Category Archives: Anti-casualisation

Emergency Members’ meeting to discuss pay negotiations July 2024

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Pay negotiators from UCU and the other unions in the higher education sector have been meeting with Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) over the past few weeks to try and reach agreement on the 2024-25 claim on pay and conditions.

The heads of the claim can be viewed at HE Negotiations 2024-25 and negotiators need to know what members think about the latest proposals ahead of a branch delegate meeting (BDM) at extreme short notice on Tuesday 2 July.

Confirmation of UCEA’s pay ‘offer’ and the questions to be considered by branches have been circulated to members by email.

A link to the branch Zoom meeting on Tuesday 2 July at 12.45 at which they will be discussed has been also been circulated.

Please review the negotiators’ report and the questions and join the meeting to vote on the questions so that our branch delegates can bring your views to the BDM later in the day. Proxy voting is not allowed but if you would like your views to be considered please contact the branch by email with a short note which can be read out at the meeting, or contact a committee member or your school or service rep and let them know your views.

 

Have you voted Yes to save higher education?

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On 14 August the UCU’s higher education committee (HEC) voted to launch a ballot for further industrial action in the ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

The ballot closes at 5pm on Friday 3 November. If you have not received your ballot paper please request a replacement using the form at https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/ucuRISING-ballotupdate before midnight on Sunday 29 October.

Why should I vote?

Taking part in industrial action works. We got our employers back to the negotiating table in the pension dispute and a statutory consultation on improved terms has been launched which should see the scheme on a more stable footing with benefits restored back to pre-2022 levels and members compensated for benefits lost in the meantime.

This only happened because members took action to prevent the shameful attempt to steal their pension benefits through a flawed valuation conducted at the height of the pandemic.

We need to keep fighting now to secure fair pay and tackle working conditions. Our university vice chancellors and senior management have been taking huge salaries and inflation busting pay rises while our members have seen pay cut by 25% in real terms since 2009 as they struggle to deal with inequality, job security, and the stress of ever increasing workloads.

It is more important than ever that you use your vote so that we meet the threshold which legislation requires, no matter which way you vote. If you haven’t voted, please vote now.

Strike action confirmed for week of 25-29 September

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A big thank-you to all of the local members who were able to attend the online EGM yesterday and contribute to the discussions and vote at such short notice. The meeting was quorate and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of continuing the strike action, consistent with the branch position at the end of August when members voted in favour of using the remaining mandate for strike action.

It is the beginning of a new session and no-one wants to be on strike but we need to hit our employers hard in order to force them back into negotiations over pay and working conditions. The only way to do this is with a complete withdrawal of labour. We will be standing with UCU members from branches up and down the UK as well as colleagues from Unite and Unison who remain committed to collective action as a means to secure fair pay and working conditions across the sector.

Picket line

The picket will form 8.00am each morning at the main gate and there with a group photo opportunity at 10.00am.

Strike Pay

Members will be able to apply to the national fighting fund for days 3,4 and 5 of the strike. We will take a vote to the branch members to enable the local hardship fund to be used to support members for days 1 and 2.

 

 

MAB withdrawn and new strike days announced

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Following a consultative e-ballot with the membership UCU national have announced that Marking and Assessment Boycott has been withdrawn as of 6 September 2023.

With the MAB called off members can resume marking duties and the setting of assessments but only as and when it fits in around other demands at work. If your manager or anyone else at work tries to pressure you into doing work immediately or in an unrealistic time frame given other jobs, please contact your local rep.

School reps will be meeting with mangers to discuss which marking is and is not required, the order in which it will be done and how it is fit around other work in what is already a very bus time of year. We are still working ASOS and no-one should be working beyond their contracted hours.

This will be the first time that our employers have not returned wages in return for marking.

If you have queries about the number of days deducted please get in touch with your local rep. That is has been so difficult to implement highlights that our employer should not have applied such a draconian and punitive policy, deducting far in excess of the hours required. It also demonstrates the ongoing inability of the ERP and Finance to deliver the most basic of functionality.

