Loughborough University Branch of University and College Union
Please sign the petition on the closure of Newcastle University‘s London campus
Members are asked to sign and share the petition which can be found here. Newcastle University’s London campus is set to close on 31st September 2021, and staff face the prospective of either a move to Newcastle or redundancy.
As you will have seen from the Vice Chancellor’s message on Wednesday, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has issued a new valuation.
The goal of the valuation is to assess the scheme’s assets and liabilities as of 31st March 2020. As the Vice Chancellor pointed out, pension funds are legally required to conduct valuations every three years. USS last undertook a valuation two years ago. Consequently, this valuation, the date of which coincided with perhaps the most uncertain point of the pandemic, is not required to take place for another year.
USS has used a valuation method very similar to that proposed in September 2020. In its response to these proposals, Universities UK (UUK), the group which speaks on behalf of universities like Loughborough, described the valuation method as “extremely unhelpful”, “unreasonable”, “unrealistic”, “incredibly conservative” and “unjustifiable”. UUK concluded that USS was making “extreme and unwarranted” proposals. Remarkably, the proposals issued on Wednesday are actually more extreme than those which prompted these unrestrained remarks.
UCU agrees with UUK’s criticisms of the valuation method. We continue to believe that the recommendations of the Joint Expert Panel, which was set up by UCU and UUK following the 2018 industrial action, should be implemented.
The branch is engaging with management colleagues here at Loughborough. A report will be provided at the forthcoming AGM and members will have the opportunity to pose questions to our Pensions Rep, Matthew Inglis.
LUCU Committee
Our survey on Covid and in-person contact closes tomorrow – March 5, 2021. If you have not yet completed the survey, which takes c. 3 minutes, we urge you to do so to help the committee better understand your views on Covid related issues at this time.
There will be a partial re-opening of campus on Monday, March 8, 2021 for students who are registered on courses that require access to specialist facilities to complete practical elements of their programmes. See here for a complete lists of courses: Microsoft Word – practical-degree-programes-march2021.docx (lboro.ac.uk). In addition, undergraduate finalists who require access to specialist facilities for project / dissertation work can continue their on-campus activity as per the email to students dated 28th January.
Teaching programmes that are not listed on the above linked document will remain online until after Easter, pending review during April and further government guidance.
For your information, the most recent Government advice, based on SAGE guidance, that informs how the University is managing the staggered return of students may be found here: Higher education: operational guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Members may also be interested to read Indie Sage Guidance: Independent SAGE Statement on Universities and Colleges Winter-Spring 2021 in the Context of SARS-CoV-2 and the | Independent SAGE.
Since the start of the pandemic, LUCU and the other campus trades unions have been closely involved in monitoring how the University is responding to Covid risks on campus through representation on the University Health and Safety committee. In addition, we have held weekly meetings with Neil Budworth, Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing, and Anne Lamb, Deputy Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, in cooperation with Unison and Unite, where we have been able to assess in greater detail the implementation and enforcement of Covid-secure measures.
In response to Covid variants that are more highly transmissible, we can report to members that all risk assessments for rooms that will be in use from March 8, 2021 have been reviewed and updated where needed, and risk assessments for all remaining teaching/shared office spaces that may come into use after Easter are also under review.
Thus far, the following changes have been made in response to the threat of Covid variants.
Staff are required to take a weekly rapid Covid test if they are working on the campus for any length of time. The only exceptions to these requirements are for anyone who has had a positive Covid test in the last 90 days, or who is otherwise medically exempt. Staff based on the Loughborough campus can book a rapid test via the website (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/internal/studying-working-living/testing/), while for staff based at the London campus, testing is available on Mondays and Wednesdays between 10am and 2pm at the 4th floor test centre and booking is not required in London.
LUCU broadly support the requirement for staff working on campus to undertake regular rapid Covid tests and would encourage all members to engage with the policy where they can. If you have any concerns about the testing, please speak to your line manager in the first instance, or you can contact LUCU at ucu@lboro.ac.uk.
