Solidarity with Brighton UCU

Solidarity with Brighton UCU

Kevin Biderman, a UCU rep at Brighton University, joined us on Friday 15 September to talk about the threat of redundancy at his institution and about the actions his members are taking in support both of their jobs and of high-quality student provision at Brighton. A summary of Kevin’s talk is below:

In May, Brighton University proposed 130 redundancies, saying it wanted to save £7.3m – but while also spending £50m on building projects. The University is planning to grow student numbers, potentially causing massive workload issues for the remaining staff.  Hundreds of students have been marching, calling for the VC’s resignation, and they have staged a sit in in the VC’s office. Students at Brighton are joining UCU in asking for zero redundancies, sharing the belief that the planned job cuts are a choice, not a necessity. The VC lost a vote of no confidence, with 94% of staff and students voting against them. The UCU branch held a ballot over 2 weeks, resulting in a 61% turnout and a 90% vote for local strike action in October. UCU has grey-listed Brighton – encouraging members not to apply for jobs there or engage in any collaborative projects. Brighton has deducted 100% of pay for involvement in the MAB and has said it will do the same during the upcoming strike. Brighton UCU has a strike fund which so far has received close to £100k in donations, but it needs more.

What can you do to help colleagues at Brighton UCU?

  1. You can sign the petition in support of zero redundancies at Brighton University, here.
  2. You are encouraged to make supportive posts on social media. 
  3. Brighton UCU would really appreciate further donations to their strike fund, here.

University Town Hall

University Town Hall

LUCU requested more opportunities for members to hear first-hand about major strategic developments at the University and to ask questions of SMT, and we welcome the introduction of Town Halls, led by Professor Chris Linton, the Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. These interactive sessions are designed to enable academic colleagues to learn about how the new University strategy relates to their roles and to feed back.

The first Town Hall took place on 4 September, and it provided a good opportunity for colleagues to provide input into how the University might improve the experience of academic colleagues.  Key issues discussed were:

  • The introduction of an annual staff survey to create a dataset about work experience;
  • A working group to reform management structures in academic schools with the aim of moving away from flat structures;
  • A move toward a single academic job family that will provide greater opportunities for reward and recognition, as well as promotion, for UTs and those on research contracts;
  • An action plan to develop a dedicated programme for inducting international staff, including practical help in settling locally;
  • An action plan to develop a diversity pipeline to encourage more applications from people with protected characteristics and a programme to foster their career development at Loughborough, linked to eliminating pay gaps as much as possible;
  • The work SMT does within UUK and UCEA to further sustainability within the sector by lobbying for a reform to the fees structure.

We strongly encourage members to attend any future Town Halls and ensure that the union voice is fully considered in decisions about the University’s strategic aims.

Town Halls focused on the experience of colleagues in professional services, led by the Chief Operating Officer, Richard Taylor, are also planned. 

Project Expectations Steering Group

Project Expectations Steering Group

The group met on 14 September. A brief update was provided on the 5 work streams that comprise the University Strategy, with discussion covering topics such as the launch of a staff survey to gather feedback on how colleagues view the current reward and recognition system; the inclusion of questions about wellbeing on the 2023-24 PDR in response to staff comments on the staff experience survey; and potential reforms to the role of the Senior Review Groups in PDR, given that ratings have now been removed and PDR is no longer linked to reward.  

Discussion focused on amendments to the PDR form for RTE staff, designed to significantly reduce the time taken to complete the paperwork. We invite members to feed back to LUCU about the merits and demerits of the new form, as it will be further refined for PDR 2024-25.

LUCU News – July

LUCU News – July

In this month’s LUCU newsletter you will find:

Dispute Joint Statement

A LUCU/LU joint statement is in progress and having responded to a first draft we now await amendments and continue to push for this to be finalised soon.  In the meantime, the university has agreed to internally publish an update on the work that has been ongoing on the issues of concern.  We are pleased to share that senior management has agreed to consult locally with LUCU on their response to the USS consultation which is currently in progress.

MAB Deduction Grievances

UCU is supporting branches and members in challenging the pay deductions made for MAB. Their advice is that this process is likely to be a breach of contract claim which would be made via the County/Sheriff Court.  However,the first step would be to go through the internal grievance process.