For those who have been deducted we have a local hardship fund to top up payments from the national fighting fund. If you need to claim, please do.

There is also scope for legal action to recover wages on the basis that they have been deducted unfairly. UCU have circulated further information on the legal action that can be taken to challenge unfair MAB deductions and claims have already started at other branches. Members affected are asked to use this proforma UCU – ASOS/MAB – Questionnaire (member login required).

Strike days

Our employers have been notified of 5 full days of strike action to take place between 25 and 29 September 2023.

We deserve a fair wage, secure employment, and an end to pay gaps. Our members have shown great resilience, perseverance, and courage throughout this dispute. It is bitterly disappointing that UCEA has decided to sit this out regardless of the consequences for staff, students, and academic standards. We should not let the employers get away with this.

A ballot to secure a fresh mandate to continue the dispute and take the fight to the employer will follow.

 

Summer of Sharing

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Financial support for HWU members taking part in the MAB will be provided through a mix of claims from the national fighting fund and local salary sharing.Please pledge your support for salary sharing at https://forms.gle/wK5Hu6SpsJfCCHbi8

You will also find an option to leave a message of support for our MABbers.

Messages of support

Thank you. You are fighting to make a difference for everyone at HWU and in HE.
– SJ

MAB not relevant to my role but we are all in this together and totally up for wage sharing if that’s what it takes.
– John S

 

National Fighting Fund

The national Fighting Fund will cover members who have been deducted 50% pay for partial performance as follows:

  • £30 for each day for those earning £30,000 or more per annum;
  • up to £45 for each day for those earning less than £30,000 per annum

Payments are currently capped at 9 days from 1 May 2023. More information about eligibility and how to apply can be found in the latest HE Disputes Guidance guidance issued by the the UCU.

Salary Sharing

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the UCU has agreed that salary sharing within and between branches will be the main local method of supporting members facing deductions.

We aim to support members at the same rate for any additional days before or after 1 May 2023 and provide top-up payments in cases of exceptional need for anyone who has been deducted, or not paid if a casualised worker.

Donations

We have had a fantastic response to our A Day’s Pay in May appeal for donations to our hardship fund including donations from HW Unite and Napier. If you have yet to donate, and you can afford to, please do.

Pledges

We now need to plan for the long haul. Until we can persuade the senior leadership team at HWU to suspend punitive deductions we will be asking staff who are not engaged in the MAB to pledge a portion of their salary to support those who are.

The suggested pledge is for 3 day’s pay in June (circa.10% salary) and then the same each month until deductions are suspended. Pledges will only be called in if they required to service requests made on the hardship fund. Suggested net daily donations per grade are listed below. Please do not pledge more than you can afford to give.

G6 £56
G7 £72
G8 £85
G9 £96
G10 £105

This guidance will be updated if threatened deduction amounts are changed.

A Day’s Pay in May

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Tomorrow is pay day and we are asking members and colleagues who are not taking part in the boycott to donate the equivalent of a net day of pay to support those who are facing deductions for taking part in the Marking and Assessment Boycott.

The first deductions will be taken out of May’s pay and for a number of members these will be substantial due to the unnecessarily harsh stance taken by Heriot-Watt University.

Participating members will be deducted at the punitive rate of 50%, which is far in excess of the time allocated for marking. The deductions will be applied from one week before the marking was due and will run open-ended for 7 days per week (except for when leave has been booked) until the marking is done or the dispute is settled.

This action is being taken to improve pay and conditions for everyone, so lets give generously to support our colleagues. We cannot let our own members be bullied into undoing their own actions by these excessive and unfair deductions.

Details of how to donate can be found on the branch website at https://heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/donate/ and the more people who donate the lighter the load on each of us.

Please circulate this among non-members and remind them of the value of collective action and sacrifice which has already seen significant movement in the restoration of our USS benefits.

You can also contact to your MP/MSP and urge them to write to the Principal and demand that he withdraw his threats and work with the unions to reach a settlement.

