Documents submitted to Management by UCU will be emailed to members in due course.
1. All campus trade unions and Management have now signed the new Trade Union Recognition Agreement. This means that we have changed the terms under which Management and the Unions meet. In future:
a. all unions will meet Management together in the newly formed Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee
b. all sub groups (i.e. policy and procedures) meetings with Management will report back to the JCNC (this did not happen previously)
c. the JCNC will report to the University Council
d. Each party has the right to bring an equal number of representatives and takes it in turn to Chair the meeting.
e. Unions and Management recognised this as a positive step towards a new way of working together, for the benefit of the university and its staff.
2. Facilities Time: unions and management are still working on an agreement that will allow local TU officials time off for union duties.
3. Shared Services (Aber/Bangor). SIP has now been wound down and the new version is ‘shared services’. Management will liaise with unions regarding the next meeting. The contact person is now Chris Drew @ Aber.
4. Occupational Health Service: Unions requested an update as to how the tender process for a new provider is progressing. Management were unable to provide specific information as to who the tender will be awarded to, at this stage.
5. Voluntary Severance/Early Retirement: Management reported that there have been 21 enquiries for VS and 24 for VER; of which: 1 VER has been approved, 2 VS approved. None have been declined at this stage. It was agreed that the new (union recommended) ‘honest broker’ approach is working well.
6. Redundancy: Unions are aware that a redundancy committee has been formed. At one stage unions were due to be consulted (as per the legal requirement) as the number of potential redundancies could have gone above 20. However, that was due to some fixed term contracts coming to an end and the number dropped below 20, therefore no consultation was required.
7. Service Level Agreements from HR. It was agreed at the last meeting that the unions would discuss SLAs with HR. Unions would also discuss which staffing data they require. This matter had not been addressed, mainly due to time constraints on both sides. The matter will be followed up.
8. Job advertisements: it was noted that some staff do not have internet access and therefore could not see the advertised, internal jobs. It was agreed that this information would be circulated via line managers.
9. Draft Policies supplied by UCU: avoidance of redundancy and re-deployment. UCU noted that the current re-deployment policy is not working as well as it could. There are several areas that UCU feel could be improved upon (such as ‘at risk’ candidates not having to compete against other candidates for internal jobs). It was agreed that these policies would be discussed at a sub group meeting along with grievance and disciplinary policies in order to improve the processes. An external person would be asked to ‘mediate’ or provide advice. The working party would report back to JCNC. The request to review the documents over 2 days was declined, as TU officials are involved in their paid employment and could not commit 2 full days to negotiations. The VC suggested that 2 half days would be more appropriate. It was agreed to proceed on this basis. It was made clear that UCU will not negotiate on compulsory redundancies.
10. Travel and Subsistence – change to procedures: it was noted that this recent change to reduce the mileage allowance was made without consultation or justification. Management were informed that staff members were very disappointed that this action had been taken. Hiring cars as an alternative was intended as a suggestion only. Management were asked to consider raising the allowance to the HMRC level and they agreed to consider this in the next financial year. We were informed that the current rates are based on HEFCW rates. Concerns regarding the communication of this decision were raised.
11. Academic workloads: this area of negotiations had not progressed, but a meeting will be set up ASAP. Management were not aware that this matter prevented the part time assimilation onto HERA agreement from progressing. The two issues should not be related and there should not be a delay because one group had not met. The Part Time discussions should still be able to progress.
12. Estates Department Restructure: Unite did not agree that the new roles differed substantially from the old roles, apart from the lower pay grade. Management did not agree on this issue. It was noted that the HERA scoring would not be made available, only the final grade. A consultation period had been undertaken and all staff members had been offered at least 2 meetings with management. The new structure was as a result of a clear business need for 24/7 cover of the Estate.
13. Departmental restructuring / relocations / realignments: The unions reported that there were rumours of mergers between departments. The VC made clear that mergers were not being discussed. Unions noted that staff had not been consulted about potential relocations/re-alignments. Management noted that this was not the case and it was up to the head of department to consult with colleagues about potential developments.
Relocations: Several moves were confirmed:
a. Computer Science offices were being moved into the Llandiam building- to bring them nearer to the department.
b. TFTS offices were being moved to Parry Williams to bring them into to the department.
c. The moves of law and SMB to Llanbadarn were being investigated as a request from the departments for more space. A steering group was investigating the possibility. In order for the university to grow, it would have to utilise the space on Llanbadarn as there isn’t room for all departments on Penglais.
d. Hopefully, the old college would become a graduate centre/art centre/café/shop/local connection to the university. A feasibility study would be undertaken during the summer.
Re-alignments of academic departments: After Easter there will be several open meetings with staff to discuss potential re-alignments of departments and to discover where departments could work more closely together. It is not sustainable to have 17 separate academic departments. In some cases it would make intellectual sense to bring academic departments closer together and work under one ‘umbrella’. This would allow ‘units’ to save on shared resources. This would also allow scope for clerical and administrative staff to progress along a career path as there would be more job opportunities for promotions. At present there is little scope for career development. Staff members are encouraged to feed back into the process as no firm decisions have been made.
14. 3 month posts leading to full time posts. It was noted that there is a tendency to employ staff on 3 month short term contracts, which later develop into full time appointments. HR were not aware of any such instances and would like to be informed if and when this does occur. All posts longer than 3 months should be subject to a full and fair interview process.
15. Academic Promotions. The old system was not satisfactory and left a great deal of the process to the discretion of the head of department. The new system (which was negotiated with UCU) should be more transparent and allow staff seeking promotion to be assigned a mentor to assist them throughout the process. 41 applications had been made for Senior Lecturer. By the end of next week all applicants should have received a letter to confirm who their mentor will be. If an applicant is successful there should be no financial considerations (the application cannot be turned down on cost grounds). This was a welcome development.
16. In general terms, all re-gradings should be subject to the re-evaluation of the post and should not be subject to financial considerations by the department concerned.
17. Staff Development and Performance Review: unions have been consulted about the scheme, but have not approved the scheme. HR have developed FAQs to assist employees to complete the process. UCU will organise a training session for members to offer advice for completing the process.
18. Contribution Points: would be based on evidence of ‘exceptional achievement’ on a yearly basis. Checks would be put in place to ensure that the system is fair to all. A panel would review all applications. The appeals process would only be part of the grievance procedure.
19. REF update: document circulated by management: to follow
20. Aber Pension Scheme: a review will be required. The university is due to meet with the trustees in April.
