Birkbeck UCU

UCU subscriptions reduced for lower paid staff at Birkbeck

UCU national subscriptions for 2012-13 have just been announced by UCU HQ, involving an overall increase in rates of around 5% for all salary bands. Following this, Birkbeck UCU Committee met as delegated by our AGM on 23 May to fix the Local Association rate.

In order to minimise the impact of the national increases, Birkbeck UCU have decided to reduce the Local Association rate for all salary bands - by a matter of just a few pence for those in the highest salary bands but by a greater amount for those on low salaries, so that for those earning under £10,000 pa the total UCU subscription is actually lower next year than this.

The new subscription rates, with the previous two years for comparison, can be downloaded here.

»Back to Birkbeck UCU home page

Free training opportunities for activists, committee members and new staff

UCU Training opportunities

UCU run an ongoing programme of training and a fair bit of this takes place in London, in UCU's Camden Town headquarters - very convenient for Birkbeck.

Courses fall into two main categories

1. Many of the courses - supporting members, negotiating skills, health and safety, using the media &c - are aimed at (but not restricted to) UCU Branch Committee members and activists. If you're not yet either (but thinking you might become one) and would like to attend a training course please get in touch with Sophie Hope or any Committee member or email Birkbeck UCU on the link below.

2. New members of Birkbeck staff in particular will be interested in UCU's 'early careers' training. This includes modules on 'Starting Out - getting the most from your career' 'Speaking Up - voice care training' and Assertiveness Skills. If you are interested you can apply directly (all courses are free) or if you know of any new colleagues who may be interested in them, please let them know.

IN addition, Thompsons, UCU’s solicitors, now offer a series of free on-line training courses, see www.thompsons.law.co.uk/etraining/etraining.htm

'Trades union' courses

(a list of courses currently available in London and the South-East can be found on www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/j/o/Training_leaf_form_LondonSE_at_28June12.pdf) .

18–20 September 2012 H&S 1: Induction
his course is aimed at all new and existing health and safety reps who have received no training. We also encourage branch officers to apply.
This course will be repeated on 8–10 January 2013

24–26 September 2012 Rep 1: Induction
This course is aimed at all new UCU reps and Branch Officers as well as those who have yet to attend any training. We encourage all UCU activists to attend the first module of this course regardless of which role is held within the branch. The union is keen to attract activists from our equality strands (black, women, disabled and LGBT) and welcome applicants who self-identify in one of these areas
This course will be repeated on 19–21 November 2012 and on 4–6 March 2013

21 September 2012 - Making Progress?
A one-day training and networking event for women members, Friday 21 September, in Liverpool. - More information and application form on www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/a/q/ULF_women's_event_flyer.pdf

15–17 October 2012 Rep 2 Representing UCU members
This course is aimed at UCU Reps and Branch Officers that have previously completed the Rep 1 Induction, Safety Reps Induction, Environment Reps, Learning Reps or Equality reps courses. All UCU activists that carry out case work or intend to carry out casework should complete this module to gain the UCU casework accreditation. This course aims to:

• give participants an understanding of how employment law and their own policies and procedures apply to disciplinaries

• enable participants to identify and progress individual issues into collective action

• give participants opportunity to practice essential skills when handling discipline cases from initial interview through to the hearing stage with management

• develop the skills and knowledge of reps enabling them to understand their role within the branch in relation to the representation members with grievances and disciplinaries

• develop a strategic overview of how casework should be managed within their own branch.

The course will be repeated on 7–9 January 2013

18 October & 29 November 2012 Equality reps
This course is aimed at UCU equality officers, equality reps, and other branch officers, who want to learn more about how to use equality legislation to tackle discrimination at work and how to develop and promote a branch based equality agenda.
This course will be repeated on 1 May & 7 June 2013

6–7 November 2012 Green working

3–4 December 2012 & 16 January 2013 (3 days) Effective negotiating and bargaining skills

3–5 December 2012 H&S 2: Organising and bargaining for health & safety
This course will be repeated on 19–21 March 2013

There are still places on the UCU Early Careers training programme,

Places are free to UCU members - anyone interested please contact Sophie Hope.