Guidance for donations

  1. No member should put themselves into debt or hardship in order to donate.
  2. Members who are boycotting, student members, those on casualised contracts and/or employed part-time at G6 or full-time G5 (and below) are not expected to donate.
  3. Members on fractional (part-time) contracts should pro rata any donations in line with their contract. So, “a day’s pay” on a 0.5 contract would be half a day’s pay.
  4. Those wishing to support the MAB financially are encouraged to:
    • Donate a day’s net pay on 31st May, equivalent to what they would lose if they had been on strike for a day, to the Branch hardship fund.
    • Pledge at least 3 further day’s pay in June (circa.10% pay) to be donated if required, and then the same each month for the full duration of the boycott. We will set up a form for pledges in June.
  5. Amounts pledged will only be called in if deductions are made and calls are made on the hardship fund, such that they are required. The suggested net daily donation per grade is as follows:
    G6 £56
    G7 £72
    G8 £85
    G9 £96
    G10 £105
  6. This guidance will be updated if threatened deduction amounts are changed.

Draft text for writing to MSPs on MAB deductions

 Dear

You will be aware members of the University and College Union (UCU) are currently campaigning for long overdue improvements to pay and working conditions. Having taken strike action in recent months staff are back at work full time but have begun a marking and assessment boycott which will impact on a range of activities including exam invigilation and the processing of marks.

You may not be aware that vice-chancellors and principals across the UK are, on the recommendation of the employer body Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), now threatening to deduct up to 100% of staff wages even though  staff are still  at work and carrying out most of their duties, including teaching, lecturing, researching and supporting students.

Making such punitive salary deductions is not only deeply vindictive but also counter-productive. These threats will not bring the dispute closer to a resolution and risk worsening any disruption. Administering these excessively punitive attacks on local staff taking part in a national dispute is a poor use of a university’s time and resources. 

Staff are the backbone of our universities and they dedicate their working lives to supporting students and ensuring they can get the best out of their time studying. They deserve to be treated with respect at work. They do not deserve to be on the receiving end of such disproportionately massive deductions during a cost-of-living crisis.

I am urging you to write to the Principal of Heriot-Watt University, Richard Williams at R.A.Williams@hw.ac.uk and demand that they withdraw the threats against their own staff and instead use their influence with UCEA to resolve the disputes as quickly as possible.

I would also like to draw your attention to the attack on students’ education by the employers who have decided to bypass academic quality processes which could affect students’ future employment. Staff at Heriot-Watt have organised an open letter to raise concerns about the university’s response to the Marking and Assessment Boycott. A link to the open letter and further information can be found at  https://forms.gle/ZBnEtZYziko7jooV9

Yours sincerely

 

Marking and Assessment Boycott update: What to record and how to support

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Update: UCU have confirmed that the national fighting fund will be open to members who are being hit with deductions of 50% or more for backing the boycott. More details to follow.

It is becoming clear from the actions being taken by some employers, including our own, to deter members from taking part in the MAB, and from the adoption of emergency measures which will potentially undermine quality of degrees being awarded, that they are worried about the effect that it is having.

This makes the MAB a very effective lever for getting UCEA back to the negotiating table. Analysis of university finances shows that the employers can afford to make an improved pay offer despite their claims to the contrary.

We need to keep the pressure up so that this worry leads to action aimed at settling the dispute.

Challenging unfair deductions

Heriot-Watt are among the worst of university employers, deducting 100% from any employees taking part in the MAB while simultaneously demonstrating their largesse with a 50% ex-gratia payment for work deemed to be undertaken on a volutary basis. Instead of being limited to the assessement and marking window, like many other institutions, this will run until the mandate for industrial action expires or the dispute ends.

It is, we are told, a deliberately disproportionate and punitive response designed to discourage staff from participating in the MAB. The very same staff who excel in research, pioneer in education, and contribute to communities by driving economic impact and contributing to growth.

In relation to this have received the following advice from the regional office about the sort of information which members should gather and record in relation to unfair and excessive deductions.

