Welcome to Unison

HE Pay: Members to be Balloted for Strike Action

UNISON, the other trade unions, and the higher education employers this week met for final pay talks at ACAS. The talks failed to produce an improved pay offer from the employers, and as a result UNISON will be balloting for strike action among members in those Higher Education Institutions that are part of the national pay talks.

Find out more

Stop the Squeeze! The real cost of Higher Education. A public meeting organised by UNISON, UCU and Unite branches

Did you know...

Women working in HE earn on average 15% less than men?
HE staff have received a real terms pay cut of over 10% in 3 years?
Courses are being cut and students will be paying more for less?
Many staff are paid less than the London Living Wage?
Pay for vice-chancellors continues to soar - by up 80% last year?

Come and find out what we can do, as we prepare for a ballot for industrial action in October. Students and staff welcome.

Public meeting. Lunch provided. ULU Malet Street
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
1pm until 2pm in UTC+01

Free Employment Law Update from David Renton, Haldane Society

Tuesday 17th, 6pm, B29 Malet Street

Free talk about the latest developments in employment law, with David Renton, from the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers.

David Renton is the author of Struck Out: Why Employment Tribunals Fail Workers and What Can be Done.

All union members & students from SOAS, Birkbeck, UCL, IoE etc. invited.

Facebook event page

Pensions update

UCU working to contract

Birkbeck UCU are currently taking action short of a strike over pensions, they will be working to contract, which means they will work no more than their contracted hours, perform no additional voluntary duties, undertake no duties in breach of health and safety policies or other significant employer’s policies, set and mark no work beyond that work which they are contractually obliged to set and/or mark and attend no meetings where such attendance is voluntary. Although Birkbeck UNISON are not taking industrial action at this point, we support Birkbeck UCU in their fight to defend pensions. You should not be asked to take on additional duties because of industrial action taken by UCU. If you are asked to do so, you have a right to refuse, and you should contact a union rep if this happens.

What's happening with SAUL?

Because of the ongoing dispute regarding USS, the current proposed changes in SAUL and the national strike action over changes in the Local Government Pension Scheme and the NHS Pension Scheme on November 30th Birkbeck UNISON has produced a special branch newsletter , together with a document outlining the proposed changes to SAUL

Report on meetings

There were two pensions meetings on Monday, 24 October 201: the first was for the SAUL branches to talk about the fact that we couldn’t be balloted for Nov 30th and what we would do. We had people from UCL, LSE, SOAS and had quite a good talk about the whole thing.

The Unite / UNISON briefing was an attempt to convince us that the changes to SAUL weren’t that bad. We disagreed and said we wanted more campaign materials from UNISON telling members what the changes meant and why we should oppose them, and then we were prepared to do the work needed to inform people and let them decide if they wanted to take action.

More information will be made available soon.

Casework, and the Senate House Living Wage campaign

Case work: update from Naomi Bain, our Branch Chair

As I have started an MA, I am not going to be doing casework for the moment. If you have a problem at work that could lead to a grievance or disciplinary, or if you need advice, please contact the union rep in your department or school. If there is not a UNISON rep in your department or school, you and the other members in your department or school can elect one. I will continue as branch chair and will organise committee meetings, branch meetings and the AGM, and if you do contact me about a problem I will make sure you are put in touch with someone who can help. If you have a problem at work the branch will make sure that you have someone to support you and represent you, and you can contact anyone on the branch committee list.

Living Wage Campaign at Senate House

Senate House cleaners are still not paid the living wage. If you can show your support it will be much appreciated.

Vik Chechi, QMUL Unison secretary, suspended by university

Please see below for a message about the suspension of Vik Chechi, UNISON branch secretary at Queen Mary. It looks like he has been victimised for his union activities, and has been accused of gross misconduct.

'Vik Chechi, the Unison Branch Secretary of Queen Mary University in east London has this afternoon been suspended by his employer. We suspect that this is with a clear view to sack him because management wants to weaken the union and the anti-cuts campaign in the University which has united staff and students. They have been alarmed because Vik and other union activists have managed to reinvigorate the Unison branch. This is a classic attempt to smash a fighting union branch to allow management to drive through significant cuts including over 100 redundancies at the same as students face a tripling of tuition fees. By disarming the union, this would be just the start of the attacks on staff and students alike.