NEW: Thompsons, UCU’s solicitors, now offer a series of free on-line training courses, see www.thompsons.law.co.uk/etraining/etraining.htm

'Early Careers' training

Courses include:

Starting out: getting the most from your career

Induction training for UCU members starting their careers in education. The course will cover the following:

your rights at work as a new member of staff working in education
learning how to deal with issues that arise in your workplace
understanding what is meant by leadership in education.

Speaking up: voice care training

Strategies for keeping your voice stronger for longer and communicating effectively by developing your voice. A practical and interactive workshop designed to help you find, use, enjoy and maintain your voice. This one-day workshop looks at ways to keep your voice healthy as well as use it to best advantage in a teaching environment. This course will cover the following:

improving understanding of how voice is made and what affects it
how teaching staff can best protect the voice, in order to prevent strain and loss. Improved vocal stamina
increasing awareness of voice skills in communication.

Assertiveness skills

Developing effective communication and assertiveness skills to help develop your career. This course will cover the following:

understanding difficulties in communication
developing the skills to deal with challenging situations
techniques to develop your confidence
developing an action plan for personal improvement.

UCU members may apply direct for any of the above - see www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=4908

Other resources

UCU Support Centre: Read our *new* FAQs on maternity/paternity/adoptive leave and pay here: https://ucu.custhelp.com/app

Additional paternity leave - A new interactive online briefing for union reps. This TUC has also produced a briefing looking at recent changes to paternity rights legislation including the new rights fathers and partners (including same – sex partners) to take additional paternity leave and pay so that a couple can share the care of their baby. www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-20471-f0.cfm

Fighting Privatisation toolkit: A reminder to reps that UCU's toolkit for campaigning and bargaining against privatisation in colleges and universities can be downloaded here:
www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/r/9/ucu_fightingprivatisationguide_may11.pdf If you would like a hard copy please e-mail your address to: mwhelton@ucu.org.uk

Branch briefings and guidance UCU has produced a range of briefing and guidance documents to help reps when faced with local issues or bargaining situations. For further briefings and guidance documents click here: www.ucu.org.uk/branchtools#lo

Health & Safety factsheets An extensive range of fact sheets specifically for UCU health and safety reps as well as examples of good practice, checklists and other useful tools. To access the factsheets please click here: www.ucu.org.uk/hsfacts

Want to stay updated?

For all the latest UCU updates, or to receive a weekly email about important additions and changes to the UCU website, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/stayupdated

For the latest UCU Campaigns Update which is now sent to all members each Friday, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1698

Hundreds have already joined UCU Campaigns on Facebook, to sign up or to see the latest updates, please click here: http://www.facebook.com/ucu.campaigns or to follow UCU on Twitter, please click here: http://twitter.com/ucu

For the latest edition of UC Magazine, please click here: http://uc.web.ucu.org.uk/

For the latest edition of HE news, please click here http://www.ucu.org.uk/henews

For the latest edition of FE news, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/fenews

For the latest edition of Health and Safety news, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/hsnews

For the latest edition of Equality News, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/eqnews

UCU produces Politics Monthly with the latest developments in Westminster and the devolved administrations in Edinburgh Cardiff and Belfast, for the latest edition, please click here: www.ucu.org.uk/politicsmonthly

For the latest edition of Policy News, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/t/a/Policy_News_No_6_December_2011.pdf

For the Spring 2012 edition of Anti-Casualisation News, please click here:http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/k/g/Anti_Cas_issue7.pdf

For the latest edition of Environment News, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/environment

For the latest edition of International News, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/internationalnews

For the latest edition of Learning Rep News, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/8/f/Learning_Rep_News__No._4__Dec_11.pdf

For the latest edition of Academic-Related News, please click here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/l/r/and_related_newsletter_3.pdf

Screening: Made in Dagenham Thursday 2nd May 7pm

Thursday 2 May, drinks from 7pm | screening from 7.30pm (come along after the open evening)

Birkbeck Cinema, 43 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PD

Free, no need to book, all welcome.