Members should keep evidence of the actual work they are doing during the periods of the pay deductions, so a diary, outlook calendars, notes of work they are doing (and any evidence – eg the reports they may be producing, tutoring notes etc) along with payslips outlining deductions. We’ll need members who have a bank of evidence of the work they’ve done, the pay slip with deductions, to assess and have the opportunity for this to be taken in a legal challenge.

Members should also keep a record of any PDR processes they have participated in.

It is important to note that any legal challenges could only be raised after we have exhausted the local grievance process, for which the same evidence would also be required to prove that members have been working and that their work outwith marking duties takes up normal hours.

Financial support

We would like to reassure members that the branch will be able to offer financial support to members who are impacted by deductions. While we hope to minimise deductions and if possible to get deductions back eventually, we are not relying on it. The branch hardship fund is there to support you. We will circulating more information towards the end of the month when we have been told that the first deductions will be made from members who declared participation in the MAB before the 12th May.

How can I help?

Not everyone can pariticipate in the MAB but there are other ways you can support the action and help members who are taking part:

  1. Continue working to contact as part of the ongoing Action Short of Strike (ASOS) and do not take on voluntary tasks.
  2. If you are asked to do marking that is not yours, please refuse. This does not constitute a boycott but it is very important that you do not ‘help out’ boycotting staff by doing their marking for them. Please let the branch know if you have been asked to do someone else’s marking.
  3. Donate a Day’s Pay in May. The UCU National Executive Committee (NEC) has agreed that salary sharing within and between branches should be the main method of supporting members facing deductions. Members who are not losing wages for taking part in the MAB, especially those who were not significantly financially impacted by the recent wave of strikes, are asked to donate a day’s net pay to the branch Hardship Fund on the 31st May (next pay day) if they can afford to. For the initial fundraiser we are asking for donations so we can offer everyone who is taking part something towards their losses. From June onwards we will be looking for pledges of on-going support which can be called on if the unfair deductions continue. More information will follow.
  4. Please sign this open letter to the Heriot-Watt Senior Leadership Team about Assessment and Award Boards.

Branch members’ meeting

The next online meeting is on Wednesday 24 May from 12.00 to 1.00.

Zoom links have been sent by email. Please attend if you can. If you need a reminder please contact your rep or one of the officers on the branch committee.

If you have any questions or concerns about the MAB please contact your local school rep or email hwgtvo2022@gmail.com in confidence.

 

Members’ Meeting 10 May

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There will be an online meeting on Wednesday 10 May from 12.00 to 1.00 to vote on wage sharing motions and discuss the ongoing MAB.

Discussion with HWU management are yet to produce a shift in their position on deductions but we remain hopeful. For members who have any questions or concerns you can contact your local school rep or email hwgtvo2022@gmail.com in confidence.

Zoom links have been sent by email. Please attend if you can. If you need a reminder please contact your rep or one of the officers on the branch committee.

 

Members’ Meeting 27 April

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There will be an online meeting on Thursday 27 April from 3.30 to 4.30 to discuss the practicalities of staging a successful the marking and assessment boycott and how we should react to the disproportionate salary deductions announced by Heriot-Watt. We will be voting on motions so it is important that as many members attend as possible.

Zoom links have been sent by email. For a reminder please contact your rep or one of the officers on the branch committee.

If you need BSL interpreting please contact marion.fletcher@hw.ac.uk to arrange. If you need to speak to us about anything else, or if you need advice or reassurance about anything related to the MAB please contact us in confidence at HWGTVO2022@gmail.com.

Guide to the Marking and Assessment Boycott

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UCU members at 145 institutions are taking part in the national Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) which began on Thursday 20 April. The boycott covers the marking of all assessed work and associated administrative activities, and also assessment-related work such as exam invigilation and the processing of marks.

Comprehensive information about what is involved can be found at UCU – Marking and assessment boycott FAQs along with a downloadable MAB Guide and a video about preparing for the marking and assessment boycott.

Deductions

Heriot-Watt have notified that they will deduct 100% from anyone taking part in the MAB but then pay back 50% of wages as a goodwill gesture in the anticipation that staff will continue to work. While staff are in boycott all work will be considered voluntary and staff will not be subject to discipline if they choose to do less than their normal hours.

