Loughborough University Branch of University and College Union
Events
The University are holding three conversation-style events to identify what a thriving research and innovation culture looks like at Loughborough. The stated aim of these events is to invite your important perspectives on what ‘good’ looks like in Loughborough’s research and innovation culture.
We strongly urge you to join these sessions and use your voice to help shape the standard to which academics are likely to be held in the future.
Thanks again to everyone who was involved in the busy and engaging UCU rising picket we held on the 1st February, and also to those who came to the planning meeting that followed.
This week the branch has organised pickets on both Lboro and London campuses. Both will take place on Thursday 9th February. The Loughborough picket will be at the Shirley Pearce Pedestrian Crossing (on Epinal Way – exact location) from 8:30am to 10:30am. The London picket will be at the main entrance of the London campus building from 9am – 11am. We hope to see as many of you there as possible. The longer the picket line, the shorter the dispute.
| Strike Day | Picket Time | Picket Location |
| Thurs 16th Feb | 8:30-10:30 | Shirley Pearce Pedestrian Crossing |
| Wed 22nd Feb | 11:30-14:00 | Holywell Gate |
| Wed 1st March | 11:30-14:00 | Holywell Gate |
| Thurs 16th March | 8:30-10:30 | Main Gate |
| Mon 20th March | 8:30-10:30 | Main Gate |
Future London picket details will be communicated as and when they are arranged.
Although we are only picketing on the above dates, please remember that the following dates are also strike days.
February: Fri 10th, Tues 14th, Wed 15th, Tues 21st, Thurs 23rd, Mon 27th & Tues 28th.
March: Thurs 2nd, Fri 17th, Tues 21st & Wed 22nd.
We now have three teach outs planned during this period of industrial action, unfortunately the ones we had hoped to hold in the LSU building will now have to be on-line only due to no rooms being available. Please advertise these events to your colleagues, students and anyone else who may be interested in joining us.
Unions and the Media, an online teach-out: Wednesday February 22nd, 2:30-5pm (Teams link): We will start with a Trade Unions 101 by Anthony Kevins: Is a trade union like a student union? Are strikes just protests? And why are strikes even a thing? In this brief introduction to trade unions, we’ll cover everything you ever wanted to know about collective bargaining but were too afraid to ask. Bring your questions! Then John Downey will present a talk entitled ‘What about the workers? How do news media frame unions and what we can do about it’ discussing unions, inequality, and media representation, including reflections on how UCU does self-mediation and how it is being represented in the current dispute.
Organising and Power, an online teach-out: Wednesday 1st March, 2:30-5pm (Teams link): Ruth Kinna will give a talk (open to all staff and students) about Rose Pesotta (1896–1965), anarchist, feminist and labour organizer in the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, then Alexandre Christoyannopoulos will lead a workshop (for LUCU members only) introducing methods from the Organizing for Power workshops that some members attended last year, with time for discussion about how they could work within Loughborough UCU.
Memories of anti-racism, a hybrid teach-out: Thursday 16th March, 11am-12 noon in-person and online (Teams link): Emily Keightley will introduce the Migrant Memory and Postcolonial Imagination exhibition at Charnwood Arts (address: 27 Rectory Pl, Loughborough LE11 1UW), and will talk about histories and memories of anti-racist protest and experiences of racism in Loughborough and East London.
Please regularly check our website for updated versions of strike resources for staff such as out of office messages, email templates you can send to students or use on learn and slides for students.
LUCU Committee
Firstly, thanks to all those who attended our picket on the 1st February. It was great to see so many people out in support of the UCU Rising dispute. Following on from the picket we held a productive meeting to plan the rest of our action where many members contributed to an engaging discussion. It was really inspiring to see so many members getting involved and volunteering to take actions. A summary of the outcomes agreed by members at the meeting is below.