Hosted by Birkbeck UCU and Birkbeck Unison

Screening: Made in Dagenham

(dir. Nigel Cole) UK 2010, 113 mins.

Revolt and resistance took many forms in 1968. Just over forty years ago a group of women machinists at the Ford factory in Dagenham walked out when they discovered that they were being paid 15 per cent less than men for doing the same work. The company classed women's work, stitching seats for Cortinas, as 'unskilled'. Made in Dagenham is an uplifting account of a landmark moment in the history of the fight for equal pay in Britain

A three-week strike ensued, bringing Ford's largest plant to a halt, prompting Labour's Employment Minister Barbara Castle to intervene in negotiations. Though the eventual deal left the Dagenham strikers 8 per cent short of equality with their male co-workers, the strike set in train the movement that led to the landmark Equal Pay Act of 1970, that made discriminatory pay differentials illegal.

Despite occasional liberties with the historic record, Made in Dagenham is a perfect way to celebrate May Day. It is also a reminder that battle for social justice is far from over: in 2011 women working full time in Britain still earn on average 16.4 per cent less per hour than men working full time. The Libcon government wants to abolish the May Day bank holiday. Let's celebrate an earlier act of collective resistance in the hope of more to come.

USE YOUR VOTe - pay ballot ends 10 October

Ballot on industrial action over pay (starts 18 September) - USE YOUR VOTE!

At the last JNCHES (Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff) meeting on 22 May the employer’s representatives from the University Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) made their final offer on the 2012-13 national pay claim to the HE trade union side. This was for a flat rate increase of 1% in pay for all staff.

The UCU Higher Education Sector Conference (HESC) decided to consult members on this final offer with a recommendation that members vote to reject it as it barely addresses the claim in any serious way.

http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/3/e/HE_pay_flyer3_Jul12.pdf

Consultation on HE Pay offer 2012/13

All UCU members were asked to read a statement from the UCU national negotiators (and have a look at the campaign leaflet) and then to vote on what you believe the union should do next: The ballot closed on Wednesday 27 June.

UCU members voted by 70% to 30% to reject the employers' offer of 1% on all pay points. UCU then asked the employers for further talks to resolve the dispute and the Higher Education Committee has approved the move to a ballot should such talks fail to result in an acceptable offer.

Regrettably there has been no movement from the employers in the interim, and formal notice has been served by UCU on HE institutions, including Birkbeck, giving notice of a ballot on industrial action.

The ballot opens on 18 September and closes on 10 October.

If the ballot is in favour of strike action this will follow before the end of October.

For more information, see 'background' below and www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE160.pdf

Background

At an earlier meeting on 20 April the employers’ representatives from the (UCEA) marginally improved their pay offer for next session from 0.5% to 0.8%. The five HE trade unions - UCU, UNISON, EIS, GMB and Unite - unanimously rejected this offer as totally inadequate. They also reminded the employers' side that that the other central elements of the claim: closing the gender pay gap; the assimilation of hourly paid staff onto fractional contracts and onto the national pay spine; equality proofed criteria for the professoriate; a disability leave agreement and a commitment to pay the Living Wage were also essential parts of any final agreement. They also made the following points as part of their evaluation and rejection of the employers' offer:

The compounded loss in members’ take home pay since 2009 is running at 10%. The present offer goes nowhere near starting to address this loss.
RPI inflation during the negotiating cycle is forecast to remain above 3.5%. The offer falls way short of keeping current wage levels in line with increases in RPI.
Given the HEFCE report ‘Financial health of the higher education sector’, affordability arguments used by the employers in recent years would be difficult for members to accept in this pay round.
Total staff costs continue to fall relative to total expenditure; HESA data for 2010-11shows the continuing downward trend is now at an historic low of 56.2%
The relative mean average increases for Vice-Chancellor’s pay between 2002-3 and 2009-10 were 62.1%, compared to 38.5% for the rest of academic staff.
Members in USS and other HE pension schemes are or will soon be paying increased contributions into their scheme, will be expected to work longer, and eventually get less in retirement.

