Scorchio!!!

Not quite taps-aff in Edinburgh on day 4 of this week (day 14 of this year, and day 17 of the current round of strikes of pensions, pay and working conditions) but some deck chairs and an ice cream van would not have been out of place this morning.

Thank-you to everyone who has observed the strike action this week and especially those who have joined the in person and virtual pickets. Tomorrow (25^th March) is our last day of our current wave before other branches start action next week. Lets make the picket the largest and most vibrant yet.

We picket from around 08:30 to 10:30 outside the main entrance to the Edinburgh campus, and tomorrow we will have a Book Swap to raise funds for the branch hardship fund. Please bring any books you would like to swap (probably not academic books!) and some cash to buy some books on the day (we are suggesting a £1 per book donation – we recognise times are very tough so if you would like a book please do come along and you can donate another time). The Book Swap will last from around 09:00 to 10:00 with our daily photo taken at 10:00 If, like Elvis, you don’t carry cash you can donate online.

To make the social media photos as vibrant as possible please consider wearing some bright colours and bring a homemade placard. I will be wearing my lovely UCU coloured tights and making a placard to show my solidarity with the P&O workers. Please see https://twitter.com/The_TUC/status/1506958305150840837 if you are looking for some inspiration. Please also bring any food you would like. The bar has been set high by yesterday’s BBQ s’mores.

If you haven’t been to a picket before, please come and meet some new friends. Tomorrow will be a great day to start.

If you have any colleagues who are not in the UCU they will also be most welcome to visit the picket, donate to the hardship fund, and look for some new new books! If eligible, they can also join UCU online at https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

See you there!!

Ballot papers

Please also remember to post your ballot papers. The educational trade unions have put their pay claim forward and this will make a tangible material difference to your life.

It is essential we show the employers that we are committed to not only our own working conditions, but to preserving universities for the next generation of workers. If you have not received or lost your ballot papers you must request a new one ASAP.

Thank you for your patience as we follow up with members via email and text to find out if you’ve been able to vote yet or not. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the branch.

Left to right: Marion, Val, Caroline, and Ruth. John and George at the back. Where did Zippy go?

We were delighted to welcome Val Walker to the picket today. Val is the Scottish Labour candidate for Fountainbridge and Craiglockhart ward in the Edinburgh City Council Elections on May 5th, 2022. If elected, Val will be working on behalf of communities that span Fountainbridge where she has lived for 20 years, Shandon, Craiglockhart, and Chesser.

Plenty of chat about community issues and local democracy but it didn’t take long before we got onto the state of the roads. Sorry Val!

Along with the restoration of essential front-line services hit by cuts, Val is pledging to work on getting the basics right: The condition of the roads and pavements, ensuring safety for pedestrians and cyclists while also taking the views of local residents who need access and parking into account, and the provision and maintenance of safe public spaces for everyone. The sort of issues which anyone who regularly cycles or walks into campus via the South West corridor or Union Canal, particularly through the dark winter months, will be familiar with. On the environment, Val told us of her commitment to protect and enhance our green spaces, and the drive to ensure that the Council’s ambitious net zero carbon reduction targets are met by 2030. Gets my vote.

S’mores get my vote too. A breakfast of melted marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched between two lotus biscuits. Nice one Krissy. I’d never heard of them before today. I’m going to have to try a triple decker now.

Local Council Elections

The election is due to take place on Thursday 5 may 2022.

Did you know?

• Students can register at both of their term-time and home addresses but can only vote once in a particular election.
• All foreign citizens, resident in Scotland, who have permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who do not need such permission, can vote at Scottish Parliament elections and Local Council elections.
• 16 and 17 year olds, resident in Scotland, can vote at Scottish Parliament elections and Local Council elections.

To vote in the elections you need to be registered to vote.

You can register online at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

The deadline for applications to register to vote in the Local Council elections is midnight on Monday 18 April 2022. If you have already received your poll card you do not need to register again.

Postal vote applications must be submitted to the Electoral Registration Officer no later than 5pm on Tuesday 19 April 2022. To find out more and register to vote by post visit https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/apply-vote-post

Further information

For further information on registering to vote, or for advice on postal or proxy voting please contact our office using the details below.

Gary Elliott
Electoral Registration Officer
17A South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh
EH12 9FL

Email: enquiries@lothian-vjb.gov.uk
Phone: 0131 344 2500
Website: https://www.lothian-vjb.gov.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ERO_lothianvjb

Janet Farrar (UCU) and Richard Leonard MSP

This morning we welcomed Richard Leonard MSP and Janet Farrar from the UCU. On the menu: sausages, eggs, tatty scones, and some great craic with our new friends.

Richard, a long-time trade unionist and former leader of the Scottish Labour Party was once described by comic book author Mark Millar as “the most exciting thing to happen up here in decades”. A man ahead of his time Richard has long advocated nationalising the scottish rail network and providing free public transport. Ideas subsquently adopted by the Scottish Government.

Honoured to stand in solidarity with Heriot-Watt UCU branch and Janet Farrar this morning. All UCU members have my 100% backing in ther fight to stop this pensions robbery. – Richard Leonard, MSP

Janet is President Elect of the UCU, taking over from Vicky Blake after Congress in June. She lectures in a Trade Union Education unit at Manchester College and has extensive experience across a full range of union roles at local, regional, and national level. Janet has first hand experience of life on precarious contracts and juggling excessive workloads, and she is passionately committed to tackling inequalities and supporting members who are exeperiencing stress as a result of bullying and harassment.

