is resolutely committed to defending its members’ livelihoods. In the event that Management initiate a process that could culminate in a member compulsorily losing their livelihood, the branch will ballot its members to seek a mandate for industrial action.

AGM Report 2: Local Subscriptions

At the previous Branch General Meeting, we voted to institute a hardship fund. In order to build this fund up to useful levels, we proposed at the AGM to institute a local branch subscription, to be hypothecated to meet the level of expenditure regularly needed by the branch, and to support industrial action in local disputes, such that criteria for disbursement from the hardship fund would be agreed by future quorate branch meetings, based on the conditions at the time. This motion was passed overwhelmingly, with 95% in favour, only four votes against and one abstention. This subscription will be automatically deducted, along with the national subscription, from the usual direct debit.

A further motion was proposed, that (i) In the event that local subs are low, and the local hardship fund does not contain enough money to allow at that time the disbursements that branch policy at the time would dictate, the branch will maintain a record of the payments that branch disbursement policy required but which could not be made. (ii) In this event, at the earliest AGM the branch will vote on whether to increase local subs to a level that will allow the recorded unpaid disbursements to be paid retrospectively. (iii) In passing this motion, the branch affirms its hope and wish that in the event of such a vote at a future AGM, the branch will vote to increase local subs to a level that will allow the recorded unpaid disbursements to be paid retrospectively. This motion was also passed overwhelmingly, with 94% in favour, only three votes against and five abstentions.

A series of motions followed in which we decided the level of the local subscription. Three possibilities were available: a minimal figure, a medium figure, and a high level figure (meaning that it is at the top of the range of subscriptions charged by other UCU branches detailed here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/localsubs).

The AGM chose the following local subscription rates:

Salary £60k+   £15.00

Salary £40k+   £10.00

Salary £30k+   £ 7.50

Salary £22k+    £ 5.50

Salary £15k+    £ 3.75

Salary £ 5k+     £ 1.25

Salary below £5k    £0.00

Retired members    £0.00

Attached members (not employed by UCLan) £0

We have reported this decision to Regional Office, but have not heard yet when the additional deductions will start. The rate can only be changed at an AGM and will be reviewed annually.

AGM Report 3: Your New Branch Committee

There had been no new nominations for the Branch Committee, so the following slate was elected nem con:

• Aina Mir Fons [Branch Officer]
• And Rosta [Branch Secretary]
• Andrew Baron [Union Learning Rep]
• Cath Sullivan [Membership Secretary/Health & Safety Rep]
• Danila Datti [Green Rep]
• Mike Eslea [Treasurer/Assistant Branch Secretary]
• Tamsyn Mahoney-Steel [Branch Officer]
• Tara Styles-Lightowlers [Branch Chair/Equality Officer]
• Douglas Martin [Health & Safety Rep – Not on Branch Committee]

It was noted that two Branch Committee stalwarts, Mick McKrell and Peter Lucas, were standing down from the BC and leaving UCLan after many years of devoted service. Both have played a huge role in sustaining and developing the branch, in negotiating with Management and supporting members through casework. Mick also did a huge amount of work in Regional and National UCU, having been on the NEC and serving as NW Regional Secretary, and in liaison with other unions via the local Trades Councils. Both will be difficult to replace, and we wish them well for the future. The AGM heard several heartfelt tributes from fellow officers, and we will miss them both enormously.

Unison Learning At Work Week

Members may be interested in a series of events being run by our sister union, Unison, for this year’s “Learning At Work Week”: https://uclan.unison.site/events/learning-at-work-13th-17th-may-2024/

All the events are free to all UCLan colleagues, and there are some very interesting topics available.

UCU Equality Research Conference

Similarly, members should also be aware of the forthcoming UCU Equality Research Conference. This is a one-day hybrid event for academics and activists conducting research in equality. The conference will explore how people across (and within) equality groups have experienced or are experiencing actions and discourse around discrimination and equality. The conference is free of charge and open to members and non-members. It will take place on Friday 17 May (10:30-16:30) at the University of Manchester and online. Click here to register: https://ucu.wufoo.com/forms/ucu-equality-research-conference-2024/. The registration deadline has passed but we are told that new registrations will still be accepted.