Should you wish to raise a claim, guidance on the steps to follow and who to contact can be found here

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): We want to hear from you!

The University has recently chosen to suspend its provision of in-house counselling to staff who need support in overcoming personal and professional problems that are affecting their well-being. Instead, they are offering a confidential advice service that is run externally via the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).  We are seeking UCU members’ feedback on this service to ensure that members are receiving high-quality and ethical support in this important area of occupational health. Responses will be held securely and confidentially by LUCU committee and will be fed back to senior management in an anonymised way. Please share your experiences with us by clicking the link in the email version of this newsletter.

Fighting Fund Claims: National and Local

After discussions with UCU National, we have had confirmation that you are eligible to claim from the National Fighting Fund for 50% MAB deductions for the weekdays where these deductions are applied. We strongly encourage you to make use of both the national and local fighting funds. For many of us this is a challenging time financially, and we want to make sure you know you can claim for strike or MAB days where you have lost wages/had deductions taken. For more information and to make a claim from the national fund, please see here.

The local fund is available to hourly paid staff and staff who are facing immediate financial hardship as a direct result of industrial action e.g. difficulty paying for essentials for themselves or their dependents. The local fund will pay out for the first day of industrial action, and any later days which are not covered by the national fund. To make a claim from our local fund, please contact our treasurer David Wilson.

Our local fund is quite healthy currently so if anyone wishes to donate you can find out how to donate to the national fighting fund, here.

Member News – Council and Senate Elections

Congratulations are due to Professor Matthew Inglis, who has been elected to membership of Council for a period of 3 years from 1 August 2023. Congratulations also to Dr. Giulia Piccolino and Dr. Sarah Parker, who have been elected to Senate, both representing the School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Vacant Council Seat

We would like to call your attention to another vacancy on University Council for a member of Academic Staff from August 1, 2023, for a 3- year term of office. Because Council is the governing body of the University and is responsible for its strategic direction and overall governance, having positions filled by colleagues who are sympathetic to the union’s aims is important. If you are eligible, please consider standing, and let us know if you put yourself forward so that LUCU can support your bid to represent Academic Staff. 

Report on General Assembly (16 June)

The General Assembly, called by members in response to the University’s policy of pay deductions for participation in the Marking and Assessment Boycott, offered an opportunity to question the Vice-Chancellor.

Questions from the floor covered a wide range, beginning with the University’s decision to timetable the General Assembly for a Friday afternoon and without the possibility of online participation. Though we appreciate the VC’s point that his busy diary left few other scheduling options, we remain concerned at the lack of remote access and believe this represents poor practice with regard to important university-wide meetings.

From this starting-point regarding the GA itself, questions turned to the University’s response to MAB. The Vice-Chancellor was asked among other things about the fairness of applying equivalent deductions when colleagues’ marking loads and other assessment duties differ significantly (he reiterated the point made to us previously that deductions actually applied are at the discretion of Deans); about the loss of good will caused by this policy (he did not deny that there has been damage); and about the incompatibility we perceive between this policy on the one hand and the new University Strategy’s emphasis on valuing staff on the other.

The VC was also asked how the University settled on a figure of 50% pay deductions for participation in MAB. His response was that the number is somewhere in the middle, as regards the sector, with several institutions applying no deductions at all and others at the opposite end of the spectrum deducting 100%. Our position remains that the Loughborough policy is punitive, demoralising, and shows the University more squarely entrenched in the UCEA mainstream than at other times when it has engaged in coalition-building towards progressive positions in industrial disputes.

LUCU is grateful to members who attended the General Assembly and asked questions. It was valuable to be able to raise concerns about University policy directly with the VC.     

Casualisation Update

In our June newsletter we reported on our work with senior management to revise the Casual Employment Charter, which was initially created following our 2018 industrial action.  This work is now complete, and the revised LU Casual Work Principles have been shared on University News (5th July) and are on the HR website.   Deans were consulted prior to completion of the Principles and should now have disseminated these to staff involved in organising casual work contracts.

