The Friday email: 17 March 2023

Respect FE e-ballot: this is what we are fighting for

If you are at one of the participating further education (FE) England branches, there is just one week left to vote in the e-ballot and show support for a national strike action ballot on pay, workload and national bargaining. Eligible members have been sent an email (subject line: 'Respect FE: UCU consultative ballot') containing a unique link to vote before 17:00 on Friday 24 March. If you are at one of the participating college branches and you cannot find your e-ballot, you can request a replacement here.

UCU and the other FE trade unions in England (GMB, NEU, Unison and Unite) have today submitted our claim to the Association of Colleges (AoC) employers' representatives and you can read full details here. This is what we are fighting for:

• 15.4% pay rise
• action to address workloads
• binding national negotiations
• a 'just transition' climate crisis commission for FE.

UCU Rising update

As you will know, this week university employers made offers in respect of the UCU Rising disputes and members and branches have been consulted on how the union should respond. The results of the e-ballot of members and Thursday's branch delegate meeting (BDM) will now be considered by an emergency meeting of the higher education committee (HEC) later today. We will communicate decisions made by HEC as soon as possible.

Let us know as soon as you have voted in the UCU Rising re-ballot or if you require a replacement ballot papers here.

Strike ballot opens at Kirklees College over low pay

Staff at Kirklees College in Huddersfield and Dewsbury are being balloted on whether to take strike action in a dispute over low pay. The ballot will run until Friday 14 April. UCU's claim was for 10% and it is demanding a fair pay award to help staff meet the cost of living crisis, as well as a commitment to address unacceptable workloads and advance professional respect.

Please click here for a list of local disputes and wins that need your support.

Ground-breaking anti-casualisation agreement at the University of Bath

University of Bath UCU has signed a ground-breaking agreement on a range of anti-casualisation issues with their employer. The agreement will benefit 286 staff immediately with a further 181 gaining in the following two years. Here are just a couple of the highlights:

• the agreement commits to offering all postgraduate researchers who teach (GTAs) at least 0.1 FTE, a fractional salaried post with a commitment to working towards extending this to those on less than 0.1 FTE
• in a genuinely ground-breaking approach (and one that UCU have been campaigning for) three pilots will be launched where all members of research groups will be moved onto open-ended contracts, with a timeline to see further roll-outs following evaluations of the initial pilots (one is already up and running). If the pilots are successful, the agreement commits to a roll-out of this approach in 2024/25. This would be a first in the higher education sector and its importance cannot be over-stated.

Congratulations to Bath UCU and to all those involved in the negotiations that secured this agreement, including the fantastic local team and UCU South West England regional support official, Catriona Scott.

UCU wins historic recognition deal at University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge has finally agreed to recognise UCU. UCU general secretary Jo Grady signed the recognition agreement last week and the university would ratify it imminently. Cambridge had been an outlier as one of the only UK universities not to recognise UCU. The recognition agreement means UCU will now be able to enter into formal negotiations with management, have a guaranteed membership in governance committees, conduct independent health and safety inspections, and offer members paid time-off for essential union activities. It covers staff in all UCU bargaining groups, including academic, academic-related, research and professional services staff.

UCU welcomes end of zero-hour contracts for associate lecturers at Sheffield Hallam University 

Last week UCU declared a significant win against casualisation after Sheffield Hallam University agreed to move associate lecturers off zero-hour contracts. An overwhelming 96% of members polled endorsed a negotiated settlement that would see all associate lecturers moved off zero-hour contracts, with those who are employed for more than eight consecutive weeks moved onto fixed-term contracts. Associate lectures are staff specifically employed either to cover the short term absences of other colleagues or to cover unforeseen or urgent short-term additional teaching needs. 

UCU LGBT+ research conference 2023

The 2023 UCU LGBT+ research conference will be held as a hybrid event on Friday 19 May at the University of Manchester. This is an open event; delegates do not have to be UCU members. However, if the in-person places are over-subscribed, UCU members will be given priority access. To register please follow the link to the online form.

TUC event on insourcing, 20 March

TUC North West are hosting an online event on Monday 20 March at 18:00 entitled, 'Insourcing: how and why?' chaired by UCU president Janet Farrar. We will hear from speakers from Unison, Unite and We Own It about insourcing successes and what we can learn from them. All welcome, including those outside of North West England. You can register here.