The third New JNCHES national claim negotiating meeting took place on 22 May. The full and final offer made by the employers’ representatives at UCEA falls short of the HE trade unions expectations, and indeed barely addresses the various elements in the claim in any serious way. The trade unions were unanimous in stating that their respective negotiating teams would not be recommending acceptance of the final offer to members. All five unions; UCU, Unison, Unite, GMB and EIS will now consult members via their respective democratic structures. EIS and Unite have already rejected the offer.

The trade union claim for 2012-13 is;

An increase of 3.7% on all salary points to match the increase in RPI to February 2012
A further increase of 3.3% to begin to catch up with the real terms cut in pay over the last three years
A commitment from all universities to pay a ‘Living Wage’
Positive proposals from employers to address the outstanding recommendations of the 2009/10 Equalities Working Group. In particular, we are seeking positive action to address the continuing gender pay gap in higher education.
Joint proposals on pay equality for professors and senior staff
Structural proposals on the assimilation of hourly paid staff to the national pay spine and transfer to fractional contracts
A joint agreement on disability leave

Details of the employers' final offer can be found on www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE153.pdf .

For more information, see www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE160.pdf and http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/3/e/HE_pay_flyer3_Jul12.pdf

You can download the campaign leaflet here www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/k/c/HE_pay_leaflet_June_2012.pdf

More information on pay in Birkbeck can be found on www.bbk.ac.uk/ucu/campaigns/Bbk_Pay

»Back to Birkbeck UCU home page

We Need to Talk About Open Access: Academic Freedom, Transparency and the Political Economy of Journal Publication

Last summer, the Government accepted the recommendations of the Finch Report on 'Expanding Access to Published Research Findings'. In essence, these involve providing open access to all UK publicly-funded research articles by charging authors, rather than readers for the costs of publication. Funding institutions HEFCE and Research Councils UK have also endorsed these recommendations and, from April 1 2013 'Research Council-funded papers must be published in journals which are compliant with Research Council policy on Open Access'.

These policies represent momentous changes in the production and dissemination of academic outputs in the UK, with considerable implications for academic freedom, research culture and funding across the sector. Yet they have not been widely discussed nor arguably, are they clearly understood, among our profession. Birkbeck UCU has invited a panel of academics with insight into these changes, to explain and debate the content and consequences of the move to Open Access. Colleagues from Birkbeck and other colleges are all welcome to join us in this important public discussion.

Related Links:
http://sageconnection.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/one-size-fits-all-social-science-and-open-access/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/feb/08/open-access-journals-elsvier-boycott

Higher Education White Paper/ "no confidence" motion by Birkbeck's Academic Board

Birkbeck's Academic Board calls on the Government to suspend its implementation of the HE White Paper

Birkbeck's Academic Board on 16 November passed a 'no confidence' motion on the government's policy for higher education.

Professor John Kelly introduced the original motion arguing that the White Paper was a shambles, reflecting ministerial arrogance and delivering an even more polarised HE sector.
'The Academic Board of Birkbeck College has no confidence in the policies of the Minister for Science and Higher Education David Willetts. We call on the government to pause its implementation of the White Paper, which has the potential to inflict great and irreversible damage to Higher Education in the UK.'

Professor Julian Swann tabled an alternative motion in absentia which was seconded by Professor Sue Jackson.
'The Academic Board - whilst recognising progress in addressing longstanding inequities in the treatment of part-time students and their access to financial support - believes it is time to establish a genuinely positive, progressive and inclusive framework for Higher Education.'

After various interventions in favour of the original motion, and some in qualified support of Professor Swann's amended version, the latter motion was defeated by 26 votes to 18.

Professor Kelly was invited by the Master to withdraw the original motion in order to allow for a new motion to be voted upon, but the invitation was declined. Proposals were then made for an amended version of the original motion, chiefly aimed at addressing concerns that the naming of Willetts in the motion could jeopardise the College's efforts to lobby government in defense of part-time undergraduate students.

A final, amended version of the original motion was proposed and carried near-unanimously*.