To ensure casual staff are informed of their rights, work is currently underway to produce a shortened version of the Principles for inclusion with future casual work contracts. Going forward, HR Partners will monitor compliance in schools.  Further, a member of HR has been assigned to review all existing contracts.  Where issues are identified, they will meet with Deans and managers, and where needed will provide training to ensure the casual staff are contracted to the correct grade and have been given the correct information regarding their role and rights. It has been agreed that where grades are found to be incorrect, this will be corrected and the potential for back-pay will be considered on a case by case basis.

We request that any members on casual contracts who have concerns get in touch by emailing ucu@lboro.ac.uk.

Report on our Branch AGM

The branch held a well-attended AGM. We’d like to extend our thanks to all members who took the time to come along and take part in branch democracy. Next year’s committee members (Term of office begins on 1st August for 1 year) were announced as:

Chair: Mary Brewer; Secretary: Marie Hanlon; Treasurer: David Wilson; Equalities Officer: Ellen Nicholls; Health, Safety and Environment Officer: Alec Edworthy; Personal Casework Co-ordinator: Andrew Dix; and Ordinary Committee Member: Marc Gibson.

Several vacancies remain for officers and ordinary committee members, so please get in touch for information if you have any interest in joining the branch committee.

The branch passed a motion in support of Ukraine and are raising a similar motion at the UCU East Midlands Regional Committee. As requested by the motion, the branch committee will discuss signing up to the Ukraine Solidarity Movement at the next committee meeting.

LUCU Committee

MAB Grievances and Legal Claims  

MAB Grievances and Legal Claims  

We have received the following information from head office and want to share it with you if you believe you have suffered unfair pay deductions for participating in the MAB and other ASOS, but are unsure what to do next.

UCU is supporting branches and members in challenging the pay deductions that are being made for MAB. Their advice is that this process is likely to be a breach of contract claim which would be made via the County/Sheriff Court; however the first step would be to go through the internal grievance process.

If you wish to raise a claim, please follow these steps:

  1. Ensure you keep evidence of all of the work you are doing during this period, to demonstrate that you are working at least 100% of the time. Evidence could include: outlook calendar of the work you are doing; departmental timetable of teaching/meeting/classes etc that you are providing; notes from lectures/meetings etc; records of meetings / events; other evidence of administrative / research/ knowledge exchange work you are doing to make up 100% of your time.
  1. On receipt of the pay slip outlining the pay deductions for MAB, contact Payroll if necessary to get clarity on how the pay deduction has been made.  For example, how many days are deducted, what period does the deduction cover, what is the rate of deduction etc.
  1. At this point in the process, if you wish to talk about raising a grievance, please contact Andrew Dix, our Casework Co-ordinator, who will assign a caseworker to help guide you through the rest of this process.
  1. Keep all communication, correspondence and documents from the grievance and appeal processes, together with all your evidence of work done, communication from employer and pay slips outlining deductions.

Should the grievance / appeal not be upheld, the next stage would be to take the claim externally, which we and UCU regional will assist you with.

We will, potentially, be dealing with lots of information, for a lot of members, on this issue and therefore members may not get immediate responses. This will all take some time, so please be patient.

LUCU Committee

LUCU News: June 2023

LUCU News: June 2023

Please read below for updates on LU General Assembly, MAB Support, Dispute Issues (Four Fights), our new Branch Equality Officer, our Congress Motion, Social Sciences Senate Elections & a BAME Staff Research Study.

General Assembly

Following our members’ requests for a General Assembly, we submitted a formal request to the Vice-Chancellor. A special meeting of General Assembly will take place at 3.30pm on Friday 16 June in the Edward Herbert Building 110A. The meeting is in-person only for staff based at Lboro campus. Only colleagues from London will be able to access the meeting online. Room LDN.3.23 has been booked by the University for colleagues in London.

This General Assembly was called for by our members and we urge you to attend. This is your opportunity to voice your views on the university’s response to the Marking and Assessment Boycott.

General Assembly is a collective staff forum established under the University’s Royal Charter. Its role is set out in Statute XV. All University staff are members of the General Assembly, so please encourage non-UCU members to attend as well.  Link to announcement on LU website.