The reason for this lies in interpretation of the law but it is clearly excessive relative to the amount of work involved. You can log into https://www.ucu.org.uk/ASOS-deductions to discover more about the legal position and download a template letter for challenging the basis of these punitive deductions.

The advice from UCU national is that staff should continue to work normal hours except for any marking duties. This is based on the premise that staff may eventually be able to claim back for deductions that are unfair and excessive.

In the meantime we will be putting pressure on the employer to reconsider these unfair attacks on staff, and escalating to strike action if necessary.

You should not go onto this until it is clear you are in boycott i.e. you have declared your participation.

Declaring participation

If you are asked whether you are taking part you must answer truthfully but you only have to say whether you are in boycott at that moment or have been in the past. HR have issued a form for this purpose and it is up to members to decide when is the most appropriate time to declare. Heriot-Watt have said that they may backdate any deductions to the day marking was ‘allocated’. If this happens to you and you think the date chosen is arbitrary or unfair please contact the branch for advice. It is important to remember that you do not have to notify of your intention in advance, and you have the right to change your mind at any moment.

Members are not obliged to specify which types or marking they are boycotting, just that they are taking part in the MAB. Members are not obliged to give information about action which they have not taken so the end date can be left blank in most cases 1 and the form can be returned without a signature as we have been advised by UCU that this is not required in law. If you take annual leave while in boycott you are entitled to full pay on those days. You will be similarly entitled to sick pay, maternity pay, contractual rest days and TOIL. You should include details of all leave in your declaration.

1 The exception to is is where you are only boycotting a one day event such as an exam board, and not otherwise involved in marking and assessment. In this case you should indicate that you were boycott for only a single day by letting them know on that day or afterwards that you were in boycott for that single day with a start date and an end date.

Migrant Workers

If you are on a Tier 2 / Skilled Worker visa please contact a branch rep about declaring participation. Your right to participate in industrial action is protected but the guidance for declaring is a little different.

In boycott

If you are pressured to work or do any particular tasks after you have declared that you are in boycott you should ask for confirmation in writing that you are being asked to work and will be paid for this work as normal. If this happens please let the branch know.

Not in boycott

If you are not in boycott and you are asked to do marking that is not yours, you should refuse. This will not count as joining the boycott. This is normal ASOS and you cannot be deducted, so it does not need to be declared. If you feel in any way pressured please let the branch know.

Ending the boycott

Depending on your own individual circumstances the boycott will end when:

  • The current mandate ends or the dispute is stood down. Employers can end this tabling a new offer on pay on working conditions. That is all it will take.
  • The single day event you were boycotting has passed
  • There is no marking allocated to you and no possibility of further marking or assessment (exam setting) being assigned to you at this point e.g. you marking has been done and the boards have passed and there is nothing left to mark i.e. there is nothing that you could refuse to do and you have therefore returned to your normal duties. If in doubt please contact the branch.
  • You are on annual leave, parental, maternity, rest day, agreed TOIL, or off sick.

Financial support

If you are eligible to apply to the national fighting fund for strike days taken between November and March, please apply now with your April payslip if all deductions have been taken so that you have some money to offset MAB deductions.

Support will also be available from the local hardship fund and we will post more information about this in due course.

How can I help?

You can help by donating to the branch hardship fund or by pledging a donation or series of donations to help support colleagues who are in the MAB and facing weeks of punitive deductions. Further information on how to pledge financial support will follow.

If you are asked to do marking that is not yours, please refuse. This does not constitute a boycott but it is very important that you do not ‘help out’ boycotting staff by doing their marking for them. Please let the branch know if you have been asked to do someone else’s marking.

If you are not already a member why not join the UCU today. We all help each other and there are opportunities range from simply being a sympathetic ear, through to campaigning and fundraising, and representing members as a caseworker or health and safety rep. It is a great opportunity to meet lots of new people and and do something really fulfilling. Full training is provided.