'The Academic Board of Birkbeck College has no confidence in the policies of the government as expressed in the White Paper on Higher Education.
We call on the government to pause its implementation of the White Paper, because it has the potential to inflict great and irreversible damage to Higher Education in the UK.
We further call on the Government:
- to recognise fully the significant and growing contribution of the part-time sector, and to build on the momentum that has started to move part-time students from the margins to the mainstream;
- and to work with the sector to create a framework that is fair, supporting student diversity but also, at its heart, flexible, seamlessly supporting the reality of diverse patterns of study, different paces of study, and different ages for study.
In short to organise Higher Education for the future, dismantling the barriers to opportunity, progression, and participation that remain from the past.'

The Times Higher has reported the no confidence vote - you can read the article on-line here.

* There was just one vote against from an Academic Board member who felt the motion was not sufficiently strong in its criticism of David Willetts, the Minister for Science and Higher Education.

»Back to Birkbeck UCU home page

Report from UCU 2012 Congress

(a report from our delegate at the recent UCU National Congress)

This year’s UCU congress was held in Manchester from 8-10 June. About 400 delegates from Higher and Further Education institutions spent three days discussing and voting on over 100 motions that had been put forward by the different branches. The motions covered diverse issues such as defending multiculturalism, fighting redundancies among academic related staff and the replacement of National Student Survey with better feedback systems, among many, many others. There was strong support, for example, for the motions which addressed workloads, anti-casualisation and postgraduate researchers’ employment rights. Teeside University, for example, called for the abolition of zero hours contracts and London Metropolitan called for stepping up action where teacher only contracts are being introduced. All the motions were important and useful reminders of the issues members are facing across the country. They were therefore mainly agreed ‘nem con’ (without dissent), including the motion (below) put forward by our branch:

Part-time students in Adult and Continuing Education

(Birkbeck UCU's motion to National Congress)

"This Conference notes with regret that despite the much trumpeted 'level playing field' in access to student loans for part-time students, the consequence of the Government's funding policies has been to destroy what remains of a once flourishing programme of university adult and continuing education, both at the pre-degree and postgraduate level. Most concerning is the intended annihilation of learning perceived to be superfluous to the governments ‘employability’ agenda.
Conference calls on opposition parties to affirm a new commitment to adult and continuing education and to work together with unions in higher education to restore these vital elements of part-time university provision which contributed so much to the well-being of our society."

USS Pension Dispute

During the Higher Education Sector Conference on Friday 8 June, the UCU negotiators presented a report about their progress over the USS pension dispute. They recommended members continue to suspend industrial action until October 2012 so that they could pursue the negotiations with employers. Progress has been slow since our decision to suspend industrial action in January 2012, however, and a number of motions put forward by HE branches suggested members reinstate working to contract immediately, whilst negotiations continue. This was considered important because the employers had not met a number of conditions UCU members had asked for, which included agreeing a timetable for completing negotiations, the replacement of Andrew Cubie as independent chair and the negotiation of a CARE accrual rate no worse than that for the TPS system.

The motion to reinstate working to contract was voted on and agreed, alongside developing a campaign over the summer for a programme of sustain industrial action in the Autumn and that the Higher Education Committee report to a special sector conference in early September with a credible strategy for escalating action in the Autumn term and beyond if necessary.

National Pay Claim

During the Higher Education Conference, the National Pay negotiations were also discussed. Congress advises members to reject the 2012-13 offer of 1% made by the university employers’ association (UCEA) as this is a real-terms pay cut for the forth year running. Votes close on 27 July: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ucu/news/PayNat

The role of congress and consultative ballots

There was a proposal by Sally Hunt, the General Secretary (and motion 65 and 67), that the size of the National Executive Committee (currently over 70 members) be reduced to max 40 people in order to save money (members are paid travel/accommodation expenses to attend meetings). There was strong resistance to this at Congress because it was felt this would be a threat to the democratic structures of the union. Motions 62 and 62A.1 were agreed, which stated that congress ‘resolves to prioritise training and support aimed at ensuring branches can function in ways that allow maximum participation of members and actively encourage all branches to send delegate to their regional committees and affiliate to local trade union councils’.