The seats in teaching spaces that are suitable for students to occupy are clearly denoted with stickers. In laboratories, workshops and practical spaces, where 2m floor spacings for staff may not be possible, higher grade PPE (e.g. additional respiratory protection) will be provided.
If you become aware of a situation where health and safety guidelines are not being followed, contact your line manager and school health and safety officer in the first instance. Please also let the union know.
Early in the pandemic UCU called for all non-essential teaching to move online, and LUCU requested management to adopt the UCU position.
Management refused on the basis that 1) they were providing a workplace where Covid risks were minimized as much as possible, and therefore, requesting in-person contact was not unreasonable; 2) it was necessary to deliver some in-person teaching for the benefit of students’ educational needs and mental wellbeing, as per LSU’s position; and 3) minimizing financial losses during the pandemic was essential to protect jobs.
LUCU has paid careful attention to what members have been telling us via their union Reps, email communications, surveys, and AGMs/EGMs. We learned that the membership holds a wide range of views relative to the UCU position, ranging from support for moving all teaching online to support for the system of blended learning that management put in place. The majority of members took the position that LUCU should work toward ensuring that the campus was made as safe as possible, avoid action that would impact on university finances to the extent that management may move toward further cutbacks, and consider the learning experience and wellbeing of students as well as staff when negotiating with management.
Feedback from members also demonstrated a concern that some staff might be pressured into working on campus even if they felt extremely anxious about doing so. Clinically vulnerable staff are not expected to work on campus, and those staff (mainly in professional services) who are able to perform their roles remotely are also working from home.
Consequently, in November 2020, LUCU declared a formal dispute in line with our Partnership Agreement: our aim was to find a compromise that would allow members who did not feel comfortable about undertaking in-person teaching, or other campus duties involving in-person contact, to work from home. We argued that anxiety about in-person contact should not be pathologized during a pandemic, and management had a duty of care to respond to reports of high levels of anxiety with reasonable adjustments. Management accepted this argument.
We requested that management adopt an opt-in policy for campus working, but this was refused on the basis that an opt-in policy could result in students having an uneven experience across disciplines in terms of in-person hours. Consequently, further negotiations to resolve the dispute resulted in a working agreement whereby staff members may request home working or reduced in-person hours even if they are not clinically vulnerable, and without necessarily involving input from Occupational Health (although in some cases a referral to OH may be in a member’s interest).
Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis at school level by the relevant line manager or a member of staff designated by the line manager (e.g. Head of Subject, Operations Manager). Thus far, most requests to work remotely have been treated sympathetically, with members either having their in-person hours reduced or being allowed to work from home.
Anyone who is not satisfied with the response they receive to their request for remote working may contact LUCU, and we will assign them a caseworker. Where a caseworker has become involved, we have enjoyed a good rate of success in negotiating a satisfactory outcome for members, and we have a small handful of cases that are ongoing.
We are continuing to monitor how well this approach is working through communication with school and unit LUCU Reps, as well as ongoing meetings with Deans/HR. Currently, we are aware of two subject areas where remote working is negatively impacting other colleagues in terms of the number of in-person hours they are being asked to deliver, and we have secured management agreement to work with LUCU on an action plan to resolve the problem in these areas.
If you are considering making a request for remote working and have questions/would like further guidance before doing so, please contact us: UCU@lboro.ac.uk.
On behalf of LUCU Committee
Following on from Wednesday’s EGM on Covid and Health & Safety, our branch is inviting Expressions Of Interest from our membership in undertaking this course: Working Safely During the Pandemic: a webinar focussing on key topics around working safely this year. The course is 90 minutes long (date and time TBC).
The course will be for LUCU members only, but it will be run by National UCU.
If you take part, the expected learning outcomes are:
Please click here to send an expression of interest.