Reminders: MAB support

We remind members that we have a weekly drop-in meeting every Wednesday – 2-3 pm – to support those who are participating in MAB and to answer any questions you may have. Please email the branch if you need the link to join.

The LUCU branch WhatsApp group is also a good source of support. If you haven’t already joined and would like to, you can do so by emailing the branch for a link. You can also speak to your department rep or email ucu@lboro.ac.uk should you need support.

To help the LUCU Committee build a picture of marking activity across campus, we would be grateful if you would email us with any information you have of unqualified markers appointed to cover marking at UG and PGT levels not completed as a result of the MAB, any instances where marks have not been properly moderated by a person qualified to do so, and any mitigations put in place that in your academic opinion are inappropriate.  Please email ucu@lboro.ac.uk providing details of: School, module, and reasons for believing either that the marker is unqualified, the moderation is lacking or undertaken by an unqualified marker, or the mitigation is inappropriate.   

Update on dispute issues: Workload; Casualisation; Equality

Workload: We now have a place on both the Project Enable and Project Expectation steering groups, enabling us to be at the centre of discussions on working practices in the interests of improving our members’ workloads.

Casualisation: We raised the need for revision of the LU Casual Staff Charter, created by the Task & Finish working group following our 2018 action.  Concerns over inconsistent implementation across Schools and sections was also raised with senior management, and agreement for a revision of the principles and a review of existing contracts across campus was reached.  Work on this is already well under way and we will provide an update on the outcomes in our next newsletter.

Equality: Agreement has been reached for union representation on the new EDI Operations board.  Our place on this board will rotate with Unite and Unison and we will work collaboratively towards equity for our members. We are also delighted to have appointed Ellen Nicholls as our Equality Rep – welcome Ellen!

Introducing our new branch Equality Officer

Ellen Nicholls was recently appointed by the Committee to serve out the rest of the 22/23 term as our branch Equality Officer. 

Ellen Nicholls, Careers Network. I am the Academic Success Co-Ordinator for the Student Success Academy (Careers Network) and I have worked at the University since 2021. Following the completion of my PhD research in 2019, I began working in widening participation, harnessing my passion for social justice by working to ensure all students have equal opportunities to succeed while studying at university. My work here at Loughborough centres on providing 1:1 academic success coaching and designing learning initiatives that help to reduce awarding gaps for Black, Asian, and low-household income students, in accordance with access and participation plan targets. As the equality officer for LUCU, it is my ambition to extend this EDI work to our staff, working towards gender and ethnicity pay equity for our members at the University.

2023 Glasgow Congress: LUCU Motion ‘UCU to move from Equality to Equity’

Our branch submitted and spoke to a motion to urge UCU to move toward the principles of Equity and implement use of the term Equity over Equality.  As you can see here, an amendment to the motion was put forward, and following debate Congress voted to remit the motion with an agreement to take it to the LGBTQ+ Conference in Birmingham in November this year. Two members of the LUCU Committee will attend the conference and any other members who wish to join them are very welcome. To register your interest, please email ucu@lboro.ac.uk and we will inform you when registration is live.

You can find the full results of voting on motions here.

Social Sciences Senate Elections

There are currently two vacancies on Senate, from 1st August 2023, for members of academic staff in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Voting is open to all academic staff in SSH and you should have received an email with a link to vote: we encourage you to use this.

The LUCU Committee is promoting the candidacy of three of our members who are in the running for these positions. Please consider voting for Dr Giulia Piccolino, Dr Sarah Parker and Dr Paul Maddrell (in any order you choose) for your first three preference votes. Their candidate statements are available on the link to vote. If you have not yet voted, please check your email and look for “Subject: Ballot Notice: Senate Election for Academic Members of Staff in SSH”. The ballot is now open and will close on Thursday 22 June.

Call for Participants: Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Staff Research Study

Are you a BAME (Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic) staff member who would like to get involved in a research study?

One of our PhD researchers here at Loughborough University is conducting a study which seeks to examine BAME employees’ lived experiences of racial diversity management policies and practices. This research will seek to understand the impact diversity management practices have on BAME employees as well as the contexts that account for employees’ experiences of such policies/practices.

To find out more about how to get involved, please click here.

