University of Central Lancashire UCU

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

Pay dispute update

Re-ballot – last few days

Reminder of Branch AGM

Pay dispute update

Branch delegates attended a meeting yesterday with the General Secretary and senior negotiators Jon Hegerty and Justine Mercer, to discuss the current disputes. Jo Grady apologised for the confusion last week around whether the strikes should be paused and acknowledged that the online poll was poorly worded and should not have conflated multiple issues into a single question. She promised that future e-polls will be better. She also seemed very confident that UCU will break the 50% threshold in the current re-ballot, giving the union a renewed mandate to continue and escalate action in the coming months, if necessary. Jon Hegerty then explained the current position in the negotiations as follows:

On the USS Pension Scheme, the new offer is a good one, and members in the USS branches will be balloted on whether to accept it. This does not involve UCLan, as we are a TPS branch, but it is still very good news for the 60 or so colleagues at UCLan who have USS pensions. This would be a significant win for the union.

On pay, there is no agreement, and we remain in dispute. However, the employers have stated that they consider the discussion closed and will not negotiate on pay any further. The small increase for this year (5% for most UCU members) has already been imposed at UCLan (2% now and another 3% in the summer) and it would certainly take significant sustained industrial action to bring the employers back to the table on this issue.

On the other three “fights”, casualisation, inequality and workload, Jon stressed that there is no deal on offer yet. What we have been offered is terms of reference for future negotiations on these issues that could lead to a deal at some point. This is progress compared to what was originally proposed, but is obviously far short of what we were hoping for. However, the employers have said that these talks will only take place if UCU suspends industrial action. We therefore have to choose whether to join the other trade unions in the talks or to continue fighting on our own.

An informal poll was sent in an email from the General Secretary to members today, asking if they are in favour of being consulted on the pay and the non-pay issues, ahead of another Branch Delegate Meeting on 29^th March and the next meeting of the Higher Education Committee on 30^th March. Soon after, we will know the re-ballot result. Assuming it has been won, members will be asked to decide whether to join the negotiations, whether to be formally consulted over the terms of reference, and whether and when to start a marking and assessment boycott. We will also discuss all these issues at our AGM (see below)

Re-ballot on pay dispute – last few days

The re-ballot to extend the industrial action mandate closes on Friday 31^st March

If you have recently returned your ballot paper, please use the link below to let UCU HQ know. You can use the same link to order a replacement ballot paper before Sunday 26^th March.

https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/ucuRISING-ballotupdate

The last ‘safe date‘ for posting your ballot paper so it arrives in time is Tuesday 28^th March

Branch AGM – reminder

Members are notified that UCLan UCU Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 19^st April, from 13.30 – 15.00 on Teams (check your email for the link).

AGM provisional agenda

Election of the Branch Committee

Branch Secretary’s report

Treasurer’s report

Equality Officer’s report

Membership Secretary’s report

Health and Safety report

Any Other Business

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 18^th 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.

NEC elections – use your vote!

UCU Rising – strike dates, advice on leave and negotiation update

Branch Meeting report

Defend the Right to Strike

Workplace Charter on Harmful Gambling

And Rosta – ‘Comrade of Distinction’

NEC elections – use your vote! Elections to the union’s National Executive Committee (NEC) are underway and voting packs should be arriving in the post any day. Please do not throw them in the bin! They contain voting papers and the election addresses of all candidates. These are important elections that help determine union strategy, so it is vital all members use their vote. Branch Chair Mick McKrell is standing as an NEC candidate for the North West Region. The UCLan Branch Committee are grateful to Mick, who held the seat in 2016-17, for agreeing to stand again and we support Mick in asking all members to give him your first preference vote (1) in the confidence that the branch will benefit if he is elected. Further information about the elections can be found here .

UCU Rising Strike dates

 w/c 30^th January: Wednesday 1^st February

w/c 6^th February : Thursday 9^th and Friday 10th

w/c 13^th February (Reflection Week): Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15^th and Thursday 16^th

w/c 20^th February: Tuesday 21^st, Wednesday 22^nd and Thursday 23^rd

w/c 27^th February: Monday 27^th, Tuesday 28^th, Wednesday 1^st and Thursday 2^nd March

w/c 6^th March: no strike action

w/c 13^th March: Thursday 16^th and Friday 17^th

w/c Monday 20^th March: Monday 20^th, Tuesday 21^st and Wednesday 22^nd

We are aware that many members will have already taken the decision to take annual leave during reflection week (w/c 13th February) and so we will be picketing/demonstrating on dates that don’t fall within that week; members are not expected to alter their planned annual leave dates in the event that their planned annual leave dates coincide with strike dates during w/c 13th February

In order to ensure that we have the most visible and effective picketing and demonstrating, we will be concentrating this on a selection of the dates where strike action is happening. We are therefore calling on all UCU UCLan members to come to Preston to demonstrate and show solidarity with the action on the following dates: 1^st , 9^th, 21^st and 28^th February; 16^th and 20^th March.