'This is also an attack on Unison in particular and trade unions in general, just as we build up towards the massive pension strike on November 30th. Plymouth City Council has recently attempted to de-recognise Unison and many employers in both the public and private sector are looking to cut back on union facilities. Workers cannot afford to see their union strength weakened at this critical time when jobs, terms & conditions and pensions are on the line.'

Write to Queen Mary demanding Vik’s reinstatement:

HR director Chris Pearson
Centre of the Cell Director Fran Balkwill

Of course you can write whatever you choose, but feel free to copy and paste the suggested text below:

'I am very concerned to hear about the suspension of Vik Chechi, Branch Secretary of Queen Mary University of London UNISON. Many people suspect that Vik’s suspension is due to his role as a union rep. This kind of victimisation is clearly unacceptable. Vik Chechi must be reinstated and allowed to carry out his union duties without victimisation.'

Redundancies in the Birkbeck Students' Union avoided

Birkbeck UNISON is pleased to announce that, following discussion with the management of the Birkbeck Students’ Union, proposed redundancies in the Students' Union are to be avoided, and existing staff redeployed.

This is just one example of how our local branch committee is helping our members.

If you're not a member of a union at Birkbeck yet, you should be. The public sector is facing significant challenges, and you will not be able to fight them on your own.

June 30th strike - support our Unison colleagues

June 30th is going to be the biggest public sector strike in decades, and it involves issues that affect all of us. The PCS, NUT, UCU and ATL will be taking industrial action on 30 June over pensions and other issues. Birkbeck UNISON will not be on strike, nor will Birkbeck UCU, but UNISON encourages members and branches to support rallies and demonstrations where possible to show our solidarity with the union members taking action.

The action being taken by our sister unions is the first step in our campaign to defend our members' pensions.

UNISON is on its own road preparing for industrial action later in the year in the event that negotiations breakdown - 30 June should be used as a positive step to promote our recruitment and organising strategy and to promote our campaign for fair pensions for our members and for everyone else.

For up to date information about the strike please see the J30 Strike website: http://www.j30strike.org/

Some activities that Birkbeck UNISON will be participating in:

Visits to local picket lines: meet outside Malet Street at 8.00, and again at 5pm. Bring food and drinks if you can. Or you can just turn up at some of the local picket lines any time you are able to. Remember, it could be us taking action in the future, and we will appreciate support if this does happen.
Some local workplaces that will have picket lines: British Library, British Museum, Euston Tower (corner of Tottenham Court Road/ Euston Road), Westminster University, Kingsway College, South Camden Community School, Central School of Speech and Drama (there are probably others, if you know of any please let me know!)
For a map of all the striking workplaces in Camden see this useful Camden June 30th strike map.
There are some UNISON members on strike in Camden: Camden UNISON housing repairs staff will be on strike, so please visit their picket line 33-35 Jamestown Road, NW1 (their workplace) from 7.30am on Thursday.
Lunchtime demo: Assemble 11am at SOAS, if you can, or head down to Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
Members of the UCU, NUT, ATL and PCS trade unions will march through central London on Thursday 30 June as part of nationwide protests against plans to change pensions for teachers, lecturers and civil and public servants. Also NUJ Newsquest members in south London and Unison members in Camden Housing Repairs are taking strike action on 30 June.
Protestors will assemble at Lincoln’s Inn Fields from 11am and the march will set off at 11:40am.
The route will be: down Kingsway, along the Strand, down Whitehall and across Parliament Square to Central Hall Westminster for a rally.
The Central Hall Westminster rally will start at 1.15pm and speakers will include: Christine Blower (NUT general secretary), Mary Bousted (ATL general secretary), Dot Gibson (President, National Pensioners Convention), Sally Hunt (UCU general secretary), John McDonnell MP, Mark Serwotka (PCS general secretary).

Feel free to phone or email if you want to join me or other UNISON members during these times.