It was agreed that we would target picketing to 6 days (one per week of the strike action), please attend as many of these pickets as you can. As always friends, family and supporters are more than welcome on our pickets:
| Strike Day | Picket Time | Picket Location |
| Thurs 9th Feb | 8:30-10:30 | Shirley Pearce Pedestrian Crossing |
| Thurs 16th Feb | 8:30-10:30 | Shirley Pearce Pedestrian Crossing |
| Wed 22nd Feb | 11:30-14:00 | Holywell Gate |
| Wed 1st March | 11:30-14:00 | Holywell Gate |
| Thurs 16th March | 8:30-10:30 | Main Gate |
| Mon 20th March | 8:30-10:30 | Main Gate |
London picket details will be communicated in due course.
Although we are only picketing on the above dates, please remember that the following dates are also strike days.
February: Fri 10th, Tues 14th, Wed 15th, Tues 21st, Thurs 23rd, Mon 27th & Tues 28th.
March: Thurs 2nd, Fri 17th, Tues 21st & Wed 22nd.
We have also had several people volunteer to host Teach Out sessions. We hope these sessions will be hybrid meetings and will confirm details nearer the time. Anyone else interested in hosting a teach out session on any of the strike days please get in touch with the branch. Presently this is our plan:
Please regularly check our website for updated versions of strike resources for staff such as out of office messages, email templates you can send to students or use on learn and slides for students.
LUCU Committee
The LUCU office will be closed for the winter break from 4pm today (21st December). We will re-open (and respond to enquiries) from 10am on Wednesday 4th January 2023.
Have a great winter break!
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
LUCU members are invited to attend an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss the USS & Four Fights disputes on Friday 6th May at 1pm. The meeting will be held on Microsoft Teams.
The Four Fights sector conference has voted to:
• call a marking and assessment boycott
• call 10 days of strike action
• keep the Four Fights and USS disputes, and action called in them, coupled
We have been asked by the UCU Higher Education committee to consult our members ahead of a branch delegates meeting on the 10th May and the HEC meeting later that week. A key question for consideration is:
When does your branch believe would be the most effective start date for 10 days of strike action in your institution?
A. Monday 6 June (this is the earliest possible date)
B. Monday 13 June
C. Other (please give more information – operational issues may make it impossible to accede to specific requests)
The EGM offers members the opportunity to discuss how our branch can best manage the results of the HEC decisions and best manage the dispute at a local level.
The results of the Four Fights sector conference are available, and we should receive the results of the USS sector conference before our EGM so both can be discussed at the meeting.
An agenda and minutes of our previous GM, a calendar invite and link to join have been emailed to all members.
LUCU Committee
Ever had questions about what the union does or wondered what it would be like to be more active in the union? If you have, please consider signing up for the UCU taster course detailed below.
Have you ever wished you could do more to challenge the increasing casualisation in your sector? If so, please consider signing up for the challenging casualisation course detailed below.
Both courses are run over two half-days and held online. Completing either course will give you some of the tools needed to be more active in your branch. This could lead to a role on the committee or as a rep or just doing occasional work with union colleagues. There is no obligation to become more involved in the branch on completion of either course, though it would great if you did.
UCU: Your union, your voice: a taster course: 27 April & 4 May 2022, online (two half-days)
This short course taught over two half days is for both members and activists who want to learn more about, and perhaps get more involved in UCU.
For more information and to apply, please use this link: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11950/UCU-Your-union-your-voice-a-taster-course-for-activists-27-April–4-May-2022-online-national-course-two-half-days
Challenging casualisation: stamp out casual contract:, 10 & 17 May 2022, online (two half-days)
This course is for anyone who wants to look at challenging the increasing precarity of contracts across our sector. It is open to all members who are in the local branch.
For more information and to apply, please use this link: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11946/Challenging-casualisation-stamp-out-casual-contracts-10–17-May-2022-online-national-course-two-half-days
LUCU Committee
Teach-out: Creating Racial Dialogue
You are invited to attend a Teach-out: Creating Racial Dialogue, hosted by Angela Martinez Dy on Monday 28th February from 10:30am – 11:30am, online via MS Teams. The teach out is open to all Loughborough University staff & students and builds on the previous work of “Building the Anti-Racist Classroom” & Collective Anti Racist Efforts (CARE) training. Please register here before Sunday 4pm to receive the link to join: https://lboro.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/event-registration-teach-out.