Reflection  Week: Members have contacted us perplexed that strike action has been called to coincide with Reflection/Reading Week when many colleagues take leave. Unfortunately the branch has no control over the setting of strike dates. Here is UCU advice on taking leave during strikes:

I am on study or research leave during the strikes; what should I do?

If your leave is unpaid, you have no labour to withdraw and cannot join the strike. If your leave is paid, you should join the strikes.

I am booked to be on annual leave during the strikes; what should I do?

If your annual leave is essential, you should take it as planned and consider donating to the fighting fund. If your leave is not essential, you may wish to move it so you can participate in industrial action alongside colleagues

For other strike-related queries, please see the FAQs on the UCU website here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/12469/FAQs

Update on pay negotiations: The latest action has resulted in an offer that, whilst still falling short of what is needed to settle the dispute, is an improvement on previous offers. This suggests that we are having an effect on the employers and we trust this will encourage members to stay strong and keep the pressure up at this crucial stage.

Branch Meeting Report

At the general meeting of the branch on 18^th January, the following business was discussed:

UCU Rising pay dispute: Branch Officer Cath Sullivan reported the results of the branch survey on union strategy in the pay dispute: 65% were in favour of targeted strike action, 34% in favour of indefinite strike action and 56% in favour of a marking and assessment boycott. 83% said UCU should consult members before any move to indefinite strike action.

27% of members in the branch responded. As the survey was anonymous, members wishing to receive responses to their written comments are invited to email UCU. The results were in line with those from most other branches and were presented at the branch delegates meeting on 10th January which in turn and informed decisions by the national union’s Higher Education Committee (HEC). Branch Chair Mick McKrell told the meeting that delegates voted to choose between a plan of 10 days of escalating strike action proposed by the General Secretary, or indefinite strike action as decided by the HEC. The resulting 18 days of strikes planned for February and March are a ‘compromise’ between these positions. A marking boycott is also planned for the summer. The UCLan UCU delegates voted in accordance with the local membership’s responses to the survey in the meeting.

Andrew Baron said that the strike action on 1st February (the first of 18 days) will be the culmination of 15 months of balloting and action.  Whilst appreciating that this is difficult for members, it is also important to sustain momentum that has been built up, especially in the current context of several unions across many sectors, including teachers, also taking strike action.

Motion for the Regional Committee Mick McKrell proposed a motion to NW Regional Committee on 28^th January opposing legislation to limit the right to strike by imposing ‘minimum safety levels’. The motion was carried overwhelmingly.

Academic calendar And Rosta told the meeting that there is a standing agreement that Management will consult with UCU on the calendar, but this has not happened over the last three years. Whilst this oversight may have been understandable during the COVID-19 pandemic, it should not be continuing. The change in practice has coincided with a change in senior management.  The 2024-25 calendar contains some radical changes, including examinations moving into teaching weeks and teaching contact time being condensed into fewer weeks. Whilst UCU has been assured that the number of teaching contact hours will not reduce, members are asked to get in contact if they find that this is happening.

Management/academic restructure  And Rosta said there has been no proper consultation with UCU. This raises two issues. Firstly, the security of employment for UCU members in management and secondly, whether a manager will have sufficient hours to do all aspects of their job effectively. There will be further updates in due course.

Redundancy prevention And Rosta updated members on the situation in CCI. Management propose offering targeted VR outside CCI where they feel it is likely to be accepted . The acceptance criteria are (a) that the work the applicant is undertaking can cease to be done or (b) that it could be done by someone else who is already employed at UCLan if it needs to continue. Management are not aiming for any VR targets. Within CCI there may be multiple VR applications from within  the same team so it may not be possible to grant them all.  If this happens UCU proposes that the team concerned puts together a consensus proposal. If this is not possible then management may need to introduce selection criteria. UCU will not participate in this selection process but will continue to support members affected.

‘Defend the Right to Strike’ rallies

Preston Trades Council has organised a rally to protest against proposed ‘minimum safety levels’ legislation limiting the right to strike, a move which members voted to oppose at the Branch General Meeting. It will take place on Preston Flag Market, 11.30 on Wednesday 1^st February. For members living in the Manchester area, there is a rally organised by Manchester Trades Council starting at 12.30 in St Peter’s Square.

Workplace Charter on Harmful Gambling

UCU, Unite and Unison have signed up to the Workplace Charter on Harmful Gambling, which commits the University to providing support for staff and students who may be a risk from gambling harms.

And Rosta – Comrade of Distinction

Heartfelt congratulations to Branch Secretary And Rosta on receiving a Distinguished Service Award from the UCU General Secretary and UCU President for his outstanding contribution to UCU over the last two decades. And was nominated by the Branch Committee in 2020, endorsed by the NW Regional Committee that year and would have received the award at Congress had it not been cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. It is richly deserved and a fitting testimony to And’s unstinting dedication to UCU members as a rep and officer of the branch.

UCU Branch Committee