LUCU Committee
We have just been sent the below information from Rob Johnstone on behalf of the TUC Midlands, which may be useful info for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable members.
Anyone who is Clinically Extremely Vulnerable can book their Covid vaccine appointments at the below link. It does not require a letter, they just need their NHS number (it appears at the top of their shielding letter from the DHSC).
In light of the more transmissible variants of Covid-19 (including B117 plus at the time of writing, others) and the upsurge in infections, UCU advised branches to consult with employers on revised workplace risk assessments and control measures and to confirm implementation of recommended safety measures for any workers undertaking onsite or in-person work. The information below is intended to illustrate for members what UCU has called for and how Loughborough University is responding.
While the university relies on government guidance in determining what measures to put into place, other sources of information also inform decision making. We have provided links to information that has informed our discussions with management on Covid-secure measures, and in the interest of transparency and clarity, we are providing links to relevant documents. Not all materials are available online. If you would like to read any of the documentation cited here, please contact the branch and we will provide a copy.
Given how quickly the Covid landscape can change, committee members are continuing to meet regularly with senior management to review and monitor health and safety measures related to Covid. We will regularly update members as and when UCU health and safety guidance changes and/or the lockdown period ends. We would like to thank Neil Budworth (Director of Health Safety and Wellbeing) and Anne Lamb (Deputy Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development) for the generous amount of time they spend with the campus unions discussing health and safety and providing responses to our written requests for information.
If members have further queries, please don’t hesitate to ask. If you are currently working on campus and feel that sufficient health and safety measures are not in place or see evidence of poor compliance, please alert your line manager/local health and safety officer, and let us know. Remember that you have the right to work in a safe environment: if you feel that there is a serious and imminent danger which you cannot avert yourself, and that you have brought to the attention of your line manager and/or local health and safety officer, then under the Employment Act 1996 section 44, you have the right to remove yourself from that situation until that danger is resolved. While staff can remove themselves from immediate danger, this is not an action that should be taken in isolation. Please continue to report any deviation from safety protocols as soon as you become aware of them.
The address for committee correspondence is: UCU@lboro.ac.uk
|
What UCU asks for… |
What Loughborough University is doing… |
|
Reduce the number of people required on site to the lowest level possible so that only essential and unavoidable work activities take place during lockdown. |
Only essential and unavoidable work activities are currently taking place. |
|
Reduce the number and duration of in person interactions to the lowest level possible. |
Number and duration of in person interactions have been brought to the lowest level possible (currently this affects mainly grounds crew, security personnel, etc.). |
|
Reduce the number of people permitted in a space at any one time to the lowest level possible. |
The number of people permitted in one space is being kept to the lowest level possible (e.g. by staggering clocking in). |
|
Set a safety threshold for ventilation of 12-17 litres per second per person for typical offices and educational settings. SAGE suggests employers adopt a precautionary approach. |
The university has/will take a precautionary approach by increasing ventilation rates to reflect the increased risk of transmissibility of the new variants) of COVID-19, as recommended the HSE, DfE and CIBSE (professional engineering association authority for ventilation).
|
|
Ensure a minimum of 2m social distancing as standard.
|
Measures are in place so that staff should be able to maintain a 2m distance in working environments. The guidance that Loughborough has been given directly by HSE and PHE is that they are not planning to change the guidance and that the main thing (as emphasised by the SAGE report) is compliance with the precautions in place. |
|
Ensure all essential workers undertaking in-person work have the highest possible level of respiratory protection. This should be FFP3 face masks (providing 99% particle filtration) where available and with priority for workers who could have interactions that fall below 2 metres social distancing and FFP2 face masks as a minimum standard for all (providing 94% particle filtration). *Please see below for further details. |
Where colleagues have to work within 2 metres of others, FFP2/3 masks will be recommended, and face fit testing provided. These masks are not suitable for in person work where individuals do not come within 2m of others as they require careful fitting to the face and make breathing harder (due to the resistance from the filtration). There is also a national/international supply shortage of these masks; hence, the university is reserving them for the circumstances where the protection is needed.