One of the speakers at the conference will be our own Andrew Baron, giving a paper on stress and gender in HE, so it would be great if some UCLan members were to go along and show him support.

Check Your Details

Finally, all members please be on the lookout for an email from UCU Head Office (subject line “Help us to help you”) asking you to check your details on the MyUCU website: https://www.ucu.org.uk/myucu

It is extremely important that these details are accurate. It is even possible that a successful ballot for industrial action could be ruled invalid if member details were wrong, so it is worth taking a few minutes every year to make sure it is all correct and that you are paying the correct subs.

Please pay particular attention to the “Employment” tab, which shows which School you are in, and which building is your main place of work. If your particular combination of School and building does not appear in the drop-down list, please email Membership Secretary Cath Sullivan: csullivan@uclan.ac.uk.

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

This Bulletin contains some senstive information so we are not posting it here. Members please check your emails for your copy.

Colleagues,

In this bulletin:

BGM Reminder & Agenda

Contact Hours Per Credit

Tax Relief on Subscriptions

Branch General Meeting

A reminder that our first BGM of the new year is next week: Weds 24 January, 1.30-3.00 via Teams. Members for whom we have a UCLan email address have already been sent a calendar appointment. Anyone else will need to join via the link.

If you would like a calendar invitation for future meetings, make sure one of the addresses on MyUCU is your UCLan one (it doesn’t have to be the “preferred” one).

Agenda items will include: Redundancy prevention & our attempts to obtain a management guarantee of no compulsory redundancies; Management abuses of grade G agreements, and our collective dispute over these; A proposal to add a local levy to Branch subscriptions, in order to build the hardship fund; The forthcoming General Secretary & NEC elections; Branch membership and density.

Contact Hours Per Credit

 It has been reported to UCU that management in some Schools have proposed a standard 2 hours per 20 credits. In early 2016, UCU negotiated an agreement on contact hours per credit. The agreement is that there’s a band within which the number of contact hours is within the discretion of the subject team. For contact hours beyond the discretionary maximum and minimum, approval of school management is required. Enforcing a “standard” would be in breach of this agreement.

Tax Relief on Subscriptions

Members are reminded that HMRC allows tax relief on 67% of UCU subscription fees. Claims can be backdated over four years. If you are doing a tax return at the moment, you can claim it there. If not, you can claim by post or telephone: details are here https://my.ucu.org.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/469

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

Colleagues,

In this bulletin:

Branch General Meeting reminder

TPS Pensions

Workload

Branch General Meeting

A reminder that our first BGM of the academic year is next week: Weds 18 Oct, 1.30-3.00 via Teams. Members for whom we have a UCLan email address have already been sent a calendar appointment. Anyone else will need to join via the link.

If you would like a calendar invite for future meetings, make sure one of the addresses on MyUCU is your UCLan one (it doesn’t have to be the “preferred” one).

Agenda items will include: “UCU Rising” dispute and new ballot, Discussion of Equality issues, and a proposal to establish a Branch Hardship Fund to support members in future disputes.

TPS Pensions

On 1st October the latest changes to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme resulting from the ‘McCloud Judgement’* were made. This judgement relates to an age discrimination case that was successfully brought against public sector pension schemes. To address the age discrimination that took place in 2015, changes have been  made to public sector schemes, including the TPS. Importantly, the latest changes bring about potential access to certain time limited benefits (such as the opportunity to buy out some of the actuarial adjustment that would otherwise happen for people taking their pension before their normal pension age).To check how this might affect you, check the latest UCU information as soon as possible: https://www.ucu.org.uk/tps

Workload

Attached to this bulletin is the new university Academic Workload Guidance document, which supersedes all other university-wide and school-specific workload documents; its contents are the same as the “Academic Workload Model” document at https://msuclanac.sharepoint.com/sites/DevelopmentPortal/SitePages/Academic-Workload-Management.aspx. Management and UCU have worked together on this document and have agreed its contents for 2023 on the understanding that the negotiations will continue into the next academic year with the goal of producing for 2024 a stable version that includes elements that had to be excluded from the 2023 version because, partly due to lack of time, Management and UCU had not reached an agreement on their inclusion. Management have told UCU that they have brought the new document to the attention of all academic staff. When Management circulate workload documents, members rightly contact us to check whether it has been agreed with UCU: so in this case, the answer is that it has been agreed with UCU, but only for the next academic year, 2023–24.