It was decided that a Commission on Union Democracy consisting of 5 FE and 5 HE representatives (elected from congress delegates) would be set up which will consider the size of the NEC among other matters. It was also agreed that ‘principles of representation and the identification of constituencies which are needed for effective union democracy should precede any decision on the maximum size of the NEC...’

There was criticism of the emphasis on the use of ‘consultative ballots’ and e-surveys (motion 63), which encourage people to vote without hearing the debates first (it was a consultative ballot which the General Secretary used as evidence that she had a mandate to reduce the size of the NEC). Motion 63 was passed which:

Reasserts the vital role of branches and regions as the main mechanism for consulting and motivating members
Resolves that the use, timing and content of consultative ballots by the GS should be in consultation with the NEC
Resolves that when consultative ballots are used there should be adequate time for discussion in branches and regions.

“I am an academic, not a terrorist”

The Columbian trade unionist and academic Dr Miguel Angel Beltran gave an inspiring speech at Congress about his experience of being imprisoned for two years for ‘rebellion’ and ‘criminal conspiracy for terrorist purposes’. He spoke of the role and importance of academic and trade union freedom and the solidarity and support he received from around the world (Justice for Columbia and UCU campaigned for his release). Beltran stated that his imprisonment was part of a systematic attack on intellectuals, in which academics critical of the regime were accused of being guerrillas.

Defending public education

Overall, there was a sense at Congress that the changes to education such as increasing marketisation and privatisation, threats to employment rights and academic and trade union freedoms were all huge issues we currently face. There was a groundswell of support for coming together to fight these changes, together with students, and other public sector workers. There were a number of motions, for example, relating to real cases of sackings and redundancies of active trade unionists and academics critical of the neo-liberal turn in education. These acted as stark warning signals and highlighted the urgent need for solidarity and collective action across the FE and HE sectors.

Sophie Hope (Birkbeck UCU Secretary and representative at the recent UCU National Congress)

Birkbeck and Bloomsbury Unions Against the Cuts

Birkbeck UCU is part of B²UAC - Birkbeck Unions Against the Cuts and Bloomsbury Unions Against the Cuts - who are campaigning together with Bloomsbury Fightback to challenge present government policies which will have such a disatrous effect on higher education and on society generally.

You can find out more about Bloomsbury Fightback here

»Back to Birkbeck UCU home page

Pensions Progress? "Action Short of a Strike" to be suspended if talks resume

Important update: Special Sector conference decision

On 13 September, a special UCU conference of pre-92 branches agreed to seek a resumption of talks with the employers to resolve the USS dispute. If the employers agree to further talks then the union will suspend the current industrial action (work-to-contract) while serious and constructive negotiations are taking place.

The union clarified that its policy is to:

• protect the final salary of existing members;
• derisk USS through the introduction of an acceptable CARE scheme for new entrants;
• close the gap between the value of the CARE and final salary sections by negotiating improvements to the CARE scheme which would secure broad comparability with TPS, including the removal of inflation caps.

UCU nationally has said that it will informed Branches of further developments, especially in regard to any formal suspension of the work-to-contract.

More information about the ASOS is given below

NATIONAL USS DISPUTE - NOTICE OF RESUMPTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACTION SERVED ON EMPLOYERS (18 June)

Industrial action (Action Short of a Strike) has been resumed following a report to `UCU Congress on the employers' refusal to negotiate on pensions. On 8 June the Higher Education Sector Conference considered a report from UCU negotiators and on on Monday 18 June UCU informed the employers - including Birkbeck - that action short of a strike will resume .

