I am just writing with a final reminder about Wednesday’s AGM, as well as an additional emergency motion surrounding workload that has been put forward by the branch committee. As you will know our excellent workload campaign has made some really significant strides of late, but there are some concerning new developments about expectations that workloads can be regularly as high as 120%, something that will only be made worse with potential redundancies caused by Future Nottingham. This motion addresses that.
Congress and nominee update
Beyond the motion there are also two small additions, one is an updated and now correct list of nominees for next year, and the other relates to Congress. Branch Committee have received and endorsed one amendment to a motion scheduled for debate at Congress. In line with our branch rules, a vote by the membership is required on whether to submit this amendment on behalf of the branch. Please find the full text below ahead of discussion at the AGM:
ii. Working with relevant specialist committees, review all officer role job descriptions and the use of language throughout the model branch rules to ensure they reflects current equality strands and language. For example, insert ‘migrant members’ in the enumeration of equality groups in bullet iv) under 8.6 Equality Officer.
And renumber accordingly.”
I have also attached a slightly updated agenda which now includes the new emergency motion and the zoom link for your convenience.
Hope to see you on Wednesday.
Nick (Branch Secretary)
UCU UoN is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Happy Easter and Subbho Noboborsho! There will be no newsletter next week due to Comms officers taking annual leave. Newsletters will recommence on the week starting 28th April.
While we are all committed to helping each other within our UCU branch, we are not a service. Rather, we are an organisation based on solidarity. A repeat of our training session for supporting compulsory redundancy individual consultations for anyone reps who want to be involved and couldn’t make the last one. Thursday 8th May 2-4pm on Zoom. Trainer: Gareth Brown, regional UCU office. Sign up here.
On Monday 14th April, the first meeting concerning redundancies between University management and campus unions took place. UCU was represented by Lopa Leach (Branch President), Andrew Armstrong (APM Officer), and Julie Cooper (East Midlands Official). This meeting was extraordinarily short as it became apparent that management had not done basic legal minimum tasks required before this meeting. No details of which jobs will be cut, and the business case for cuts to each business unit have been given. In other words, unions were not informed of how many redundancies there are planned, where those redundancies are planned, and why they are ‘necessary’. UCU declared that the consultation period could not legally start without this legally required information being provided. We will see in May if this information is forthcoming.
If you are made aware that your own or your colleagues’ roles come under compulsory redundancy, please let your rep or the committee (uonucubranch@gmail.com) know the details. This information should come first to the Unions alongside a business case so we can be aware and support staff properly.
Fight back, together
The Branch Committee, Reps, Caseworkers, and activists are working hard to resist the draconian and unnecessary redundancies announced by the VC last week. Friday’s lively Q&A session was attended by 230 members, demonstrating the resolve of members to fight back.
You will of course be updated by email, but further information can be found on the redundancy section of the website. Don’t forget to keep discussing the situation with your colleagues, and vote in the indicative ballot (look for email with subject line “IMPORTANT: University of Nottingham UCU consultative ballot” check your spam!). You can also be a part of the pressure against these redundancies by joining the Redundancy Working Group, and/or becoming a caseworker. In either case email rwguonucu@gmail.com.
Solidarity with casualised Language Centre staff
Staff at the Language Centre experience high amounts of casualisation and insecurity, which has been compounded by administrative failings associated with Unicore resulting in missed wages. Within less than a week, more than 100 Language Centre staff and UCU members signed an open letter calling on management to provide more secure contracts and improved work conditions. The HR Director, Helen McNamara, has since replied and committed to respond within our deadline of two weeks. We will keep everyone updated with further developments. We also welcome further signatures. Please add your name here.
Know your rights – discrimination
Section 98 of the Employment Rights Act, 1996 specifies that an employer must apply objective and fair criteria when selecting employees for redundancy. The Equality Act, 2010 protects employees from discrimination based on specific protected characteristics e.g. age, race, gender, disability, etc. Employers must ensure that redundancy selection is not based on discriminatory factors. Under section 98 of the 1996 Employment Rights Act, employees have the right to challenge the fairness of their dismissal, including redundancy, if they feel the procedure or selection criteria were unfair.
Workload – a change in framing
The Workload Group had a major win this week. We have seen written evidence that some schools are now setting maximum workload to 80 – 100%. There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that this is now rolled out consistently across the university, for equity reasons. We will continue to push for a workload model group within each business unit, comprised of union reps, directors, course leaders, etc. This group will be tasked with reviewing each business unit’s workload model in an ongoing and sustainable way, to ensure there is no shrinkflation of workload.
On a less positive note, the University is still refusing to set up a bespoke Workload/Stress JNCC. This is despite;
A Freedom of Information request revealing horrifying work-related stress absence figures
Conscious and consistent overworking of staff in four out of five faculties.