|
|
Ensure any use of face coverings in the workplace meets the WHO standard of three protective layers (Type IIR surgical masks). |
The university recommends the use of multi-layer coverings. When campus re-opens, LUCU will continue to advocate for the most appropriate level of PPE to minimise risks for staff and students. |
|
Ensure effective cleaning and hygiene measures are in place.
|
In light of the new Covid variant, all health and safety risk assessments are being reviewed, in consultation with campus unions, and effective cleaning and hygiene measures are in place. Additional ventilation has been provided in teaching spaces where needed. Fallow periods have been implemented/increased in rooms where needed to ensure pre/post-use clearing of the air. |
|
Ensure all workers and anyone they interact with during the working day receive adequate instruction, information, and training on any new safety measures that need to be followed.
|
Information and training instructions are being/will be regularly updated as and when new safety measures are put in place. This guidance will be disseminated to staff at school/unit level. |
|
Ensure lateral flow testing is undertaken by highly trained volunteers.
|
|
|
Ensure access to regular testing for all who are not able to work or study remotely. Where lateral flow tests are used to identify asymptomatic cases, ensure a minimum of two negative tests prior to any attendance on site.
|
Lateral Flow Testing is being offered to staff and students, with a view to building up to between 16,000 to 20,000 per week, with further consideration being given to twice weekly testing. Students are encouraged to book a second test when booking their first one but not all students are attending for their second test. Consideration is being given to how this can be improved on. A positive LFT will result in the individual being asked to isolate and referred for a confirmatory PCR test (either internally or through the NHS depending on the circumstances). |
|
Ensure workers and students are given support to quarantine, self-isolate and undertake testing as required. Testing should not be used to reduce isolation periods for close contacts of infected people. |
Support for testing, quarantine and isolation is in place for students and testing is not used to reduce isolation periods after a positive PCR test (testing may be used to reduce the quarantine time for international travellers etc. where all prior testing has been negative). To arrange testing see here. |
|
Any workers at increased risk from COVID should not be required to undertake in person work at this time and alternatives should be offered to ensure exposure risks are avoided or minimised. |
Clinically extremely vulnerable staff are not expected to undertake in person work. At present, in person teaching is limited to specific permitted courses and/or year groups for activities which cannot be delivered online, i.e. requiring access to specialist facilities. The situation will remain under review. |
*Ventilation
Documents from the Health and safety Executive (HSE), Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations (REHVA) have been issued during the COVID-19 Shutdown. These documents have been updated several times to reflect new knowledge. We have used these documents to aid our response to the Covid-19 situation.
CIBSE COVID-19 Ventilation Guide (Version 4, Published 23rd October 2020)
HSE – Air conditioning and ventilation during the coronavirus outbreak
REHVA COVID-19 Guidance (Version 4, Issued November 17th 2020)
REHVA COVID-19 Limiting Internal air leakage across the Rotary Heat Exchanger
REHVA COVID-19 Use of Fan Coils and avoiding Recirculation
LUCU Committee
While we will continue to update members on Covid-related matters in our regular newsletter, we will also update you through e-bulletins as new information emerges about how the university is responding to the pandemic.
We are writing in response to members’ 1) requests for clarification about the government’s categorisation of university employees as critical workers and what arrangements this allows them to access for their children’s schooling, 2) to clarify the position for staff with children in nursery/day-care and, 3) to clarify the position for casual staff.
Full Government guidance for critical workers may be found here: Critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The University’s FAQs relevant to critical workers and caring responsibilities may be found here: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/internal/coronavirus/staff/faqs/
UCU Guidance on Critical Care Worker Status in HE is available here for your convenience.