There remains one respect in which UCU feel the document is unsatisfactory because Management failed to make reasonable efforts to negotiate a satisfactory position. This is the treatment of annual leave. The academic contract stipulates that a request for up to six weeks of annual leave to be taken consecutively will not be unreasonably refused. What the Academic Workload Guidance document should make clear, but doesn’t, is that provided the request is made sufficiently early in the workload planning process and provided you are flexible over the timing of the six-week block, there is a normal expectation that a refusal would be unreasonable and that therefore the request would be granted. We hope this will be rectified for the 2024 version, but in the meantime if your request for up to six weeks’ consecutive annual leave is not granted, please contact UCU and UCU will intervene if the failure to grant the request was unreasonable.

UCLan UCU Branch Committee

Here is the 2023-24 Academic Workload Guidance 2023-24 document, agreed between UCLan management and UCU.

Branch AGM report

The Annual General Meeting of the Branch took place on Teams on Wednesday 19^th April, with around 100 members attending.

Election of Branch Committee

The following branch officers were elected to the Branch Committee (BC) for 2023-24:

And Rosta – Branch Secretary

Mike Eslea – Assistant Branch Secretary

Tara Styles-Lightowlers – Branch Chair, Equalities Officer

Michael McKrell – Vice-Chair, Membership Secretary, Health & Safety Officer

Cath Sullivan – Treasurer, Health & Safety Officer

Peter Lucas – Branch Officer

Andrew Baron – Branch Officer, Union Learning Rep

In addition, Douglas Martin was elected as a Health & Safety rep

Outgoing Chair Michael McKrell welcomed Tara as the new Chair of the Branch. He also thanked branch officer Kerstin Wellhofer for her outstanding contribution to the work of the Branch Committee over the last two years and conveyed the branch’s best wishes for the future when she leaves UCLan in June. Mick also thanked out-going Membership Secretary Elaine Hill, who is taking a ‘sabbatical’ from the BC next year but hopes to return in 2024-25.

Branch Secretary’s Report

In his report, Branch Secretary And Rosta focussed on redundancy prevention as this has been the priority of the Branch Committee’s work over the last year. Management’s review of staffing in the Faculty of Culture and Creative Industries, and the accompanying work of the Redundancy Prevention Committee, has been curtailed for the current academic year, but next year in that faculty’s successor schools and in some other schools, the Redundancy Prevention work is likely to begin again, and threats of redundancy remain an issue across the University, which is  heavily reliant on overseas students to keep financially afloat, resulting in increasing pressures to reduce staffing in areas where demand for courses is falling. There is need for a proper redundancy prevention strategy focusing on full and partial VR and full and partial variation to duties; but it is only the deterrent effect of the branch’s resolve to take resolute effective industrial action in defence of members’ livelihoods that dissuades Management from resorting to the otherwise easier option of forcing through compulsory redundancies. Therefore we need every member of the branch to maintain a sustained commitment to actively support local industrial action to oppose compulsory redundancies, in the event that all other redundancy prevention measures were to have failed.

Treasurer’s Report:

Treasurer Cath Sullivan said that between last year’s AGM and the end of 2022 the branch has spent £285:

£50 donation to the Working Class Movement Library

£25 donation to Preston and South Ribble District Workers’ Memorial Day

£50 to Preston & South Ribble TUC

£10 to the Mechanics Centre Trust

£50 Affiliation to Hazards (Health and Safety)

£100 donation to the UCU Fighting Fund in support of colleagues in FE taking action on pay

For a copy of the accounts and any questions, please email Cath: CSullivan@uclan.ac.uk

Membership Secretary’s Report:

