Author Archives: heriotwatt

Working rights for carers

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Dear Colleague

More working people are increasingly becoming carers for friends and families often with little help or support as they struggle with combining work and caring duties. UCU is developing guidance for branches and local associations on the rights of carers at work, the issues faced by carers and how to raise awareness and assist those members for whom caring is a daily part of their lives.  The guidance will be available in the New Year.

Are you a Carer?

We would like to hear from you if you have any examples of

  1. a) good practice at your college or university
  2. b) negotiated policies to take in the needs for carers or
  3. c) whether you would like to share your experience of being a working carer or being cared for.  Any information shared will be in strict confidence.

Please contact Sharon Russell (srussell@ucu.org.uk) for further information.

Notes:

  1. 1 in 4 women aged 50-64 are sandwich carers balancing child care and caring responsibilities
  2. 7 in 10 working carers have felt lonely or isolated at work as a result of their caring responsibilities
  3. There are 177,918 young carers in England and Wales

Source: Carers UK

 

Yours sincerely

Sally Hunt

General Secretary

 

Speaking Up: Voice Care Training – 19 November, 10am – 4pm

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A practical and interactive workshop designed to help you find, use, enjoy and maintain your voice. This one-day workshop looks at ways to keep your voice healthy as well as use it to best advantage in a teaching environment.

Covers:

  • improving understanding of how voice is made and what affects it
  • how teaching staff can best protect the voice, in order to prevent strain and loss. Improved vocal stamina
  • increasing awareness of voice skills in communication.

Lunch is provided.

To register: http://cpd.web.ucu.org.uk/course-information/speaking-up/

 

Reps 1 Training, Stirling 2 – 4 December

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UCU are running this popular course for reps at the University of Stirling, from 2-4 December. This three-day course is aimed at members looking to become a branch rep, and refresher training for existing reps. Reasonable travel and accommodation expenses will be reimbursed. Please advise the HWUCU branch office if you wish to attend, further details and booking available at:

https://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=6179

Trade Union Bill – Lobby of Scottish Parliament

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The STUC have organised a lobby of Scottish Parliament on November 10, the day that the Trade Union bill is debated. The lobby will begin at 1.00pm and last for an hour. From 2pm the Parliament will be in session and we expect a Motion condemning the Bill to be debated at around 2.30pm.

 
UCU encourages members and reps to join the Lobby and also to be in attendance in the public gallery for the debate.  Gallery tickets available via

 

UCU Continuing Professional Development Courses

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Speaking Up: Voice Care Training
Edinburgh 19 November

This one-day workshop looks at ways to help keep your voice healthy and use it to your best advantage in a teaching environment. Booking and further information.

Research Grant Application Writing
Glasgow 18 November

Professor Andrew Derrington, author of The Research Funding Toolkit, presents a one day workshop aimed at helping academics write better research grant applications:

  • understanding how research funding decisions dictate the content and structure of a grant application
  • practical exercises on how to design fundable research projects
  • develop writing skills to present your project effectively to any research funder.

Only a few places remain, book soon to avoid disappointment!

Courses are free to UCU members.

Edinburgh Public Meeting – Trade Union Bill

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Edinburgh TUC is organising a public meeting on the Trade Union Bill which is currently going through the UK Parliament. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the content of the Bill and to set up a campaign committee to publicise the threat to human rights represented by the Bill within the wider community, and to lobby local politicians.

The meeting will be held on Monday 9th November at 7.00 pm within the Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. The meeting with be chaired by Mary Alexander, Deputy Regional Secretary, UNITE ( and also STUC General Council), Neil Findlay MSP and Mark Lyon UNITE and ex convenor of INEOS.

UCU Scotland comment on world university rankings

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Commenting on the news that five Scottish universities were included in the top 200 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, UCU Scotland Official, Mary Senior, said: ‘This is great news for higher education in Scotland, and a welcome reward for the teaching and research staff who have worked hard to achieve these results.

‘UCU Scotland believe the proposals in the Higher Education Governance Bill to reform the way our universities are run and ensure they are more democratic, accountable and transparent can only strengthen the sector and ensure that Scotland’s universities deliver for students, our economy and wider society.’

The ranking can be found on the Times Higher Education website.

Murdo Mathison
scotland@ucu.org.uk

Short-term contracts and their impact on research

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Are you or have you ever been a researcher in higher education? UCU has launched a new survey to gather evidence on the impact of short-term funding on the production of research. If you are or have ever been a researcher, please help us by filling in this survey. The survey is open to all involved in research, so when you’ve completed it, make sure to pass it on to other researchers, along with this link to join UCU, the union fighting for better research careers.

UCU response to proposed trade union legislation

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UCU said the government’s plans would do nothing to improve workers’ rights and exposed the government’s plans as an attack on working people.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: ‘The Conservatives have made a considerable effort to portray themselves as the party on the side of working people. However, reducing the few rights that workers still retain inside an already tight legal framework on industrial action will do nothing to help working people or their employers.

Strikes arise because of a breakdown between staff and their employer. If these proposals are enacted they will only increase mistrust between the two and worsen industrial relations. Strikes are always a last resort and never taken lightly by people who forfeit their pay.

If the government was serious about increasing democracy in union ballots it would allow things such as electronic and workplace voting. Instead it is seeking to impose minimum turnout levels and victory margins that were not applied in the general election or the Scottish referendum.

Demanding unions secure the kind of results that MPs couldn’t, and police commissioners daren’t even dream of, expose these regressive plans as a blatant attack on workers’ rights.’