Thanks so much for a lovely welcome at a cracking branch – Janet Farrar, UCU President Elect

A big thank-you to @LabourRichard and @janetfarrarUCU. It was great to see you both. A visit to the pickets always boosts morale and we are particularly grateful to Richard for raising our concerns and dispute in the Scottish Parliament.

Switching now from national to local, we hope to be meeting Val Walker tomorrow (Wednesday). Val is the Scottish Labour Candidate for the Fountainbridge Craighlockhart ward in the Edinburgh City Council Elections. Many of our staff and students here at HWU live in this ward, so this is a great opportunity to meet Val and find out a little bit more about her pledges on everything from roads and transport to greenspace and net-zero targets.

No word yet on what culinary delights will be served up but we hope to see you all there.

P.S. Don’t forget to complete your ballot and return in the pre-paid envelope. If you haven’t received yours yet, watch for an email from UCU with a link for ordering replacements from Wednesday.

Day 11 and a big turnout for the start of the third wave of strike action

We were joined today by Des Loughney of the Edinburgh Trade Union Council (ETUC) and students from HWU Student Union for the start of the third wave of strike action in the USS pension and 4-Fights disputes.

The ETUC has been in existence since 1853 when as the Edinburgh & District Trades Council it campaigned for workers in Edinburgh to get a half day off on Saturdays.

Continuing in this proud tradition a motion to support the UCU disputes was recently passed by the Student Union. HWU students will be joining staff on picket lines to show that they stand in solidarity with the UCU, and signing the NUS open letter to UUK and UCEA executives.

Staff deserve to be paid fairly for their work. They deserve contracts that guarantee them a stable job, and workloads that are manageable. Women, disabled staff and staff of colour deserve pay parity with their counterparts.

Why you should be on strike

Our employer’s have forced through pension cuts which will see reductions of up to 35% in the retirement income guaranteed to a typical member. We want our employers to stop these unecessary cuts and re-enter negotiations. We also want our employers to stop using zero-hours casual contracts and work with us to tackle unmanageable workloads and end race, gender, and disability pay gaps.

Our employers can afford to do all of this but they are choosing instead to squeeze staff and make students suffer.

Knowledge is Power

Last day of current wave of strike action. A big thank-you to everyone who has turned out on the picket, everyone who has visited, everyone who has honked, everyone who has said hello, and everyone who has downed tools in support. Your solidarity really matters to the branch and rest assured that our employer has noticed.

The fight is far from over and this is what it is going to take to preserve our pensions and force our employers to tackle pay erosion, casualisation, workload, and the gender, ethnic and disability pay gaps.

We are waiting to be informed of details of further action on both USS and 4 fights. As members will be aware, UUK pushed through extremely detrimental changes to our pensions and we continue to be in dispute on this issue. Legal action against USS has also commenced. UCEA, have so far been refusing to negotiate, so we need to maintain the pressure on them until they do.

Action Short of Strike (ASOS)

When we return to work we are once again on ASOS. Take your lunch hour, down tools at 5 (or the end of your contracted hours) and have your tea. Claim back your time. You should also not undertake voluntary duties e.g. open days, attending extra meetings and you should not reschedule classes, meetings etc. lost during strike action – you will already have lost your wages for this. Do not work for free.

There are now several other branches whose employers are trying to compel them to work for free. Some are being told they may lose as much as 1 months pay for refusing to reschedule 3 hours of lost teaching. This is an outrage and an attack on our right to withdraw our labour. For that reason we passed a motion in solidarity with QMUL (one of the most affected branches) at our recent branch meeting this included committing to try to raise funds to support them. Therefore, if you can, please consider donating to the whip round fund and any monies will be passed on to branches facing punitive and discriminatory deductions. You can donate into the branch account using the reference ‘solidarity fund’. Note: this is separate to donating to our local hardship fund.

Strike Deductions

On the topic of not being paid, we have put together some information about declaring action, strike deductions and hardship funds etc. If you have any further questions about strike deductions, ASOS, hardship funds, then please get in touch with ucu@hw.ac.uk.

The sun was out for St David’s Day and we were delighted to welcome our British Sign Language using visitors and interpreter, Kitty. It makes all the difference to know that we are not in this alone. A big thank-you. Solidarity!

Dr Joanne Porter and the impressive Monty picket in Stromness, Orkney.

The Starfish of Solidarity extends its five arms of respect, inspire, belonging, celebrate and collaborate to all staff and students who are supporting the UCU strike over USS Pensions and the Four Fights.

A big turnout on the picket this morning for Joanna Cherry QC MP and Joss’s famous fry-up.

We were delighted to welcome another visitor to the picket this morning. Joanna Cherry QC, Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West.

A pleasure to visit @UCU_HWUBranch at their picket line outside @HeriotWattUni today to hear about their legitimate concerns about pensions, pay, conditions & workload Joanna Cherry QC, Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West

Don’t forget that there will be a BSL interpreter on the picket tomorrow from 09.00-10.00am and that there will be an online members’ meeting via Zoom at 12.00.