LUCU Committee

Important Update on MAB & Deductions

Important Update on MAB & Deductions

MAB and New Methodology for Deductions

Since the university announced that deductions would be imposed for MAB, branch officers have attended multiple meetings with the head of HR, Anne Lamb, the Chief Operating Officer, Richard Taylor, and the VC, Nick Jennings. Following these meetings, an improved formula for deductions has been announced by the university – please see the original communication here that explains the new methodology and the university’s reporting process.

While it was hoped that management would opt for no deductions, once it became clear that deductions would be made, we pressed for a system based on proportionality, that is, to be based on how much work an individual was withholding due to participation in MAB. 

Unfortunately, management would not agree to proportional deductions. However, the new methodology for deductions represents a better position for members: 1) deductions for members who choose to participate in MAB are subject to a cap of 10 days at 35% for not marking; 2) deductions for boycotting assessment related tasks (e.g. exam boards, MC panels, etc.) will also be capped at 10 days.

We advise members to follow HR’s instruction to report their participation in MAB, as this does not necessarily equate to an acceptance of the university’s policy on MAB, but it protects members in terms of following the legal duty to report participation.  We are aware that some members would like to challenge these deductions formally based on proportionality, and the new methodology does not preclude members from mounting an individual legal challenge in the county courts.

Human Resources has now completed the FAQs and you can find the updated version here. If you have further questions, please contact your HR Partner or your Dean. Please copy in ucu@lboro.ac.uk so that we can keep track of questions as they arise.

We remind members that we have a weekly drop-in meeting every Wednesday – 2-3 pm – to support those who are participating in MAB. If you need the link to join, please email ucu@lboro.ac.uk.

Fighting Fund Update

We encourage you to make use of both the national and local fighting funds, as applicable. For many of us this is a challenging time, financially, and we want to make sure you know you can claim for strike days where you have lost wages.

Since the passing of a motion at our EGM the Friday before last, extra financial help is available from the local branch fighting fund for members who are either:

  • Hourly paid, or
  • Are facing immediate financial hardship as a direct result of strike action e.g. difficulty paying for essentials for themselves or their dependants.

The local fund will pay out for the first day of strike action, and any later days which are not covered by the national fund, which is currently capped at 11 days for the period up to 1st May.

It can also be used for MAB deductions, which are currently only covered by the national fund for universities where deductions are at least 50% (Please see Jo Grady Email sent Tuesday).

To make a claim from the local fund, please send the following to our treasurer David Wilson:

Claims for loss of hourly earnings:

  • confirmation from your School or Department of the hours not worked due to striking
  • the number of hours missed and the hourly rate of pay you receive
  • your normal annual earnings (so that we can verify you are paying the correct subscription level and determine which level of payment you are eligible for)

Claims for financial hardship:

  • a list of days on which you have taken action
  • payslips showing total deductions (including those covered by the national fund)
  • your normal annual earnings (so that we can verify you are paying the correct subscription level and determine which level of payment you are eligible for)

Payments can be made up the normal daily maximum, i.e. £50 per day for members earning £30,000 and £75 per day for members earning less than £30,000, gross annually.

Note that due to national UCU rules, claims to the local fund must be made within 3 months of the deductions. We are seeking to change this to 12 months to match the national fighting fund rules.

Donations to the LUCU local fighting fund

It is important that members who are in a financial position to so donate to the to our local fighting fund as soon as possible, as well as promoting the fund to encourage others to donate. Please be as generous as you can. It is especially important that members who will not be impacted by pay deductions for MAB contribute to the fund in order to support those members who will suffer substantial financial detriment as a result of their participation. You can donate via a bank transfer, please contact David Wilson for the details.

LUCU Committee

Marking & Assessment Boycott (MAB) Update

Marking & Assessment Boycott (MAB) Update

In this update you will find information on our weekly MAB drop-in meetings, our branch MAB survey, minutes and slides from our EGM last week, advice on MAB questions raised by members, links to the MAB guide and FAQs, a link to join our branch What’s App group and a Crowdfunder for Save university pensions, and save the planet.

Weekly MAB Drop-in Meetings

These will take place between 2pm and 3pm every Wednesday afternoon. The first will be taking place today, please drop in at any time during the hour to raise any concerns you have or to ask any questions. The link has been emailed to all members as a re-occurring meeting invite.

