Category Archives: Events

Annual General Meeting 2025

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This year’s AGM will be held online via Zoom between 13:00 and 15:00 on Wednesday 18 June. Invitations with a link to the meeting have been sent to all members via email, and BSL interpreting can be provided on request.

Given that some members may not have access to a suitable space to attend an online meeting while on campus we have arranged a room in ECG34 with a large screen and audio. Members should bring a device on which they can connect to the Zoom meeting in order to vote in the online polls.

Agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Attendance and apologies
  3. Minutes of AGM 2024
  4. Report from the committee
  5. Treasurer’s report
  6. Appointment of auditor
  7. Election of Officers and Representatives of the Committee
  8. Election of Congress/Conference Delegates
  9. Motions
  10. AOB

Survey On Casual Worker Timesheets

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On the back of reports about difficulties encountered by workers who need to complete timesheets, and by supervisors who need to approve, we are pleased to announce the launch of two surveys related to the use of timesheets for casual workers involved in teaching at Heriot-Watt.

We are not limiting the responses to UCU members so please feel free to share the links as widely as you can. We hope that widening the eligibility beyond existing members will help demonstrate the work we do, and hopefully encourage new members to join.

We are interested to hear from any staff or students (including undergraduate helpers) who undertake this type of work and from their supervisors so please take a few minutes to complete the appropriate survey via the link sent out by email. 

Both survey forms have more details about the work we are asking about, and they will remain open until Monday 30 June.

If you have not received a link to the surveys please contact either of Dan Green or Lena Biermann.

We hope to use the results of both surveys to create some concrete recommendations for the university to improve the experience for these workers and the staff responsible for them. The more responses we have the more robust these recommendations can be.

A reminder too that we are looking for a new PGR/Casualised Members Rep (alongside a few other roles up for election). Nominations can be accepted from the floor at the upcoming AGM on Wednesday 18 June from 13:00-15:00. If you have not received an email invite to the meeting with a Zoom link please contact the branch office. You can also join the meeting in person in room ECG34.

If you would be interested in finding out more about the role or if you know anyone who may be interested, please get in touch.

We will update members in due course about the results of these surveys and the outcomes that follow.

Stop The Cuts Demonstration in Newcastle

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Newcastle University management is attempting to achieve millions of pounds worth in savings from job cuts which is devastating for staff, students and the local community. Newcastle University UCU branch has scheduled a further 30 days of strikes, beginning on Friday 6 June, which follows on from strike action taken in March.

On Wednesday 11 June there will be a Stop The Cuts demonstration outside the Newcastle City Council Civic Centre from 12:30 followed by a march to Grey’s Monument.

This is a more accessible demo than the previous one in London and members are encouraged to attend. Travel costs will be reimbursed on completion of an expense claim form. Alternatively, it may be possible to get a lift with Dundee UCU who are taking a mini bus which will pass the HW campus, or via car share.

If you are intending to go, or would like to go if you can get transport, please could you let Joss know as soon as possible so that it can be arranged in coordination with other branches/ people who are going.

Edinburgh and Lothians May Day Rally 2025

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This year’s Edinburgh and Lothians May Day Rally will be held on Saturday 3 May. We will assemble outside the City Chambers in Parliament Square at 11.30 before marching to the Pleasance at 12.00, led by the City of Edinburgh and the Stockbridge pipe bands.

The rally will be held in the main hall of the Pleasance and there be speakers and music from 13.00.

  • Kadi Johnson and Aamer Anwar
  • Clara Paillard (climate activist)
  • Linda Somerville (Scottish Trades Union Congress)
  • Talat Ahmed (Stand Up To Racism)
  • A speaker from the Edinburgh Gaza Genocide Coordinating Committee
  • Susan Morrison
  • Penny Stone
  • Calum Baird
  • Elsie MacDonald

 

 

The Great Edinburgh May Day Cabaret

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Get ready for a night of music, laughter, poetry and solidarity at The Great Edinburgh May Day Cabaret!

Back for the third year and this time we will be in The Waverly Bar, 3-5 Saint Mary’s Street, Edinburgh. EH1 1TA. Thursday 1 May 2025. Doors open 19.30.

There will poetry from Kevin P Gilday, comedy from Vladimir McTavish and music from Calum Baird, Elsie McDonald and Joe Solo.

Hosted by Jim Monaghan and supported by Fair Pley, The STUC, Allan McDougall Solicitors and The Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders May Day Committee.

Tickets for this event are available via Eventbrite.

International Workers’ Memorial Day 2025

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Every year we come together to remember everyone who has been killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work and paying tribute to their families. This year the Edinburgh event will be held at 12.30 on Saturday 26th April at the Memorial Tree in West Princes Street Gardens.

Affiliates and community organisations are invited to attend the 2025 event and lay wreaths and floral tributes. There will be speakers and songs from the Protest in Harmony choir.

Health and Safety is a fundamental right at work. Help keep our workplaces safe and healthy. If you have any concerns about working conditions and practices please say and help keep workers safe. If you are interested in becoming a health and safety representative please contact the branch office. Health and safety reps have a range of legal rights which permit them to investigate and monitor health and safety in the workplaces. Full training is available and you will be entitled to time off with pay to undergo training and perform the functions of this role.