Confirmation of Critical Worker Status
Primary and Secondary Schoolchildren
Children in Nursery/Day-Care
Government guidance does not currently apply to children who attend nursery/day-care because such facilities can remain open. However, we can report that management is committed to being as supportive as possible to all staff who have childcare and/or other caring responsibilities and may be experiencing difficulties due to the pandemic. Members may contact their line manager for support. Your personal circumstances will be considered, and an effort made to agree the best way forward to balance work and childcare.
Casual Staff
The University has agreed to pay hourly paid workers for agreed and scheduled work that cannot take place due to COVID-19. Therefore, the same arrangements as described above apply also to casual staff with caring responsibilities arising from Covid-19 – but only for work that has been agreed.
If you experience any difficulties in making suitable arrangements with your manager related to home-schooling, childcare and workload, please contact your area Rep or the branch at UCU@lboro.ac.uk. You may find your Rep’s contact details here: Department Reps – Loughborough UCU (lboro.ac.uk). You may also contact your HR Partner for further guidance.
LUCU Committee
We are writing about the email sent by the Vice Chancellor on Wednesday 13 November regarding the strike.
The VC is quite right that he engaged with staff, and that he has made a public call for limiting employee contributions to 9.1%. Most Vice Chancellors have not done this and we appreciate the VC has made himself unpopular with some of them. Further, we acknowledge the frustration for our VC that some of the universities where the ballot turnout did not exceed the 50% threshold have less proactive, less sympathetic Vice Chancellors. Moreover we take his expressed concerns about the financial implications of increased contributions by the university seriously and in good faith.
However UCU’s position is that no one, not employees and not employers, need have their contributions increased. Rather at the root of the dispute is the valuation method. The debate is not “who should fund the increases” but whether or not increases are necessary.
The resolution to the 2018 strikes came from the establishment of a UUK/UCU Joint Expert Panel, which was tasked with reviewing the valuation method and proposing a way forward. If the methodology recommended by the Joint Expert Panel in their first report had been implemented, then neither employer nor employee contributions would be going up.
A couple of other points. The VC’s email mentioned that “employees currently contribute 9.6% of salary” but we highlight that this is only true since 1st October 2019. It was 8% before last year’s strike, then went to 8.8% and now has gone up to 9.6%. The email also noted that the USS Trustee includes UCU representatives but two clarifications are in order. First, UCU has nominees not representatives: these nominees are legally independent of UCU, and their actions are not controlled by UCU. Second, in recent weeks one of the UCU nominees, Professor Jane Hutton, was dismissed by USS after raising concerns about their valuation method.
Finally, we note that our VC is in engaging in meaningful discussion with LUCU committee and is making constructive proposals about how we might resolve the situation. We are grateful to have such a proactive and sympathetic Vice Chancellor at Loughborough who engages meaningfully with the branch and we do not take this for granted. We will be in touch again to canvas members’ views on the options as we see them.
LUCU Committee
The branch think it important that staff who are considering strike action understand what is legally required and understand the guidance being issued in relation to both the proposed strike action between Nov 25th and Dec 4th and action short of a strike that will continue thereafter.
We believe some managers are making suggestions which are not in keeping with current guidance.
You are not required to give of strike action to management, or to students – although when asked afterwards if you did take strike action, you are required to provide this information.
It is recommended that colleagues give notice on the morning of the strike that they will be absent, as they would if they were going to be absent due to sickness. This is the case whether it involves lectures, seminars, or project supervision. This gives managers the same time frame to notify students of changes. Even though, again, there is no need to do so.
The branch is concerned that some of recommendations from some managers are asking to ensure the ‘smooth running of the programmes’ after December 4th is a request to ignore the action short of strike, thus to act to minimise disruption lessens and undermines the impact of the strike itself.
For more information please see the FAQ’s on UCU’s website.
LUCU Committee
In this month’s newsletter we update you on our Anti-Casualisation Campaign, inform you of the process for submitting motions to UCU Congress, ask for your views on wellbeing support and student feedback, and finally we let you know about upcoming events and campaigns.
