The Friday email: 26 April 2024

Reclaim higher education launch event, 9 May

The UK higher education sector is facing unprecedented threats and attacks. Job cuts and redundancies at HE institutions are increasing at an alarming rate. Students are graduating with a lifetime of debt, spending on staff is at record lows, workload and job insecurity is sky high, painful cuts to arts and humanities funding continue, and financial inequality across the sector is growing as institutions are forced to battle for income.

UCU believes it is time to reclaim higher education for the interests of staff and students. We are calling for radical reform to ensure that a fair funding model is introduced and that professional autonomy and respect for all staff becomes the norm.

In solidarity with ASLEF, the train drivers' trade union, which has announced strike action across the United Kingdom between Tuesday 7 May and Thursday 9 May, the Reclaim Higher Education campaign launch event on Thursday 9 May (18:00-19:30) will now take place online.

We will be circulating a link for online streaming closer to the event.

A new deal for further education in England

On Saturday 13 April representatives of nearly a hundred UCU college branches in England met for a special further education sector conference (FESC) to make some important decisions about how the union will campaign for you over the coming months and years. You can read the full update here and read full details of the decisions made by FESC here; the headlines of what your representatives agreed are:

• a campaign for a new deal for FE workers involving: 
  • a 10%/£3000 pay rise
  • parity with schoolteacher pay within 3 years
  • a minimum starting salary of £30,000 
  • reform of the pay spine
  • close equality pay gaps
  • national agreements on workload
  • a return to national bargaining
  • putting FE at the heart of a new government's plans.

Action for members in Scotland: ask your MSPs to sign motion on the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme

Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament on increased employer costs to the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme (STPS). The 3% increase will worsen the financial situation in post-92 universities and put jobs at risk. The motion calls on the Scottish government to evaluate urgently the impact of the absence of additional funding for universities covering the increase in STPS contributions on education provision, university access and jobs. Activists and branches in Scotland are asked to encourage their MSPs to sign the motion. You can find out who your MSPs are and their email addresses here. You can also contact MSPs via the 'Write to them' website.

Tell your MP: support the funding of Teachers' Pensions Scheme rises

Employer contributions to the Teachers' Pensions Scheme (TPS) are due to rise but despite covering this cost for schools and colleges, the Department for Education is not covering the cost for universities. This will increase the financial pressure on higher education institutions specifically Post-92 universities.

We are encouraging our members in England and Wales to ask their MP to sign a parliamentary motion calling on the government to intervene and cover the cost. You can use UCU's tool to contact your MP here.

Defending jobs in higher education

Please support the following university branches where UCU members are defending jobs and education:

• Goldsmiths, University of London: Goldsmiths UCU members have overwhelmingly voted to take industrial action in a fight to stop the sacking of more than one in six academic staff (over 130 jobs) at the institution. A marking boycott began on Friday 19 April
• University of Kent: Kent UCU members have backed strike action in defence of jobs: 58 staff are at risk of redundancy as part of a programme that would see courses closes across the institution
• University of Lincoln: staff at University of Lincoln are poised to take a stand against brutal cuts. A consultation over potential strike action has begun on Monday 22 April. The looming threat targets over 220 employees, including one in ten academic staff
• Middlesex University: Middlesex UCU members have held an indicative ballot with a majority in favour of taking industrial action over management's failure to consult over significant structural changes and refusal to commit to no redundancies
• University of Portsmouth: UCU has raised concerns about the failure of the university to disclose legally required information in the current redundancy consultation that could put as many as 398 academic staff at risk
• Sheffield Hallam University: a strike ballot opened on Monday 15 April. The university has said 225 academic jobs will be axed, with up to 80 staff facing compulsory redundancy
• University of Surrey: University of Surrey has announced 45 professional services and academic staff are at risk of redundancy. This comes on top of 130 staff taking voluntary severance over Easter. We call on the employer to stop and rethink the current strategy, pause all redundancy plans and offer UCU a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies
• University of Winchester: a ballot for formal industrial action has now opened and will close on Tuesday 14 May. The dispute is over proposed job cuts of up to 40 jobs and detrimental changes to the workload allocation model.

Current industrial disputes and wins

UCU is determined to resist the waves of job cuts and attacks on working conditions taking place in post-16 education throughout the UK. You can click here for a list of current industrial disputes and find out how you can extend your solidarity, and you can click here for a list of wins that UCU members have achieved over the last two years. Both lists are updated continually so please check back regularly.

Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal case

The Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal this week published its judgment regarding claims brought by UCU members Jennifer Redmond and Moira Magee against the South Eastern Regional College. The tribunal unanimously found the UCU representatives had been subjected to detriment for engaging in trade union activity. The case centred around a team meeting where both representatives had challenged inaccurate statements made by their two line managers concerning the awarding body and the regulator. After the meeting, both managers complained to HR their behaviour was 'confrontational, aggressive, premeditated and designed to embarrass', claiming this amounted to bullying and harassment under the Dignity at Work Policy. A two-year investigation and disciplinary process followed resulting in Ms Magee being sanctioned with a written warning. The tribunal rejected the employer's defence, disagreeing that our representatives conduct met the legal test of being 'wholly unreasonable, extraneous or malicious'. The tribunal concluded both claimants had engaged in protected trade union activity. A further remedy hearing will be convened to determine compensation.

UCU videos on prison education and adult and community education

UCU has released a new series of short videos in which members share their stories. Please watch and forward to your colleagues:

• Pauline Rafferty on her work and the prison education sector
• David Filer from Adult and Community Education Service Coventry
• Nick Gilbert from Morley College on his experiences in ACE
• ACE at Morley College.

Update on UKRI New Deal for Postgraduate Research and Collective Talent Funding reforms

Influencing UKRI's New Deal for Postgraduate Research is an important strand of UCU's PGRs as Staff Campaign. Following recent discussions with senior officials in UKRI, UCU is able to provide members with an update on this crucial piece of work for the sector.

UCU continuing professional development workshops

Join us this month for the following 90-minute online interactive workshops that are free and open to all UCU members:

• Menopause is a workplace issue: Tuesday 30 April, 14:00-15:30
• Challenging sexual harassment and sexual violence: Wednesday 8 May, 10:30-12:00
• Challenging casualisation in education: Thursday 9 May, 10:30-12:00

Please look out for our Monday CPD email with details of all the online workshops running this term.

Equality research conference, 17 May

UCU's equality research conference 2024 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; registration deadline is Monday 29 April.

UCU's LGBT+ work

UCU LGBT+ will be hosting two webinars in May: on LGBT+ migrants (Tuesday 7 May), and on International LGBT+ (Wednesday 8 May). These will be live at 16:00-17:30 on Zoom; click here to register.

UCU LGBT+ is looking to engage in some research work about LGBT+ lives, issues and experiences within post-school education, both at FE and HE levels. If you are interested in helping realise this project, please complete this form before Wednesday 22 May.

May Day workplace day of action for Palestine

Campaigners are calling on workers and students to take action this May Day (Wednesday 1 May) to demand peace and justice for the Palestinian people and you can find more information here.

UCU has a dedicated 'Ceasefire Now' web area here where you can find downloads, information and resources.

Catriona Scott

We are deeply shocked and saddened to learn that our South West regional support official, Catriona Scott, passed away last week. Catriona has carefully supported UCU further education and higher education branches in the South West throughout many campaigns and complex negotiations, and she will be much missed by UCU staff and members.