MAB Branch Survey

Most members will have been emailed a link to take part in our branch MAB survey (if you are a retired or attached member you will not have received this survey). This will provide your LUCU branch committee with a picture of action across campus to inform their negotiations with management. Please complete the survey as soon as you can. It will close at midnight on Tuesday 2nd May.

Minutes & Slides from the MAB EGM

Minutes & Slides from the MAB EGM held on Friday, have been emailed to all members.

Your MAB Queries Answered

We have followed up on queries arising from the discussion of the MAB at our GM, and some emailed to the branch.


Are PhD examinations exempt from MAB? No. As per the FAQs provided by UCU:

What academic programmes or stages are covered?

All summative marking and assessment, at all levels, are covered in the boycott–undergraduate, sub-degree, and postgraduate–so it will include all taught postgraduate summative assessment; PhD final vivas and MPhil to PhD progression/confirmation vivas/assessments.

Preliminary comments on chapters submitted by doctoral researchers as part of the supervisory process are not considered part of summative assessment, and, therefore, this work does not violate the MAB. 

While members are not required to report in advance that they will be participating in the boycott, given the close working relationships with doctoral researchers, as a matter of courtesy, we would recommend that you let the student know that you will not be participating in their viva. 

Regarding whether members should/can resign as external examiners: This ASOS does not explicitly call upon members to resign. However, members may resign as an external examiner without detriment at any time, providing they comply with the terms of their contract, that is, they honour their required notice period.

Regarding whether timetabled sessions that focus on assessment should be cancelled: workshops and other teaching sessions that may teach writing or other skills needed for assessment are not covered by MAB, and members should deliver this teaching.

Regarding whether to provide guidance on study skills and other assessment related issues: During MAB, students remain entitled to ask their module tutors/personal tutors for support in improving their writing and other skills that may be used in an assessed task during tutorials, via email exchanges, etc.

MAB Guide and FAQs

You can find the UCU MAB Guide here and the FAQs here. These should provide answers for most MAB queries, if you cannot find the answer here then please email ucu@lboro.ac.uk and/or attend the next MAB drop in meeting on a Wednesday afternoon.

WhatsApp Groups

We would like to remind members that we have two WhatsApp groups available for your use. The first group is for all members, regardless of which campus you work on. The second group is specifically for London campus members. These groups were set up to allow members to communicate during strike action when the use of work email is discouraged. The WhatsApp groups have developed into a fantastic branch building forum, enabling members to stay informed and up to date on the latest dispute news and – more broadly – to connect with each other and engage in discussions on union issues.

Our branch is committed to extending engagement with our membership, so that we can more effectively represent your interests. We encourage all members (both those in Loughborough and in London) to join and participate in our main WhatsApp group. We believe that, together, we can create positive change and better working conditions for all.

We should emphasise that, while we welcome questions and feedback via WhatsApp, it is essential to email the branch directly if you have a message for the committee. This ensures that nothing is missed and we can address any concerns as quickly and effectively as possible.

In summary: stay connected, stay informed and let your voice be heard. Links to join the Lboro UCU and the Lboro London UCU WhatsApp groups have been emailed to all members.

Update from Crowdfunder: Save university pensions, and save the planet

It’s set to be the biggest crowdfund in the UK ever. Even without yet winning in court, they’ve already:

•            exposed the nonsense “deficit” that USS directors predicted as a pretext to the April 2022 cuts – based on a 0.0% asset growth assumption for 30 years that was always a lie;

•            exposed the discriminatory conduct, that could have made every UK university liable for violating the Equality Act for the cuts’ disproportionate impact on grounds of gender, age and race;

•            pushed Universities UK to say they to reverse the cuts after the next valuation in August;

•            seen the architect of the nonsense deficit, USS CEO Bill Galvin, resign;

•            got UUK to say it will “examine” divesting fossil fuels;

•            got USS to vote against the BP chair, who’s planned to reduce fossil fuel cuts, and go into greenwash overdrive.