LUCU is stepping up its campaign relating to staff on casual contracts. We want to address pay, preparation, marking and admin time, and any other issues important to you.
We hosted an initial planning meeting Wednesday 27th Feb to work out the details of the campaign, we invited everyone, especially those on a casual contract, to attend. It was a productive session.
We are keen to involve as many casual staff as possible in this campaign, in small ways or large. If this sounds like you, or might appeal to someone you know, please get in touch with the branch anti-casualisation officer, Steven Parfitt, at s.j.s.parfitt@lboro.ac.uk, or with the UCU rep in your Department or School.
If anyone has a motion that they would like the branch to submit to congress, the branch must approve and submit that by the 15th March. The branch may submit one motion to congress and two motions to the sector conference. Motions from branches must meet the following criteria:
• Be properly approved by a quorate branch general meeting
• Be given a title of not more than 10 words
• Be not more than 150 words in length (excluding the 10-word title)
• Be clearly submitted to Congress or to a Sector Conference
If you wish to submit a motion to congress, please let us know ASAP, as we will have to call an emergency general meeting due to the deadline date. More detailed information on submitting motions can be found here.
You should have received an email from us asking your views of the wellbeing support offered by the University to staff. We are still open to further information, so if you haven’t already, please can you feedback via email to Mary Brewer, LUCU Vice-Chair, or contact Mary if you prefer to set a time to chat – m.f.brewer@lboro.ac.uk. Your feedback will be kept confidential, and all evidence presented to the University will be anonymised.
We would be interested to hear about your experience across the following:
We would also welcome feedback on any resources you may have accessed through the Loughborough Development Hub, such as articles on wellbeing and stress.
As we reported last month, some members have noticed an anomalous spike in negative feedback from students. For example, questioning the content of an exam or piece of coursework – even before the results are known. Members are concerned that many of these are groundless and reflect a worrying trend which threatens to degrade academic rigour. We are still gathering information on this, so if you have observed similar, but not responded yet, please contact ucu@lboro.ac.uk with anonymised examples.
On Wednesday 27th Feb, UCU held a day of action against workplace racism. This annual campaign event has grown from strength to strength as it involves and includes a whole union approach to tackling the issues of workplace racism and its impact on careers, mental health and well-being and relationships with peers/students. The theme of this year’s Day of Action is #BlackStaffMatter. Look out for our social media campaign using the #BlackStaffMatter. Please share and retweet to help get the message out. Also, please contribute by making your own posts on Social Media using the hashtag. If you experience any racism in the workplace, please get in touch with the branch so we can better shape our efforts to fight against this deplorable behaviour.
International Women’s Day is on March the 8th, we are organising an event to commemorate and celebrate our female colleagues. Further details to follow.
Leicester and District Trades Council (LDTUC), of which we are a part, has organised these two events and we encourage our members to attend:
Leicester’s International Workers Memorial Day service will be on Sunday, April 28th, in the Town Hall Square, Leicester, from 12pm onwards. The names of those who have died in the East Midlands will be read out to be followed by a minute’s silence. All the dead will be commemorated with the display of a red Rose.
LDTUC will be celebrating Mayday (International Workers Day) in Leicester with a march & rally on Saturday 4th May. For six years they have joined together with fellow trade unionists, interested groups and individuals to help demonstrate their solidarity on International Workers Day. If you are attending the rally and would like to take along our branch banner, please get in touch.
We are here for you, if you have any issues you wish to discuss with a case worker, please email ucu@lboro.ac.uk or call the branch office on 228299.
To Be Continued…
Our next newsletter is scheduled to appear in late March. In the meantime, continue to contact us with your views and suggestions about LUCU activities on campus. The Committee’s contact details can be found here; we hope you will also follow us on both Facebook and Twitter.
LUCU Committee, 1st March 2019