We urge you to complete the USS Pensions Survey

We urge you to complete the USS Pensions Survey

You (USS members) should have received a survey link via email from USS. We encourage you to complete this survey to get UCU member voices heard. The survey will take around 10 minutes to complete but we feel this time will be worthwhile for the following reasons:

  • You will be asked for your views on sustainable investment. Pension funds can only legally decide to opt for a sustainable investment strategy (divestment from fossil fuels etc) if they have evidence that their members want that to happen. USS have never done an explicit survey on this, so surveys like this one are the best opportunity people have to express that view.
  • You will be asked to comment on your “overall relationship” with USS. This question’s results will be reported in the USS annual report, which will expose the feelings of its members to a wide audience.  

Further action you can take towards ethical investment

Most USS members now have a Defined Contribution (DC) pot (the bit USS calls the “investment builder”) because of the 2020-2022 cut to the Defined Benefit (DB) cap. Individuals can choose to have this pot invested normally or invested ethically by logging to the USS portal. Most people don’t know this and therefore leave it with the default (not ethical) option. USS takes this as evidence that members aren’t so bothered about climate change and therefore as a reason not to change investment strategy for the (massively larger) DB section of their investments. So, if you wish to influence USS ethical investment you can opt in to the “ethical lifestyle” investment option.

LUCU Committee

What makes a thriving research and innovation culture?

What makes a thriving research and innovation culture?

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.

Events and sign-up links

  • Virtual workshop, 10am-11.30am, Monday 15 April 2024, sign up here 
  • Face to face workshop on campus, 10am-11.30am, Wednesday 17 April 2024. Sign up here
  • Face to face workshop on campus, 3pm-4.30pm, Wednesday 17 April 2024. Sign up here

Car Parking Issues

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.

LUCU General Meeting Report

LUCU General Meeting Report

Unfortunately, the General Meeting held on Friday 8th March was just shy of being quorate, this means no official business could be voted on. However, Mary Brewer presented the Chair’s Report of LUCU activity since our November GM, including announcement of new Department Reps in English, IRPH, Chemical Engineering and Materials, an increase in our local membership numbers, and details of recent local wins from our negotiators. David Wilson gave an update on the University’s Saudi Arabia Proposal, took questions from the floor and led a discussion on how to move forward with a campaign in opposition to the proposal.

The motions submitted will now be considered at the next branch committee meeting as per branch rules and we will update members on the outcomes in due course.

Improvements to Sickness Absence Policy from UCU

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

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

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.

Winter Break – Branch Closure Details

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

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.