1) What To Drop? – The UoB Workload Crisis
Members are still encouraged to submit concrete workload proposals on what can be stopped, postponed or parked. Contact ucu-office@bristol.ac.uk.
Branch reps look forward to discussing these proposals at a meeting with University Officers tomorrow.
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2) UCU NEC Elections
Elections to UCU’s National Executive Committee (NEC) are now open. You should have received your ballot papers at your designated postal address.
For more information:
Turnout for NEC elections is traditionally low, yet it is the members of NEC who decide major question of strike policy, such as taking industrial action, the timing of that action and whether to consult with members before taking industrial action. It was the NEC, for example, that decided in January last year to authorize 14 days of further strike action in the USS and Four Fights dispute [link].
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3) Final Offer on Workload, Pay, Casualisation and Pay Gaps
On pay, employers are committed to a pay freeze across the board: ‘UCEA is not in a position to offer an uplift in pay for 2020-21′
Our UCU Head of Higher Education and lead negotiator Paul Bridge writes ‘in regard to pay equality and related demands on gender, ethnic and disability pay gaps and intersectional discrimination; ending the sector’s dependency on exploitative casualised employment and moving staff to more secure employment, and addressing the significant increase in workloads caused by the pandemic, the employers through their representatives at UCEA have failed to engage proactively and invest in staff’
Members will be consulted over UCEA’s offer from 8th February.
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