“But it’s not a done deal. We’re not satisfied until we have a legally binding reversal of the cuts, a policy that protects our planet, and we want a precedent to ensure that pension directors can never do the damage we’ve seen again – not to our pension or anyone else’s. This is essential to end the cycle of disputes over the scheme. We still need to hit our funding target, so that we – Ewan and Neil – don’t risk personal bankruptcy by fighting this court case! If all donors so far gave just £11.91 each, we’d be over the line.”

Here’s the link should you wish to contribute: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-pensions-and-planet/

LUCU Committee

April News

April News

We hope that you’re reading this having returned from an enjoyable Easter break.

IMPORTANT: remember to vote in the formal consultation on the dispute proposals.

We appreciate that if you’re returning from time away from work over Easter, you’re likely to be wading through a big backlog of emails.  However, please make it a priority to act on the email which you should have received late on Tuesday 4 April from Jo Grady. Your vote must be cast by 10 am on 17 April.  Allow yourself enough time for this task as UCU has supplied a considerable amount of material to enable you to make an informed decision.

Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB)

Should the consultation results take us into a MAB, a branch General Meeting will be called to discuss our approach and to answer members’ questions. You can read UCU’s MAB FAQs here and specific advice for academic-related and professional services staff here.

In the meantime, we urge you to register for UCU MAB training on 17 April, beginning at 5pm. For more information and details of how to register, please click here.

Joint statement with management and LSU

Building a strong relationship with Loughborough Students’ Union (LSU) has been high on our agenda for some time, and we are delighted that a recent innovation has been the scheduling of tripartite meetings between ourselves, student leaders and members of the University’s senior management. Though our perspectives on the disputes sometimes differ, the meetings have been highly constructive and have allowed us to stake out some common ground. Please see here for our first joint statement. We will continue to meet while the industrial action lasts – though our aim is for this positive collaboration to extend beyond the current moment and engage other of our priorities as a branch.

Hardship fund donation by Leicester Workers Support Group

The branch is very grateful to Leicester Workers Support Group for its generous donation of £100 to our hardship fund.

WhatsApp groups

We would like to remind members that we have two WhatsApp groups available for your use. The first group is for all members, regardless of which campus you work on. The second group is specifically for London campus members. These groups were set up to allow members to communicate during strike action when the use of work email is discouraged. The WhatsApp groups have developed into a fantastic branch building forum, enabling members to stay informed and up to date on the latest dispute news and – more broadly – to connect with each other and engage in discussions on union issues.

Our branch is committed to extending engagement with our membership, so that we can more effectively represent your interests. We encourage all members (both those in Loughborough and in London) to join and participate in our main WhatsApp group. We believe that, together, we can create positive change and better working conditions for all.

We should emphasise that, while we welcome questions and feedback via WhatsApp, it is essential to email the branch directly if you have a message for the committee. This ensures that nothing is missed and we can address any concerns as quickly and effectively as possible.

In summary: stay connected, stay informed and let your voice be heard. Join the Lboro UCU WhatsApp and, if a London member, the LUCU London WhatsApp using the links in the email of this newsletter that has been sent to members, or email the branch for the link to join.

Branch Equality roles

During our recent general meeting, a motion was presented to create new Equality Officer roles for various areas of equality work, including BAME, LGBTQ+, Women, and Disability. After considering the feedback received, the committee has decided it is currently most practical to maintain the arrangement of one branch Equality Officer. However, with an important modification: we hope that the Equality Officer will be supported by several Equality Reps who will work on their chosen area(s) of equality interest. The Equality Rep roles will be created as volunteers come forward. 

Equality Reps will be encouraged to join the committee in non-officer positions and will be welcome to attend all committee meetings.

If you are interested in becoming an Equality Rep for the branch, we encourage you to get in touch with us. Your involvement will help us to better address the needs of our members and ensure that we are effectively promoting equality in all areas.

Advance notice of AGM and branch elections

We are pleased to announce that this year’s LUCU AGM is scheduled for 28 June. Official notice of this meeting will be sent out in May, and, with it, a call for nominations for branch officers and committee members. We encourage all members who are interested in joining the committee to put your names forward.

It is important that we increase our numbers on the committee, in order both to better represent our membership and to share the load of union work. All committee members have time assigned to them in their workload allocation so that they can undertake this role during normal working hours. By joining the committee, you will play a vital role in shaping the union and supporting our members.

