Dear colleague

I wanted to thank each and every one of you that took part in the day of solidarity action with Lambeth College yesterday. I was delighted to relay the huge number and variety of activities taking place to a meeting of striking Lambeth College staff yesterday and the overwhelming support and solidarity shown by colleagues across the union gave a tremendous boost to the branch who are now in their FOURTH week of indefinite strike action against the imposition of inferior terms and conditions.  Please do have a look at the union’s superb Wall of Support that I think demonstrates how UCU members stand up for our colleagues when it counts most.

Thank you all.

Best wishes

Sally Hunt

UCU General Secretary

As UCU members at Lambeth College reach the end of their THIRD week on the picket lines in a bitter dispute over imposition of inferior contracts, the union has called a national day of action in solidarity with the branch’s indefinite strike action and events, protests and supportive actions will be taking place across the country. Please sign the petition at https://www.ucu.org.uk/defendlambethucu

Our colleagues at Lambeth College are now in their fourth week of indefinite strike action. You can find out more about their dispute here and you can read a recent Guardian article by Zoe Williams here.

UCU has called a day of action for today, Wednesday 25 June and I would like to ask you to show your support for Lambeth members. Get your message added to our Wall of Support  by posting a message or photo of yourself with our poster of support (.pdf), including the tag #IsupportLambethUCU, to:

Twitter  |    Facebook   |    Instagram  or email campaigns@ucu.org.uk

You can also change your profile image and make sure you’ve signed the petition pledging full support for Lambeth College UCU. 

As you will know, taking sustained strike action is the hardest thing any educator does. Please show your support for our Lambeth College members tomorrow.

Many thanks,

Sally Hunt

UCU General Secretary

Dundee University has this week been voted as offering the best student experience in Scotland. Despite this the University are still forcing ahead to cut up to 120 jobs, and have not ruled out compulsory redundancies Please sign the petition. Thank you.

Dear all

Acting in good faith, two UCU members, along with many others from UCU across the UK, used the template message sent out by our General Secretary, Sally Hunt. This was to communicate with their students the reasons for their absence on one-day strike and the overall context of the industrial action. For this they were taken directly to a disciplinary investigation.  This has resulted in informal disciplinary action which is critical of UCU and our members. UCU is very clear that we want to defend the right of our members working in education to communicate with their students about issues that are important to them. The right to join a union is a fundamental human right, as enshrined in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, a right which also extends to the right not to be penalised for taking lawful industrial action.

A general meeting of UCUG members passed the below motion in support of the two members at Glasgow. You can support them by signing the petition at:  https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/victimisation-of-ucu-members-at-university-of-glasgow

“UCU expresses solidarity with colleagues  who have been subjected to disciplinary procedures as a direct consequence of using the template message sent out to members by the General Secretary of UCU: Sally Hunt to explain to their students the reasons for their absence on one day strike. An informal investigation has found against these members, judging that they acted improperly. This meeting condemns the use of disciplinary procedures in this context. UCU members acting in good faith on the advice of the general secretary of their union in the context of industrial action should not be targeted as individuals. This meeting also petitions the Vice Chancellor of the University of Glasgow to rescind the reported conclusions of the disciplinary investigation. “

All best wishes

Claire Johnston
Branch Development Organiser
UCU Scotland

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU) PRESS RELEASE

Thursday 27 March 2014

The University and College Union (UCU) and its sister trade unions met with the Universities and Colleges’ Employers Association (UCEA) yesterday (26th March) in a formal meeting to discuss the pay claim for 2014-15.  The employers did not make an offer but did agree to bring forward the next meeting to Tuesday, 15 April 2014.

UCU Head of Bargaining, Michael MacNeil, said: “Since we last sat down with the employers to formally discuss pay there have been six strikes by university staff –three full day ones and three two hour stoppages – and we have announced plans for a marking boycott.  It is clear that students want a fair and speedy resolution to this dispute, and UCU is continuing to work hard to achieve this before our marking boycott begins on 28 April.

“Yesterday the employers did at least recognise that the falling value of staff pay is a real issue, but they did not make an offer at the meeting. We welcome the fact that UCEA have agreed to bring forward the next meeting to 15 April, as this gives them one more chance to make a fair offer before themarking boycott begins. ”

At its February meeting, UCU’s Higher Education Committee (HEC) agreed that in the context of the ongoing pay dispute arising from last year’s claim the 2014-15 claim should be as straightforward as possible, and in no way be understood as UCU withdrawing or abandoning its claim for 2013-14.