Elaine Hill told the meeting that branch membership is currently 707 full members plus 38 student members and some retired, honorary and attached members. Numbers have held steady despite losses of staff from the University. Elaine stressed the need to increase numbers and improve membership in Schools were density is low in order to give us a stronger voice, especially in the current local and national circumstances. Elaine asked members to check their personal details are correct before the start of the 2023-24 academic year as the database will need to be changed due to the restructure so some people may inadvertently be mislocated. It is essential that the database is accurate for valid balloting to take place, so there are implications for members having a voice, and for industrial action, if it is inaccurate. Members can update their membership profile via: https://my.ucu.org.uk/app/utils/login_form/redirect/membership%252Fmy_details/

Health and Safety Officers’ Report

Mick McKrell informed the meeting of changes to the management of Health and Safety at UCLan. Alongside the twice-yearly Health and Safety Committee meetings there are now regular meetings between Management and the joint-unions (UCU, Unison and Unite). These were agreed as part of the new Health and Safety policies are now available on the intranet, having been delayed by Covid. The unions were fully consulted on these and were able to make significant improvements, including  simplifying of the accident and near miss reporting processes. The policies also draw particular attention to the reporting of ‘near misses’ as these are under-reported at the University. Members are encouraged to go to the SHE webpages and use the relevant reporting forms to report accidents and – especially – near misses. This will help identify areas of the University where there are ‘accidents waiting to happen’. Please report near misses here: https://msuclanac.sharepoint.com/sites/she-reporting/SitePages/Home.aspx

‘UCU Rising’ and Marking & Assessment Boycott (MAB)

And Rosta told members that with regards to the Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) and potential further strike action, national policy is still being developed. There are widely diverging views about what should happen but the national guidance is clear. A Special Higher Education Sector Conference had met that morning and voted on a series motions (including HE4 which calls for strike action in May/June) which can be seen here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/hesc_19april2023 The Higher Education Committee is meeting on 28^th April to decide next steps.

At UCLan – as at most other Universities –  Management have proposed pay deductions of 50% for those participating in the boycott. Staff have expressed anger at the tone of the emails from Management and many doubted whether they can afford to take part. Note that UCEA recommends that its members operate 50% pay docking for action short of a strike but they support up to 100% pay docking. Legally, it seems they do not accept that staff taking strike action are ‘partially performing’ but they are instead making a ‘goodwill’ payment as they are still covering some of their duties.

The Branch Committee asks that members do not leave UCU if they feel unable to participate in the boycott. Members will be needed for local action if management moves towards compulsory redundancy as the branch will be alone in this action.

We are aware that the MAB is likely to disrupt the university until the exam boards take place. Unless the dispute is resolved soon we plan to hold an EGM round the time of the boards to discuss the situation and a possible way forward.

Members present at the meeting then had opportunity to discuss and ask questions. It was suggested that maximum support for the MAB would act as a deterrent to Management contemplating redundancies; others raised concerns about the efficacy of the MAB given the measures put in place to counteract it. Others expressed dismay at the prospect of losing 50% pay for boycotting a relatively small amount of assessment. The view was expressed that more thought should have been given to co-ordinating and targeting the MAB.

Update: Management have now published their Mitigations for students in an attempt to neutralise/minimise the effect of the MAB. The branch committee is continuing to try and engage management with regard to MAB-related matters.

Motion to NW Regional Committee Orchard Nursey

Mick McKrell moved a motion to the Regional Committee proposing to send a message of solidarity – and to make a donation to – staff at Orchard Day Nursery in Knowsley who lost their jobs when the nursery suddenly closed after workers there had won union recognition and had taken action on pay. Carried. Update: This motion was carried at the UCU NW Regional AGM on 22^nd April and a donation of £500 from the Regional Committee has been made to the Orchard Nursery Hardship Fund.

MAB: member survey and EGM

The Branch Committee has been asked to gather information about participation in the boycott. Please answer the simple, anonymous question (see email for link) so that we can provide this information.

The Branch Committee has also called an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Branch next week to discuss the Marking & Assessment Boycott. We will meet on Teams on Weds 3 May, 1.00-2.00pm. Check your email for the link.

UCU Branch Committee