The Friday email: 13 October 2023

UCU response to events in Gaza/Israel

The union is utterly horrified at the violence towards innocent civilians that we have seen in recent days in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. We send our solidarity to all those affected by these events, especially education staff and students.

We know that many of you will be worrying about loved ones, and to those grieving we send our heartfelt condolences. If you are affected or need support, please reach out to your local reps or regional office who will be able to let you know the resources available to you at your institution.

We are also aware that some of our members have been targeted for speaking out about these events, and that this targeting has unfortunately often been racialised. UCU has clear policy in defence of academic freedom; if you have been targeted in this way please contact your local rep or regional office for support.

The events of recent days are part of a continuing cycle of violence that has been the result of decades of brutal occupation. Achieving a lasting peace in the region must start with an end to the occupation and a recognition of the rights of all people.

Tomorrow, Saturday 14 October, 12:00 - 15:30 our colleagues at Palestine Solidarity Campaign are hosting March for Palestine - End The Violence, End Apartheid. Attendees are asked to meet at BBC, Portland Place, W1A, London. You can also sign up to steward the event here.

UCU Rising: build on our pension progress to win better pay and conditions

Today is National Get The Vote Out Day in the union's higher education industrial action ballot over the pay and working conditions dispute. Members, reps, regional offices and HQ have all been building our ballot and confirming as many YES votes as possible. Let us know what you have been doing to get the vote out in your branch on social media by using #ucuRISING.

UCU members are ready to build on our progress in our USS pensions dispute to deliver another victory in our pay and conditions dispute. Members in USS know that we must deliver security and justice in employment as well as in retirement, and members not in the pension scheme can take inspiration from their colleagues' long fight for pension justice. 

You can continue to build our ballot and deliver another threshold-beating mandate by:

• clicking here if you need a replacement ballot (you will need your UCU membership number which is ; this form is strictly for HE members only and not for FE members)
• clicking here to let us know that you have voted (again this form is strictly for HE members only)
• volunteering to help us phone bank members from Monday 23 October by emailing campaigns@ucu.org.uk
• joining us for a special UCU LIVE event on Thursday, 19 October at 18:30 when we will be celebrating our USS pension progress and building for a similar victory in our pay and conditions dispute. Tune in live on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
• letting us know your experiences of working in higher education, for use in our future campaign materials.

Respect FE: ballot results out now

UCU's Respect FE industrial action ballot in English further education (FE) colleges closed this week and the results are available on our website. UCU members in 32 employers have now gained a legal mandate for action after crossing the 50% turnout threshold and voting YES, and their employers face the prospect of hard-hitting strike action over pay, workloads, and national bargaining.

This is a strong set of results that represents the largest number of England FE branches to cross the 50% turnout threshold since the implementation of the Trade Union Act 2016. Congratulations to UCU members, branches, reps and staff who have worked tirelessly to organise and chase every last vote in this ballot. A number of participating branches did not manage to beat the anti-trade union turnout threshold. Rest assured that UCU will continue to push in every one of our branches for a proper deal on pay and workloads, and we will continue fighting for binding national bargaining which will mean that no college is left behind. 

Next steps in the campaign:

• UCU branches with successful strike mandates will meet at a strike committee meeting on Wednesday 18 October 
• elected representatives on UCU's further education committee (FEC) will meet on Friday 20 October to consider branch feedback and decide on potential strike action; strike action can only be formally called by FEC
• UCU has a live mandate until April 2024 to call action if the industrial dispute is not resolved to the satisfaction of UCU members. 

USS members: please vote in the formal consultation on benefit recovery

UCU members in USS institutions are being asked to vote, in a formal consultation authorised by the elected representatives on UCU's higher education committee (HEC) on Friday 6 October 2023, on the benefit recovery proposals. The proposal is recommended unanimously by UCU's USS negotiators and by the Superannuation Working Group (SWG), and HEC is recommending that members vote YES (agree) to accept the benefit recovery proposals.

