Loughborough UCU

Latest Loughborough UCU News

  • University Fellowship Scheme Update

    We’d be interested to hear your views on the proposed changes to the University Fellowship Programme, expected to be in place from Summer 2024.   Please provide your feedback through this link to enable the branch to raise any queries or concerns you may have with senior management. The feedback form will close on Tuesday 2nd April at 11pm.

  • Car Parking Issues

    Parking overcharges

    We would advise all members to check their parking charges as members have reported being overcharged under the new parking system.  These issues have been resolved by the car parking company APCOA and refunds made.  Please use the tariff found here to check your charges and let the branch know if this issue has affected you by emailing ucu@lboro.ac.uk.

    Insufficient parking for staff

    We are aware that it has become increasingly difficult to find car parking spaces with some members reporting a 20 minute drive to find a space, followed by a 20 minute walk to be reach their destination. This issue has arisen since the public gained access to university parking.

    Next steps

    The branch has added ‘Car Parking’ to the next Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee (JNCC) meeting agenda (24th April) where senior management issues raised by our members will be discussed and improvement the parking provision for staff agreed. If you have had any issues with car parking, please provide examples to the branch by emailing ucu@lboro.ac.uk.

  • Improvements to Sickness Absence Policy from UCU

    UCU have negotiated improvements to the University’s Managing Sickness Absence Policy on your behalf.  The substantial changes are:

    1. If you hit the sickness triggers but your absences do not indicate any cause for concern, your manager is no longer obliged to set a stage 2 meeting and a period over which to monitor your attendance. (Part 2, section 4.1).  This reduces workload on staff and managers, and also removes the stress associated with going through an unnecessary monitoring period.  You still have the right to be accompanied by a trade union rep to any review meetings, including the first, should you want to be.
    1. Greater flexibility around dentist and GP Practice appointments.  This reflects the reality of how we all now typically make and attend these appointments, usually with little say over when they will be scheduled, and with telephone appointments now more common.  (Part 1, section 17 and 18) Where possible, these should be arranged outside of work hours, but where this is not possible staff should try and minimise disruption to work, and time off with pay is allowed.

    The changes reflect the default position of trust and flexibility that managers should be showing, and we hope they will remove some of the unnecessary stress triggered by sickness, or taking care of our health.

  • Planned changes to early retirement benefits in your USS Pension

    We have recently learned of changes to your USS pension related to early retirement, which USS plans to make on 1st April 2024.  It is important you understand that if you are considering early retirement, the planned changes to Scheme Factors, if they go ahead, could seriously disadvantage you.

    We believe it would be prudent for members considering early retirement to urgently:

    1. Write to USS seeking the necessary financial information to inform their decision, asking for  calculations for dates before and after 1st April 2024.
    2. Make contact with HR to ensure the necessary work is completed so as not to delay any decision with USS.  This contact from staff enables HR to notify USS and provide confirmation of notice period.
    3. Seek independent financial advice to inform their decision-making. Members may wish to use the free service for UCU members provided by Quilter Financial  UCU – Financial advice from Quilter

    We are reliably informed that the UCU Pensions Negotiators are fighting this change, which was not part of the recent USS negotiations outcome. Nevertheless, at this point in time the change is planned for implementation on 1st April and as the date is drawing near, we wanted to draw your attention to it.

  • Making Sure You Get Your USS Back Pay – Meeting Recording

    The branch held an open meeting on Wednesday 31st January to discuss the recent changes to the USS Pension scheme . While it is important that everyone understands what has been successfully negotiated on your behalf, it is especially important that colleagues who have opted out of USS are aware of the implications of how restoration of the lost 2020-2023 benefits will be implemented. There is a significant financial benefit to joining the scheme before 1st April 2024 that will not apply after that date. All staff on grade 6 and above are eligible to join USS.

    You can view the recording of the meeting here.

  • UCU Elections – LUCU Branch Committee Endorsement

    Like many UCU members, the LUCU Branch Committee has been disheartened by a number of decisions taken centrally at UCU in recent years.

    Although we have had some national victories (as with USS), we believe that major decisions taken by the Higher Education Committee (HEC) – most notably around the nature, frequency, and timing of industrial action – have been harmful and out of sync with members’ wishes.

    We believe that factionalism within the union is a major driver of this. Indeed, there have even been clear, public clashes between our current General Secretary, Jo Grady, and the HEC on these issues.

    The upcoming UCU elections offer a turning point to shape our union. After comparing candidates’ platforms and considering their responses during our hustings, we have decided to endorse Jo Grady.

    Whilst we may not agree with every decision that Jo Grady has taken as General Secretary, we believe that she has shown real leadership during a difficult period – especially from the start of the pandemic – and has demonstrated an ability to critically reflect on past decisions and learn from them.

    We are also supportive of her plan to build UCU and raise the profile of our union, her efforts to co-ordinate with other trade unions to improve our leverage, and her intersectional approach to tackling discrimination.  

    Our stance is that Jo Grady offers the most realistic path toward improved pay and working conditions, greater stability in our sector, and a trade union that inspires confidence in its members.

    In solidarity,

    The LUCU Branch Committee

  • Winter Break – Branch Closure Details

    The LUCU branch office will be closed for the winter break from 4pm on Wednesday 20th December. We will re-open (and respond to enquiries) from 10am on Wednesday 3rd January 2024.

