Transfer your union subs to Direct Debit

Local Organisation – help us be a more effective and organised union. We are trying to reduce our running costs and this means that we may soon be able to reduce our local subs. We have decided not to replace our admin officer, Brenda Mead and we hope to reduce the workload in the office by moving member’s subscriptions to Direct Debit rather than salary deduction. Your departmental rep should have contacted you about this, if not please contact our Organising Officer, Mary Ferrie on mrf@aber.ac.uk

One member's view of the strike on 30th November

UCU Members took strike action in Aberystwyth on 30^th November, picketing four entrances to Penglais Campus and Old College. We saw an enthusiastic turnout from members on the day—starting slowly in the cold, dark morning, but gathering more members as the morning grew lighter. We were especially encouraged by passing support from the public, which this time included a number of vehicles displaying posters from other unions, such as UNISON. We heard early that council offices, Welsh Assembly, the National Library, the police station and Bronglais Hospital all had quite a few of their respective union members picketing their entrances.

At the university entrances more leaflets were handed out than on previous campaigns with a lot of people not only stopping to take the leaflets, but also to offer comments and support for the action. We were also joined by the Guild of Students during the morning who offered strong support for UCU action, also encouraging students to join in the action on the day. By 11am large numbers of people from the different unions began walking to the top of Penglais Hill to gather for a march into and through Aberystwyth town centre.

The march slowly progressed down the hill fronted by a samba drumming band, gradually snowballing as it went. People from picket lines at the university, National Library and Bronglais Hospital all joined the march as it passed, to be met by another large group of people from Council Offices, Welsh Assembly Government, police auxiliary workers and other public sector bodies as it arrived in the town. The march through town saw a great deal of public support with shop staff standing in doorways waving and offering support. This was a near universal response in a small, non-industrial university town that depends very heavily on public sector jobs; not only for those who work in the public sector, but also for the private sector that depends on custom from the public sector and students for their own livelihood.

There is also a report and photo by The Cambrian News at:

http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/i/20905/

What are we working on for our members? November 2011

1. Negotiations: dealing with Management and getting the best possible outcome for our members. 

Staff Development and Performance Review:

Members have raised concerns with UCU about the recent ‘roll out’ of the SDPR following the CDSAP training sessions.  At a recent meeting with Management we were informed that the scheme had been carefully planned by AU and it was agreed that there are still some issues to resolve. Although Trades Unions have been involved in the discussions regarding SDPR the scheme has not been formally ‘signed off’ or approved (although a staff development system is welcomed by UCU).

It has been confirmed that the traditional ‘3 days staff development allowance’ has been removed from the university website. Management informed us that they felt the 3 days allowance was restrictive and it is hoped that with the implementation of the SDPR staff will be permitted more than 3 days, where appropriate. Discretionary points on the salary scale will be linked to SDPR in the future.

Management have agreed to review the issues raised in the SDPR training sessions and ensure that members’ queries are addressed. There are still some concerns regarding the scope of the reviews and we would encourage members to feed back any issues to ucu-aber@aber.ac.uk.

Facilities time:  At the moment there is no formal mechanism at AU to allow union representatives time off for union duties. UCU have presented a draft document as a basis for an agreement and will be working with a Management to finalise a document. 

Trade Union Recognition agreement: AU and UCU are in agreement that the UCU trade union recognition arrangement is out of date http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/hr/pandp/ucu/ We have presented Management with a new draft document as a starting point and will be working to finalise an agreed document.

Occupational Health: - the Occupational Health service has been reviewed and UCU members had concerns that the service was being downgraded and/or may be less objective and balanced as a result of the changes. UCU felt that if there were changes to the service the unions should have the opportunity to comment on the service specification. Currently there is an interim service while a procurement of a new contract with a suitable provider is being finalised. UCU were reassured that the  new service would provide a better level of support for staff suffering from long term absence due to sickness. UCU would welcome comments from members on their experience of the Occupational Health service.

Academic Promotions: A working group has been established between UCU and the management to review the academic promotions procedure, with special attention paid to the lecturer-senior lecturer promotion. Rather than modify existing procedures which both UCU and management recognise as flawed and opaque, an eniterly new process is to be developed that is more transparent and seeks to reward academics for teaching, research and administrative leadership. A two day workshop was held on the 24^th and 25^th November with UCU and University management representatives. The outcome of this event has been presented at a Heads of Department meeting and a draft report will be developed and presented to the UCU executive.

Redundancy Committee: A redundancy committee had been set up by the University to discuss potential redundancies, but the number of posts at risk of has now fallen below the statutory limit requiring consultation (20).

Voluntary Severance:  UCU has proposed the implementation of an ‘honest broker’ (outside of the department and HR) to deal with initial voluntary severance requests.  Management accepted the UCU proposal (which ensures confidentially) and agreed to present the document to the University Executive (senior management) for discussion.

2. Helping members with workplace problems and attending meetings with members.   Joan Williams (orw@aber.ac.uk) is our personal case work co-ordinator.  Members experiencing work place problems should contact Joan in the first instance and a case worker will be appointed.

3. Membership:  aiming to increase our membership is one of our main priorities for the forthcoming year. We want UCU to be a stronger force to negotiate better terms and conditions for our members. We need more members, departmental and deputy reps. if you are interested, please contact Ursula Byrne (Membership Secretary) on uub@aber.ac.uk. You can encourage non-members to join up via the UCU website: https://join.ucu.org.uk/

4. Local Organisation – help us be a more effective and organised union. We are trying to reduce our running costs and this means that we may soon be able to reduce our local subs. We have decided not to replace our admin officer, Brenda Mead and we hope to reduce the workload in the office by moving member’s subscriptions to Direct Debit rather than salary deduction. Your departmental rep should have contacted you about this, if not please contact our Organising Officer, Mary Ferrie on mrf@aber.ac.uk

Joining the local executive involves attending one meeting per month. The work can be as much or as little as you are comfortable with. UCU needs you!