UCU has instructed its members to abide by the terms of their contracts (including their obligation to perform their duties in an efficient manner), but to do no more than that; and in particular to:

(a) work no more than their contracted hours where those hours are expressly stated and in any event not to exceed the maximum hours stipulated by the Working Time Regulations (unless there has been an individual opt-out);

(b) perform no additional voluntary duties, such as out of hours cover, or covering for colleagues (unless such cover is contractually required);

(d) attend no meetings where such attendance is voluntary on the part of the member.

note that if your contract does not or could not require you work in the evenings or at weekends you can refuse to work at those times

For more information, see www.ucu.org.uk/circ/pdf/UCUHE155.pdf
You should also have a look at the'defend USS' website http://defenduss.web.ucu.org.uk You can find a list of answers to FAQs here

Above: Birkbeck UCU members (present and future!) on the picket outside Birkbeck's Torrington Square entrance on 30 November 2011

»Back to Birkbeck UCU home page

Birkbeck UCU A.G.M - Call for nominations to committee

Wednesday 22 May, 12:00

Please put this date in your diaries. Location MAL G16.
If you would like to nominate someone to be on the Birkbeck UCU committee, names can be accepted in advance and on the day. Email ucu@bbk.ac.uk with your nominations.

'Saying no' - workshop on 9 October

ATTENTION ALL HOURLY PAID LECTURERS:

'Saying No! The 'what', 'when', 'why' and 'how' of avoiding overwork '

9 October, 3-5pm, Room 152 Malet Street

Hourly paid lecturers (or ‘sessionals’) as committed members of the Birkbeck teaching team are often willing to go the extra mile. However sometimes staff feel under pressure to do work they are not paid for and unable to say ‘no’ despite being at liberty to do so.

In response, Birkbeck UCU are organising an informal workshop in which hourly paid lecturers can share experiences and address practical ways of 'saying no' to increasing unofficial workloads in a constructive way.

The workshop will be held on 9 October from 3 to 5pm in Room 152 in the Main Birkbeck building. All Hourly Paid staff, union members or not, are invited to this event.

We hope to provide refreshments, so please RSVP to ucu@bbk.ac.uk so that we have an idea of numbers.

For information on the HPL network please see below.

HPL Network

The Birkbeck HPL network aims to maintain contact between hourly-paid staff and to provide a forum for discussion alongside the work of the UCU Framework Negotiation group. If you are not already on the mailing list, and would like to get more involved - or merely receive more information beyond occasional emails from UCU, or if you would like the opportunity to express your views and influence policy and events, please join the network.

The convenor for the HPL network is Danny Rye and you can contact him at d.rye@pol-soc.bbk.ac.uk telephone 07847 897629

Issues affecting hourly-paid staff raised recent meetings include:

- Have you received notice of your grade? There was disparity in terms of who had received information about their pay grade (everyone should have received notification from the college of their grade if it is changing). Those that had received notification said the letters did not contain much information explaining what the grade change meant (e.g. no info on hourly rates of pay).

- Have you received your 5% pay rise? Many people in the group were not aware that there had been a 5% pay increase in their hourly rate last year. Many did not think they had received that pay increase, with some people saying they had been on the same pay since they started, many, many years ago.

- Have you received notification of permanent employment? You are entitled to a permanent contract if you have delivered ‘continuous service’ for four years. If you only teach one term per year, however, this is not considered continuous service and therefore you could have been teaching for 20 years, one term per year and still not be considered a permanent member of staff. People felt it is important to put pressure on management to consider 1 term’s teaching a year over 4 years as continuous service so that more permanent contracts could be issued.

- Are you treated as a researcher? There was concern over the fact that HPLs and their research interests were absent from the course websites. Similarly, some felt left out of the loop and weren’t sent emails about research events at Birkbeck.

- Is the info on your payslip clear? It was felt there is a lack of clarity on pay slips as to what deductions / calculations are used, making it difficult to work out what you’ve been paid and what you should have been paid. Importantly, holiday pay should be itemised on payslips and if it isn’t you could claim back pay for up to six years.

- Do you have enough space to work at Birkbeck? There was concern over the lack of space for HPLs to prepare classes, hold tutorials etc. Apparently there is a room for HPLs in 43 Gordon Square (room 312), however few people know about this and the room is small and overcrowded.

- Do you feel well supported and managed? Some people said they had noticed a change since the restructuring of the college a few years ago and that they felt like they are ‘managing themselves’ and that they no longer have any institutional support or personal contact with their line manager.