    LUCU will not be monitoring the main branch email inbox during the winter break so if an urgent response is required, please email the branch secretary or relevant committee member directly. Please bear in mind they are also on their winter break so won’t be checking email daily. Their contact details can be found here: https://ucu.lboro.ac.uk/contacts/

    In the meantime, should you need it, the Education Support Partnership is a free service for our members, active 24/7. They provide counselling, support, financial assistance and more.

    Phone: 08000 562 561

    Email: support@edsupport.org.uk

    Website: https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/helping-you/

    We wish you all a well-deserved break, see you in 2024!

  • November General Meeting Report

    For those who couldn’t attend the branch general meeting on 8th November we are providing this written summary of what took place. Mary Brewer, Branch Chair, opened the meeting and, after the formalities, presented slides on new LUCU activity since our June AGM as well as developments to projects that are ongoing.

    Branch Wins

    We have successfully negotiated that performance ratings will be removed from PDR, which was recently confirmed by the VC at the General Assembly meeting.

    We also supported Unite and Unison in persuading the University to become a Living Wage Employer. We now plan to push for an increase in London Weighting in accordance with research conducted by Loughborough University academics that demonstrates the current weighting is insufficient to compensate for the real cost of living.

    Regular meetings are now taking place between LUCU Reps and Deans/Directors. We will work to capitalise on the outcomes of these meetings to increase membership across campus by demonstrating how the branch positively impacts on working conditions.

    We achieved agreement with management for Facilities Time that means we are able to offer more hours of workload remission to our caseworkers, and this enables the branch to support more members when they need help.

    We have succeeded in establishing a constructive working relationship with Loughborough Students’ Union. In our most recent meetings with LSU officers, they reported a favourable view of our branch and its members and an understanding of our reasons for taking action among students. Going forward, we will work more closely with LSU on issues of commonality, especially EDI. The tri-partite meetings that we initiated during recent industrial action will now become standard practice at LU. We will meet with LSU and SMT once per term, and potentially more if there is a period of further industrial action.

    Anti-Casualisation remains on the agenda.  A revised and improved Charter has been distributed to managers.  Our requested review of contracts across campus to check that staff are on the correct type of contract and are being paid at the correct grade level has been completed. As a result of this, more staff have been moved onto permanent contracts. Should any staff be found to be on a lower grade than should have been the case, we will be working to get them back pay.

    USS Pensions Win

    We can report that the Joint Negotiating Committee has asked the trustee to implement member contributions at a rate of 6.1% as of January 1, 2024. This leaves more money in members’ pockets at a time when it is really needed.

    Casework

    As always, casework has been a major focus of our time and efforts as a committee, led by Andrew Dix, our Casework Coordinator who we thank for his ongoing efforts in this area.  Andrew gave an overview of the casework undertaken on behalf of members, and the related individual support provided to 24 members since June.

    Local Negotiations

    We have firmly embedded the union’s voice across campus, and we are active contributors to numerous committees where we work to ensure that strategy and processes are working in the interests of those who will be working to implement them – you, our members.  For example, our branch has representation on The University Research, Culture and Innovation Working Group, Project Enable, Project Expectations and the EDI Operations Committee.

    Increasing Branch Membership

    One of our main desires currently is to increase our branch membership therefore recruitment is a key campaign for the branch. We will employ strategies from organising for power and the new UCU campaign, Me Plus 10.

  • Recruitment Subcommittee

    As part of the branch goal to increase our membership we have decided to re start our recruitment subcommittee. Previous industrial action meant this project didn’t get off the ground on our first attempt, but we feel now is a good time to push forward with this initiative.

    This subcommittee will have ownership of setting and implementing the recruitment strategy for the branch and for monitoring and assessing its impact. We are looking for volunteers to get involved in this work. You may only be interested in parts of this work, but you would still be very welcome to join the group. Training on recruitment techniques will be provided where needed.

    Please get in touch with our Branch Organiser, Callum Salfield, if you are interested in joining the recruitment subcommittee or have any questions about it.

  • Reps’ Team – Another Addition to the Team

    We are extremely pleased to welcome back our former branch Chair and Pensions Officer, Matthew Inglis, to the branch team. Matthew has taken on the role of department rep in both Mathematical Sciences Department and the Department for Mathematics Education, in the School of Science.  We know Matthew will bring a wealth of experience to the role and will do a great job in representing members in these departments.

    Matthew Inglis (Mathematical Sciences & Department for Mathematics Education Departments Rep in the School of Science)

    I’m a Professor of Mathematical Cognition in the Department of Mathematics Education. My research focuses on the cognitive processes involved in doing mathematics. This includes studying young children’s behaviour when they start engaging with numbers for the first time, but also the behaviour of my colleagues in the Department of Mathematics when they’re doing their research. I’ve been at Loughborough since 2008, was a longstanding member of the LUCU Committee, and served as LUCU Branch Chair for a three-year term that included the 2018 USS dispute. Currently I continue to help out with individual casework and am an elected member of the University Council (thanks to everyone who voted for me!). 

    We do still have a few vacancies in our reps’ team: please see this page of our website for an up-to-date list of positions available. If you have any interest in taking on one of the vacant roles, please get in touch with our Branch Organiser, Callum Salfield, for an informal chat about what it entails and what you might bring to it.

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