Please share this invite with other staff/students you think may like to attend.
Picket Details – Week 3
Thanks, again, to everyone for their efforts on the picket line so far. We wanted to remind you of the picket arrangements for next week when we will be striking over Four Fights dispute. Strike days for week three are Monday 28th Feb, Tuesday 1st March & Wednesday 2nd March.
Picket times and locations remain the same 8am – 11am daily at the main gate of the Loughborough Campus (unless you’ve agreed to attend another gate – contact M.A.Gibson@lboro.ac.uk ). London based colleagues, please keep an eye on our social media accounts for details of further London Campus pickets. Well done to all for your solidarity so far, let’s keep the pressure on and force employers back to the table.
LUCU Committee
You are invited to a branch general meeting on the topic of Professional Services Workload. This meeting is targeted at Professional Services staff and not all of our members will have a direct interest in this topic but all members are welcome should you be interested.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday 3rd November from 12pm to 1pm.
The meeting will be held on teams and the link has been sent to you by email.
LUCU Committee
Women are seriously under-represented in trade union leadership roles, despite the fact that they form over half of UK membership.
Women still earn an average of 18% less than men in our economy – the Gender Pay Gap at Loughborough University is larger, with a mean difference of 22.7%.
During the COVID-19 pandemic women are facing increased domestic violence, unpaid care duties, unemployment, and poverty. Despite women making up a majority of front-line workers, there is disproportionate and inadequate representation of women in national and global COVID-19 policy spaces.
Only 20 countries have women as Heads of State and Government. The United Nations call for “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”
Our discussion group this week explores issues in Sara Ahmed’s lecture ‘Complaint as Diversity Work‘, which takes a critical (though not hostile) approach to management-led diversity agendas in Higher Education, with a particular focus on the gendered and racialized forms of labour they require. With Equality at the heart of UCU’s national #FourFights campaign and local work, our discussion will be led by members’ responses to the lecture. You can watch the lecture, which is an hour long, ahead of the session here and/or read a shorter blog post which introduces its main themes can be read here.
Link to join the discussion session is here: Click here to join the meeting
International Women’s Day (IWD) was started in the 1900s when women’s oppression and inequality spurred them to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change in working hours, pay and for voting rights. The first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909, followed by the establishment of International Women’s Day in 1911 in Europe and the US. International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations in 1975.
Over the last 110 years, there is more equality in legislative rights in many countries, and an increased visibility of women role models. However, the gender pay gap persists, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health, and the violence against them is worse than that of men. https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Activity/15586/The-history-of-IWD).
To celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, LUCU will be sending weekly emails with information about women in the workplace and also holding 2 free events on:
The University has also organized events to mark these dates: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/iwd-2021/
We all have complex identities made up of intersecting characteristics such as race, gender, sexuality and much more. We may face prejudice against our gender, while experiencing privilege because of our race, or vice versa. It’s important that we listen to the experiences of those around us and think about how they compare to our own, in order to help us understand this complex picture. Sharing our personal experiences, especially painful experiences, can make us feel vulnerable. Indeed, such experiences can make us materially vulnerable. It is a privilege when someone is willing to let us see into their lives, and it gives us an opportunity to learn and grow.
We are therefore very grateful to our colleague David Roberts, who recently shared an intimate account of his life on the University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion blog. In ‘Recollections of a racial past in a racist present’ David paints a vivid picture of the challenges he’s faced, and continues to face, and those who have helped him achieve the success he has. We urge you to find time in your busy lives to read it – especially if your race is not something you’ve ever thought much about.
When a baby is born, or indeed more often these days long before it is born, we ask “what is it?” The gender of the brand-new human becomes their defining feature before they have drawn their first breath – determining the choice of clothes in which they will be dressed and the colour of the toys on which they will dribble and chew. In the short piece “What are you having?”, David Wilson explores why we’re so keen to answer this burning question, and what problems it might cause.
If you would like to have a piece of writing on EDI circulated among the membership, please get in touch: ucu@lboro.ac.uk
LUCU Committee