1) Summer
Newsflash takes a two-week break, returning just as UCU starts another Get The Vote Out [link] campaign in August, and the terms of our new Branch Officer team, Executive Committee and Branch Reps begin in earnest.
Newsflash’s break does not mean the branch breaks.
Whether re-establishing trade union consultation rights, working on a local USS joint statement, launching new postgrad campaigns, scrutinizing changes to PS Internal Advertising policy, lobbying for the return of student market controls, representing members facing dismissal, securing a Research Support Roles pay scale, tackling unnecessary Faculty Promotion Guidance ‘targets’, pushing for secure employment of Pathway 2 researchers, reviewing University Academic Freedom procedure, running Health and Safety training for branch reps, clarifying as regards the recent ruling on part-time workers holiday entitlement [link], feeding back on Structure of the Academic Year revisions, organising solidarity with branches facing mass redundancies, scrutinizing the University budget and the parking of nearly 200 University jobs, and much more, branch reps will still be representing, and critically negotiating and bargaining on behalf of Bristol UCU members.
Thanks especially to Tonia Novitz and Kit Fotheringham for their service this year. Both are standing down as Branch Officers. And welcome to John McTague and Laura Dickinson to the Branch Officer team.
2) Local Hardship Fund: Claim by Today
Please submit any remaining claims to the Local Hardship Fund by today.
Claims by salaried staff for one day of strike pay or from HPTs/TSRs for lost contact hours should be sent to ucu-hardship@bristol.ac.uk by the end of July.
Colleagues are reminded that salaried staff can claim for their second and subsequent days of strike action from the National Fighting Fund at: https://my.ucu.org.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/429/
The Local Hardship Fund will close to new claims for the 2021/22 disputes from the start of August but will be available to members once the terms of any new dispute are set in the Autumn.
3) MyUCU
Please log onto MyUCU [link] to make sure that the following details are correct/up to date:
- preferred postal address (where they will receive the industrial action ballot)
- preferred email address (where they will receive UCU’s emails including the Friday Email)
- mobile phone number
- employer and workplace
- membership category (N.B. certain membership types such as retired members and student members are not included in industrial action ballots; members can also upgrade their membership on MyUCU if necessary)
- employment income band and subscription rates