What will it take for our employer to take this issue seriously?
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 9th April. Given current circumstances the meeting focused on;
Our response to declaration of redundancies
Discussion of HR1, S188 and Future Nottingham Phase 1 documents presented to us for committee responses.
We also heard a report from the first consultation meeting between management and campus trade unions. Management was represented by the Vice Chancellor, Deputy Vice Chancellor and head of HR. UoNUCU was represented by Lopa Leach and Andreas Bieler as President and Vice President respectively, while Unison was represented by their Executive Committee.
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Departmental Reps meeting summary
The Departmental Reps met on Wednesday 9th April and discussed;
Administrative preparations for the indicative e-ballot
Guidance for the Get The Vote Out (GTVO) campaign
Supporting APM members through phase 1 of Future Nottingham
This meeting occurs approximately monthly to provide space for Reps to feed back comments and concerns from members in their areas.
The Reps network extends across most academic Schools and professional services, however there are a number of academic and professional services departments still needing Reps. If your department has no Rep, and this role interests you please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. New Reps are well supported by the Branch Committee and the rest of the Reps network.
Local and national campaigning
Call for delegates to hybrid congress – either in-person or online Lisa Rull and Gertjan Lucas, Equality Officers, had been nominated as delegates to the annual UCU congress. With four positions available, they have been elected unopposed. Nominations will remain open until a sufficient number of delegates is reached, so if you are still interested do get in touch by emailing the branch.
UCU reasonable adjustment survey UCU is aiming to gain an understanding of your experiences with reasonable adjustments at work from both the perspectives of UCU members and branch representatives who support disabled UCU members. They kindly ask that you complete a brief survey to share your insights by tomorrow, Wednesday 16th April at the latest.
Oppose a renewal of Starbucks’ licence on campus! The encampment students have organised a petition asking UoN not to renew Starbucks’ contract on campus due to the company’s support for Israel. The UCU committee has agreed on supporting the collection of signatures. Click here for more detailed information and to sign the petition.
Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby Up to 35 Professors and Associate Professors are facing a compulsory redundancy process at the University of Derby. UCU Derby have written an open letter you are invited to sign, opposing these cuts at Derbyshire’s only University and critiquing the poor engagement with trade Union as it has unfolded. Joining link and further information
Academic-related, professional services staff open meeting UCU’s academic-related professional services staff (ARPS, i.e. APM in UoN terminology) committee will be holding the next open meeting on Friday 9 May (12:30-13:30). ARPS members are invited to join the meeting to talk about the issues affecting them and their branches currently. The format is open and friendly and all ARPS members are welcome. Please register for the meeting using this online form and a Zoom link will be sent to you on the morning of the meeting.
We are deeply concerned by today’s news of job losses at UoN, as reported by the VC in her email earlier today. We have also met with VC and senior management this afternoon, where these APM job losses and timelines (Phase 1) were discussed. We are already very worried about some discrepancies between public statements by the university and information we have received privately by them. Rest assured that the branch committee will be going through all the information in meticulous detail and will be challenging the university’s attack on staff at every turn. We will be in touch with further updates as they come in. Please do attend the Emergency meeting on Friday, where we can discuss further.
Chag sameach to all members observing Passover starting Saturday!
In these worrying times we want to keep our members as informed as possible. To this end, the Redundancy Working Group has compiled detailed advice and information on our website. In addition, as communicated by Lopa on Monday, there will be an online Emergency Meeting and Q&A session this Friday 11th April at 3pm to discuss what the branch is doing to support you and resist job cuts.
Make sure your colleagues know what’s happening at UoN
Spotlight on casework
Unsustainable workloads make us ill!
Branch Committee meeting summary
Local and national campaigning
Joining link and further information
Educate, Agitate, Organise
Last week a total of 1,100 staff members attended two open informational meetings held by the three campus unions. These were used to inform staff about Future Nottingham, University restructuring and possible compulsory redundancies, the Universities financial position, and our next steps as staff and/or union members. The high attendance and engagement signifies that there is both a high level of concern about the future of the University, and a willingness to try to do something about it.
Thank you to all who attended and promoted the meetings.
Colleagues at all levels, all job types, unionised or not, can follow this Whatsapp channel for updates on working conditions, redundancies and restructuring at UoN. Members are anonymous to other members and admins unless you are contacts. Please share this with your colleagues, and ensure they turn notifications ON.
Make sure your colleagues know what’s happening at UoN
Help make colleagues aware of what’s really happening at UoN, from job cuts to vanity projects. Download our campaign poster, print it off and stick it to your office door or anywhere else people will see it.
