1) Local Hardship Fund – Change of Eligibility
We are now welcoming applications from academic and professional services staff on Grade J, for example, lecturing staff on profile b, Pathway 2 Senior Research Associates and Pathway 3 Senior Teaching Associates.
Bristol UCU’s Executive has agreed to the proposal that the branch now opens up our Local Hardship Fund to staff on Grade J who took strike action in the USS dispute.
Please note:
- We will only pay for the first 3 days of action as staff can then claim from the national fighting fund [link]
- We have agreed on a daily maximum to be reimbursed of £70 per strike day taken.
- Members should follow the local guidance on how to claim [link]
- HPTs and members on G-I can continue to claim if they have not already done so.
- We will review again in due course to see if we can open the scheme to Grade K staff.
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2) USS and Pay Updates
For further details of the special Higher Education Sector Conference on USS last week, please see:
https://www.ucu.org.uk/hescjune18
With regard to UCU industrial action on gender pay, casualisation and take-home pay, UCU’s Higher Education Committee meets tomorrow (Friday, 29th June) to discuss the results of the Pay and Equality consultative ballot and to decide whether to ballot members on industrial action.
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3) Workload
‘Common principles in workload modelling will enable the university to identify areas where workloads preclude staff spending appropriate amounts of time on research and/or scholarship’
‘If done realistically, it will also enable an informed critique of existing structures and processes based on a serious reckoning of the time spent on various managerial and administrative tasks’.
Branch VP James Thompson outlines 11 principles for managing workload in a Bristol UCU blog post:
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4) Upcoming Meetings
Joint Trade Union representatives will be meeting the Vice-Chancellor and HR next week for a “Staff Voice” session. This will be focusing on the issues raised at our recent #We are the University conference, ie, Casualisation, Workloads and staff mental health, Equality issues and University governance.
We also have our 2nd Gender Pay negotiating meeting with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and HR next week where we expect to agree a joint statement of intent.
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5) UCU South West Regional Committee AGM, Saturday, 7 July 2018, Plymouth University, 10.45am start
Plymouth University hosts South West UCU’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday, 7 July, starting at 10:45, to be followed by a South West Social from 2pm.
Please see agenda below:
http://bristolucu.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/files/2018/06/ucu_swrc_agmagenda2018-2kckaag.pdf
Travel expenses and a contribution towards your meal will be provided.
Please let rrichards@ucu.org.uk and ucu-office@bristol.ac.uk know if you will be attending by 2 July 2018 for catering and seating purposes
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6) Donation – Yarl’s Wood Demonstration
Bristol Exec also agreed to make a £100 donation towards costs of the Bristol coach to the Yarl’s Wood Demonstration this Saturday.
Organised by Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, Sisters Uncut Bristol, Undoing Borders Bristol, Unis Resist Border Controls and UK anti-detention groups, the demonstration has been called in solidarity with a group of women in Yarl’s Wood – the UK’s most infamous Immigration Removal Centre – currently on hunger strike:
https://detainedvoices.com/2018/02/25/the-strikers-demands/
The coach will be leaving from 9:00 am, this Saturday, outside the Hippodrome:
https://www.facebook.com/events/243501113089847/
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