If you are interested in joining the committee and would like to find out more about our work before the nominations open in May, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. We would love to see some new faces on the committee for the upcoming year, and we hope that you will consider taking an active role in our union. Let us work together to strengthen our collective voice and achieve positive change for our members.

Motions sent to Congress and SHESC

The branch has recently approved two motions to be forwarded to national bodies. The first of these, regarding student engagement in our campaigning and disputes, has been sent to the Special Higher Education Sector Conference scheduled for later in April. This motion urges national UCU to form a working group to extend student engagement during industrial disputes, so as to increase pressure on university managements.

In addition, the branch has passed a motion for UCU Congress in May. This calls on UCU to move away from using the term and principles of Equality, and instead adopt the concept of Equity. The reason for this change is that Equity, as a concept, recognises that not all individuals start from the same place, and some may require greater support to reach fair outcomes. We believe that adopting the term Equity will both serve our members better and contribute to a more just society.

Both motions are available to read here.

University of Leeds petition

We express our condemnation of the recent decision by management at the University of Leeds to implement 100% pay deductions for staff who did not deliver teaching missed on strike days. This approach goes beyond the usual deductions applied across the sector for strike action and is punitive and provocative.

We urge our members to join us in signing the petition to revoke the 100% pay deduction threat for action short of a strike (ASOS) at Leeds. It is crucial that we stand together in solidarity with other branches and push back against this unjust treatment of our colleagues. Let us send a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated and that we demand fair and respectful treatment of all staff.

LUCU Committee

Update on UCU Rising Disputes

Update on UCU Rising Disputes

Local Survey Results

The results of the LUCU branch UCU Rising consultation survey are listed below:

QuestionYesNo
Do you support moving forward in negotiations with UCEA based on the terms of reference agreed at ACAS?68%7%
Do you support UCU members being formally consulted over the commitments that have been agreed with UUK to restore benefits and lower pension contributions?89%1%
Do you support UCU members being formally consulted on the proposals that have been agreed with UCEA on pay, ending zero-hour contracts, workloads, casualisation and closing equality pay gaps?77%6%
If members vote for industrial action in the re-ballot, do you support beginning a Marking & Assessment Boycott over the pay and conditions dispute from w/b 17 April?51%28%
If members vote for industrial action in the re-ballot, do you support beginning a Marking & Assessment Boycott over the USS cuts imposed in April 2022 from w/b 17 April?44%35%

Overall, it’s clear that there is strong support among LUCU members for further consultation and action, though there are some differing opinions on specific tactics. Please note abstentions are not listed above.

Branch Delegates Meeting (BDM) held on 29th March

The results of the national survey were the main topic of discussion. Mary Brewer, LUCU’s branch delegate, voted in line with your views as expressed in the local survey. Mary was given opportunity to speak and reported the main themes captured through your discursive feedback:

  • Members’ have felt confused and uninformed
  • Members feel that their voices were not heard by the Higher Education Committee (HEC)
  • Central communications have been poor
  • Members found the questions asked in the national surveys to be unclear and difficult to respond to

Our feedback was in line with that of many other branches and assurances were given that the feedback raised will be taken into account as the union moves forward in its efforts to represent its members effectively.

Results of UCU Rising Re-ballots

In the re-ballots for UCU’s pay and conditions and USS pensions disputes, our union has achieved resounding YES votes to continuing action, surpassing the anti-union turnout threshold in both disputes. The ballot results are:

BallotTurnoutYes to Strike ActionYes to ASOS
Pay & Conditions56.41%85.65%89.92%
USS (Pensions)58.40%89.05%91.61%

UCU has made history as the first education union in the UK to win multiple national ballots. Full results of the ballots can be found here. Negotiations will continue and notice of a national marking and assessment boycott will be served to employers later this month. Well done to everyone who voted in this ballot, helping UCU get over the line and empowering our negotiators. Very special thanks to our Get The Vote Out volunteers for their hard work.

What’s Next?

The LUCU committee will call a branch General Meeting as soon as we know more from the HEC about further action.


LUCU Committee