 

Women of Courage and Endurance

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Hear Scottish writers read the work of international women writers who are have been imprisoned or oppressed, and from their own work.

This event is jointly organised by the University of Edinburgh UCU branch and Scottish PEN. It will be chaired by author Louise Welsh and there will be readings by Samina Chaudry, Lizzie Eldridge, Shalini Pattabiraman, Gabrielle Tse, andsc Lynnda Wardle. Featured writers include Dareen Tatour, Mahvash Sabet, Meral Simsek, Hiba Abu Nada, and Nasrin Parvaz.

The event will be held between 5 and 7.30pm on Friday 7 March 2025 in Old Medical School, Doorway 1, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG.

Refreshments will be provided and free tickets can be booked via Eventbrite at https://tinyurl.com/3pyrcj83 .

Ordinary Members’ Meeting 19 Feb 2025

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The next Ordinary Member’s Meeting will be held online via Zoom between 1.00 and 2.00pm on 19 February 2025.

This is one of the regular open meetings we have in between our AGMs each year. Members can bring motions for discussion at the meeting and/or agenda items draw attention to any issues which the committee or other members may not be aware of. We are hoping that we might have some more information about the ‘cost savings’ being planned by the University.

Motions can be to define branch policy on an issue or suggestions for motions to go forward to the UCU national congress in May. Motions should be up to 150 words and the deadline is Tuesday 11 February to allow for circulation and amendments.

At the meeting we will also be electing our delegates to the national conference. The conference will be held in Liverpool between Saturday 24 and Monday 26 May 2025. Members can self-nominate to stand as a delegate. In the event of having more than 2 nominations we will ask for candidate statements and hold a vote.

If you have an agenda item, or a motion, or wish to put yourself forward as a delegate please contact Juergen Munz, the Branch Secretary.

The full agenda, meeting link, and motions will follow by email. We hope to see as many of you at the meeting as possible. If you would find BSL interpretation helpful please contact Marion Fletcher in advance to arrange this.

If you have questions please feel free to get in touch. If you require casework or personal representation further information can be found at https://heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/casework/

Guest speaker

We have invited Melissa D’Ascenezio, the Co-Branch President of Dundee University UCU, to speak about their fight to protect jobs and gain access to information to help ensure that employees don’t pay the price for management failure in what will be a sector defining struggle.

We must all stand in solidarity, and unions must be part of the conversation about Higher Education.

 

Online USS pensions session with Dooley Harte

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We are delighted to be hosting an online USS pensions session with Dooley Harte from UCU at 1.15 on Wednesday 4 December 2024.

The session will cover such topics as:

  • Why join USS?
  • Recent changes to your USS benefits including the one-off uplift
  • Early and late retirement factors and retirement age
  • Flexible retirement
  • Ethical investment and divestment

You will be able to ask questions in the meeting or you can submit questions to Sarah Joss in advance by email. Note: If you are doing this please put “Pensions Questions” in the subject line.

There are some 15 minute individual pensions surgery appointments available with Dooley from 3.30 onwards but please be advised that Dooley won’t be able to give personalised financial advice. For personal advice you should contact your own Financial Adviser or use the UCU service offered by Quilter Financial Advisers. To arrange an appointment please contact Sarah Joss.

Branch members should have received the Zoom link by email. If you can’t find it, or if you are a non-member who wishes to attend or is considering joining please contact your local rep, a committee member, or Sarah Joss. There is a list on the branch committee web page.

BSL can be arranged if required. Please contact Marion Fletcher if this would be helpful.

United against Scholasticide

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Join university workers and students across the world in responding to the call from Palestine for a week of action in solidarity with Gaza’s Universities from 23 to 30 November.

You can offer messages of support to our colleagues in Palestine by emailing gucworkers4pal@gmail.com or tagging @UCW4Pal and @Right2Edu on X.

National workplace and student day of action

As part of the nation workplace day of action on Thursday 28 November the HWUCU Palestine Solidarity Working Group will be running a stall in the Student Union building from 11:30 to 2:30. Please do come along and help out if you can – more volunteers are always welcome. We will be sharing information, fundraising for Scotaid, and encouraging students to join the newly founded Voice for Palestine society. If you are interested in joining the society please contact Marion Winters.

Settler colonialism and Palestine – where we are and how we got here

At 4.00pm on Wednesday 27 November there will be a an online talk by Dr Ghada Karmi from University of Reading. If you wish to attend and haven’t received a Zoom link please contact Marion Winters at HWUCU branch.

Ghada Karmi was born in Jerusalem and was forced to leave her home with her family as a result of Israel’s creation in 1948. The family moved to England in 1949, where she grew up and was educated. She practised as a doctor for many years working as a specialist in the health of migrants and refugees. She held a number of research appointments on Middle Eastern politics and culture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and in the Universities of Durham, Exeter and Leeds. From 1999 to 2001 she was an Associate Fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, where she led a major project on Israel-Palestinian reconciliation. In 2009, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.