Some links that may be of interest:

Keep up to date

All members invited to regular branch meetings

All members are invited to join regular branch meetings, where we can raise issues and discuss changes that may affect our members and decide what we want to do about them.

At our last branch meeting (Thursday, 16 June 2011), for example, we discussed what we would do if Birkbeck management wanted to outsource staff (something that is currently happening at UCL) - there is no indication yet that this is planned, but we do think it is best to be prepared. Members at the meeting were of the firm opinion that outsourcing is not in the best interests of Birkbeck, its staff or its students, and we would be prepared to take action to protect our members.

We also discussed our concerns about changes being proposed for the My Birkbeck helpdesk - where it looks like changes are being made without taking into proper consideration the views of the people who work there. Now that we've discussed this as a branch, the branch committee are in a better position to negotiate on behalf of those members.

GOT AN ISSUE? bring it to your branch meeting so we all know what's going on.

Birkbeck Unison branch chair at National Delegate Conference

Naomi Bain, Birkbeck Unison's Branch Chair, has gone to the National Delegate Conference in Manchester.

This is the annual conference, where representatives from all Unison branches from all parts of Unison (local authorities, higher education, NHS, etc.) get together to determine what Unison's policies will be in the year to come. With attacks on pensions, and the attacks of the government on the public services, this one is going to be exciting.

Find out more about the National Delegate Conference here.

Issued: 24 June 2011

Birkbeck Unison AGM

The Birkbeck UNISON AGM took place on Wednesday, 2nd February 2011 at 1pm, Room 153 Malet Street.

As a Unison member you have a right to take time off work to attend the Unison AGM, and we would love to see as many of our members as possible at this meeting. It will be an opportunity to find out what is going on in our branch, and to meet up with other members.

There will be speakers, including Max Watson, from the UNISON National Executive Committee and Michael Chessum, a student activist from UCL, and reports from branch officers about what the branch has accomplished over the year, and how you can help plan for the next year.

There will also be elections for the branch officers for the coming year.

We would like you to contribute as much as possible. If you would like any items added to the agenda, or would like to put forward any motions or proposals, please email Naomi Bain, n.bain@bbk.ac.uk by 5pm Friday 28th January.

Lunch will be provided. For catering purposes please email Imogen Dickinson i.dickinson@bbk.ac.uk by Friday 28th January.

Electing the branch committee.

All branch committee members are elected to their positions or co-opted by the branch committee if we do not get a complete branch committee during the annual election process.

We encourage members to stand for any of the positions listed on the nomination form. Where more than one member stands for a particular position, voting will take place at the AGM and the results will be emailed to members afterwards.

If you are interested in getting more involved in your Unison branch but want to know more before you fill in the attached nomination form you can find out more on the main Unison website , or you can contact Naomi Bain n.bain@bbk.ac.uk or another member of the branch committee who will be happy to talk to you about what the various roles entail and which one may be right for you. You can find a list of branch committee members on our website:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/unison/committee/

If you are new to being a union activist the best way to start is to be a steward.

Anyone who takes on a new role will be given appropriate training (you are entitled to undergo training during your normal working hours) and be supported by more experienced branch committee members.

You are welcome to stand for any position, but positions that are currently vacant include: Black members' officer, Learning rep, Education officer, Health and safety officer and Young Members' officer.

If you would like to stand, or nominate someone else for a position, please complete the nomination form and send it to Naomi Bain, by email (n.bain@bbk.ac.uk) or via the General Office in Malet Street by Friday 28th January.

What have the unions ever done for us?

Watch this video to find out what unions have done for you, the worker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=184NTV2CE_c

Birkbeck UNISON condemns SOAS arrests

The University and College Union (UCU) and UNISON branches at Birkbeck, IoE and SOAS condemn the actions of police and of some security guards, in attempting to suppress the legitimate expression of opposition to the policies of David Willetts on the London University campus on Monday evening (13 June). The behaviour of security guards and police was provocative and intimidatory and turned a good-natured demonstration into a scene of disorder. Disproportionate force was used against the protest and four individuals were arrested. The union branches assert their support to those who were improperly detained and reassert their determination to uphold the right to peaceful protest on the University campus.