The formal consultation opened on Monday 9 October 2023 and will close on Friday 20 October 2023 at 12 noon, and we will announce results as soon as practicable. UCU members in USS institutions should look out for an email entitled 'IMPORTANT: UCU member consultation on recovery of USS benefits'.

Please click here for the latest updates on USS pensions.

USS members: please also complete the USS consultation on benefit restoration

Further to the message from general secretary Jo Grady (25 September 2023), the UCU Superannuation Working Group (SWG) has produced a document to help members complete the statutory USS consultation regarding benefit restoration. We encourage as many members as possible to get involved with this consultation:

• the USS consultation can be found here
• the SWG is encouraging members to complete the consultation quickly to get as many responses returned so please don't delay. We ask members to consider the following talking points before responding to the consultation
• we are not suggesting these be copy-and-pasted verbatim; the consultation will be more meaningful if members express their views in their own words.

Northern Ireland further education: pay and working conditions dispute

As action short of a strike (ASOS) and rolling action continues in the six further education colleges in Northern Ireland, the employers are feeling the effects. In a message to all staff yesterday, the CEO of Southern Regional College reported 'a recent review has identified that 4000+ registers are not complete for the 2023-24 academic year'. It is only October. This shows the effectiveness of UCU's action and the pressure it is creating within the system. It is important members continue to abide by the union's instruction to create the maximum leverage possible to win this dispute.

University of the Highlands and Islands: strike action

The UCU branch at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) will be taking the first of six days of strike action on Tuesday 17 October. The dispute is over £3m cuts to the staffing budget and making up to 44 roles redundant. Please send messages of solidarity to the branch.

Weston College prison education: pay campaign update

Weston College UCU prison education branch have been campaigning for a decent pay rise. An open letter in support of the campaign was presented to management this week. It was signed by 71 members of staff. Contact will now be made with all those who signed the petition and an open meeting held to discuss the next steps in the campaign.

Teachers' Pension Scheme: McCloud Remedy

Our latest update on the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) covers the changes that will be made from 1 October 2023 to all public service pension schemes including TPS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These changes are happening to remove the age discriminatory impact of schemes' transitional protection arrangements, often referred to as the 'McCloud Remedy'. You can click here to read the full update and view a presentation which explains the changes in greater detail.

Resources for Build the Union month

October is Build the Union month at UCU. Local workplace organising is at the heart of what the union does, and we know that colleagues having conversations with each other about the union, current industrial disputes, and the education sectors in general have an enormous impact. 

To that end, UCU has produced guidance on 'Me + 10': the premise is that, if each of our members were to contact 10 of their colleagues to join the union, then we would build our membership and increase our leverage with employers. You can also find resources on workplace mapping, initiating recruitment conversations, and a branch newsletter template.

Calling all academic-related professional services (ARPS) staff members

There is a vacancy on the academic-related professional services (ARPS) staff committee which we are seeking to fill. If you would like to steer the union's approach to ARPS staff, then this is the role for you. The position is until the annual meeting in March 2024; to express your interest or request more information please email the committee secretary Jenny Lennox.

Count me in: LGBT+ data now

Click here to register for this UCU LGBT+ webinar where we look at issues related to LGBT+ data collection including the lack of it and how it is done, if at all! The webinar will take place on Tuesday 24 October 16:00-17:30.

Annual equality groups conference 2023

This conference is an opportunity to discuss and agree strategies to progress UCU's equality work for Black, disabled, LGBT+, migrant and women members. The conference will be held from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 November, in person in Manchester with the option to join plenary sessions online. You can find more information and register here by Tuesday 17 October.

Sign the open letter to the Arts and Humanities Research Council

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has announced plans to cut a quarter of its annual funded PhD places by 2030, a move that will hit working class students disproportionately and limit who can afford to access academic careers. Sign this open letter to call for AHRC to reverse this damaging decision.

In solidarity

Simon Foster
UCU head of campaigns