This poster was developed by the Redundancy Working Group, which develops our strategy to combat the risk of redundancies and feeds back to the Branch Committee. If you are interested in joining, please contact uonucubranch@gmail.com.
Spotlight on casework
As we are now half way through the academic year, it seems a good time to reflect on the practical solidarity the branch has been offering members. Since September we have helped 72 members, which is nearly double that at this point last year. From advising members on handling protected conversations to supporting members facing bullying, the range of issues we help with is diverse. A big thanks to our local caseworker team without whom none of this would be possible (Lila, Cyril, Michaela, Onni, Peter, Jenny, Liz, Martin, Lisa, Gertjan, Sara, Alice, Luisa and David). I also need to thank the fountains of knowledge and experience Julie and Gareth at the UCU regional office who support our local caseworkers when issues get especially complex or questions of legality are raised.
We are currently looking for extra caseworkers, specifically to help members facing compulsory redundancies should the University announce those. Please contact the branch email, uonucubranch@gmail.com if you would like to help.
As a reminder, if you are a member and need advice on an employment issue, the quickest way to raise it is via the ‘Ask for help’ tab on our website.
– Andrew Renault (Casework Coordinator)
Unsustainable workloads make us ill!
Despite reporting UoN to HSE for failing its legal duty to prevent work-related stress, our employer is still hesitating to establish the Workload/Stress JNCC we have urgently requested. In the meantime, a Freedom of Information request has revealed that 4,713 working days were lost to work-related stress absence between 1st Sept 2023 and 31st August 2024. That amounts to over 21 years of work lost in one year, due to the unmitigated pressure of unsustainable workloads.
The Committee also received advice from Steve French on action to oppose redundancies.
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Local and national campaigning
Gathering information on redundancy At UoN UCU, we are determined to fight management’s cuts, especially when they put the job security of our members at risk. In order to prepare for any future redundancies we are keen to find out more about what sort of cuts or suspicious changes are happening across the University. We’ve set up a google form for you to share this information with us.
Workload group drop ins The Workload Group is organising drop-in sessions to support members to fight against unsustainable workloads. The next sessions will take place online; Monday 7 April April 1.00 – 2.00. Meeting Link
Call for delegates to hybrid congress – either in-person or online Lisa Rull and Gertjan Lucas, Equality Officers, had been nominated as delegates to the annual UCU congress. With four positions available, they have been elected unopposed. Nominations will remain open until a sufficient number of delegates is reached, so if you are still interested do get in touch by emailing the branch.
UCU reasonable adjustment survey UCU is aiming to gain an understanding of your experiences with reasonable adjustments at work from both the perspectives of UCU members and branch representatives who support disabled UCU members. They kindly ask that you complete a brief survey to share your insights by Wednesday 16th April at the latest.
Oppose a renewal of Starbucks’ licence on campus! The encampment students have organised a petition asking UoN not to renew Starbucks’ contract on campus due to the company’s support for Israel. The UCU committee has agreed on supporting the collection of signatures. Click here for more detailed information and to sign the petition.
Emergency Meeting/Q&A session with UoN UCU: Friday April 11 at 3pm
Further to my email on Friday, we would like to invite you to a branch meeting this week, where we can discuss and deliberate on Phase 1 Future Nottingham plans which begin soon. The Phase 1 document will be available to all stakeholders (we were told) on Tuesday 8 April. We had/have asked to see this document, but were told that it was still undergoing draft changes. Late Friday evening, we received an email inviting Andreas and I to a meeting on the afternoon of the 8th to discuss Phase 1, possibly in the JNCC subgroup meeting on Organisational Change. Last week we also had 2 excellent, hugely well-attended, Joint Unions Open Staff meetings for Professional Services Colleagues who Phase 1 directly affects, with many important questions being asked. Phase 2, which will affect academics, will begin in the autumn term, and there is also a Phase 3 (Estates) planned. We have sent our ASF2 to the interim CFO, who plans to have a finance meeting with us soon.
We know that many of you will be worried about job security in view of the possibility of compulsory redundancies and the methods employed to reach these. We are sure you will have lots of questions about what is happening and what your branch is doing to support you and to push back against any job cuts. We are keen to know all concerns and what you think we should be doing/challenging further. We need to have a safe space where we can discuss all this. To this end, we are hosting an UoNUCU Emergency Meeting/Q&A session, on Friday April 11 at 3pm. See the zoom link below. Please do come.
This week we will also start sending out daily emails outlining various pertinent aspects of our campaign against redundancies. These will be sent from the Redundancy Working Group email, so do look out for those.
Don’t forget the indicative e-ballot emails will start coming to you from April 10, and ends on May 9, we need all to vote.
See you on Friday.
Yours, in solidarity,
Lopa
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UCU UoN is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