HPL Survey

UCU have also conducted a survey of HPL staff for which we received over 70 responses. These figures are made much richer by the plentiful comments made by people on the survey which adds qualitative information to these percentages. Here’s a snap shot of the results:

- An overwhelming 90% of respondents said that they spend many more hours working for Birkbeck than they are paid for.

- 60% say their hours have not been cut over the last two years but 78% tell us they have not progressed in grade or pay scale whilst they have worked at Birkbeck.

- 60% said they felt the administrative support provided by Birkbeck was adequate.

- 47% would like to have some access to research facilities and funding.

- 43% did not feel adequately engaged in decision-making in their department but would like to be, and 26% that they are involved but not enough. 30% responded that they aren’t involved and they don’t want to be.

- 81% thought marking should be paid separately to teaching pay. Of these, 70% felt that they should be paid per script and 30% said that payment for marking should be on an hourly basis.

»Back to Birkbeck UCU home page

New College policy on Fee Remission

Staff remission of Fees

Unison organised a meeting for staff on 4^th April 2012 concerning the changes to staff remission of fees. This meeting was supported by the other College unions and was open for all members of staff to attend. The organisers of the meeting have summarised below a number of concerns about the new scheme, which College unions have asked the college to reconsider.

We understand that in some cases that staff will get 95% of their fees paid, and will be expected to pay just 5% towards their fees. Nobody at the meeting expressed any concerns about staff paying 5% fees as a way of demonstrating commitment to a programme of study. Our concerns are that this level of support will not be available to most staff who do wish to study.

We were particularly concerned about the lack of consultation, and the timing of this that seemingly cuts across the People strategy that HR are just beginning to consult staff about.

The case for change

We believe that there are three inter-related financial issues driving the college’s decision:

The withdrawal of the HEFCE grant lessens the financial incentive for the college to allow staff to study.
The significant increase in fees will mean that the previous year’s budget could not support the number of staff studying in the current or previous years using the existing remission of fees system.
The devolution of school budgets means that schools are keen to maximise income.

The case for support for staff

Against this, however, we believe that there is a more compelling case to continue to allow staff to study without charging any more than a nominal 5% of fees:

However the costs of the remission of fees scheme are worked out, they are largely fictitious, created by the internal market:
Without significant support for staff, many staff simply wouldn’t study so the college would not realise the income any way.
At the same time, most programmes do not completely fill up, and it costs the college very little for a member of staff to be sitting through classes that would run anyway, particularly since staff already have access to most services such as library and IT access that other students receive.
There are large numbers of staff who do not actually study, but from whom the college receives a degree of goodwill due to their knowledge that such a scheme exists if they chose to make use of it.
Scrapping sponsorship of staff sets a very bad example for other employers and goes against the college’s mission to promote education for working adults.
The college benefits enormously having both administrative and academic staff who are taking part in Birkbeck programmes of study.
It encourages a commitment to the college mission,
It creates layers of staff who identify more closely to the rest of our student population, and
It enables the college to maintain the commitment of staff in ways that it isn’t able to simply through salary recompense. When staff have received below inflation pay rises for several years, this has been one way that the college has been able to rewards staff at minimal actual cost.

Birkbeck UCU

UCU subscriptions reduced for lower paid staff at Birkbeck

Free training opportunities for activists, committee members and new staff

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Speaking up: voice care training

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Want to stay updated?

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Consultation on HE Pay offer 2012/13

Background

The trade union claim for 2012-13 is;

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Report from UCU 2012 Congress

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National Pay Claim

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“I am an academic, not a terrorist”

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Birkbeck and Bloomsbury Unions Against the Cuts

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'Saying no' - workshop on 9 October

ATTENTION ALL HOURLY PAID LECTURERS:

'Saying No! The 'what', 'when', 'why' and 'how' of avoiding overwork '

HPL Network

Issues affecting hourly-paid staff raised recent meetings include:

HPL Survey

New College policy on Fee Remission

Staff remission of Fees

The case for change

The case for support for staff

Other questions