Industrial Action Bulletin (ASOS) Action Short of a Strike

Industrial Action Bulletin (ASOS) Action Short of a Strike

We are writing to clarify further how ASOS is intended to work during this initial phase of industrial action following new information from UCU as well as further negotiations with local management.

The HEC has opted for escalating ASOS.  In the first instance, we are being asked to work to contract: this means that staff carry out the key functions of their roles but do not undertake voluntary duties, and staff should limit their working hours to a reasonable number which, according to the Framework Agreement, for staff in pre-92 universities, the union considers to be a nominal 37 hours per week.

Escalating ASOS is part of UCU’s ‘Reclaim Your Time’ strategy, that is especially relevant in the post-92 sector where contracts mandate more clearly set working hours. Even so, across the sector, it will prepare the ground for an escalation of ASOS when the HEC meets on December 8, 2021.  Members are being asked to push back against unreasonable workload demands by management.  Reports of excessive workload will be collated by UCU to demonstrate how much free work staff are expected to perform and for falling wages. UCU is cognizant of the fact that this may create workload for members as well as managers, but demonstrating the amount of overwork in the system that staff must perform in what should be their personal time is a vital part of the Four Fights campaign and the campaign to protect staff wellbeing.

Responding to a request to reschedule work

We have been reassured by management that they respect our right to take industrial action, and they agree that asking staff to do work for which they were not paid would not be consistent with the VC’s commitment to “maintaining collegiality and respect for each other” in the context of industrial action – a commitment shared by LUCU.  Therefore, members should not routinely expect to receive requests to replace work lost to strike days.  

However, the University may request that assessments submitted on a strike day be marked. The current terms of ASOS allow them to make this request. Management have agreed with LUCU that this should happen only if the staff member believes this will not materially add to their workload. If the colleague believes the work related to assessment cannot be accommodated in their current workload, they should report this to their Dean, who will be prepared to adjust their workload to facilitate this. The adjustment to the colleague’s workload should be meaningful. This is consistent with UCU’s current guidance for ASOS whereby members can ask what work they “should not do to so as to compensate you for time spent on replacement activities”.

If you receive a request related to work impacted by the strike action, you may use this template (see here for the template and here for the national guidance) to demonstrate to your manager: how much time the task you are being asked to do will take you to complete and report how many hours above 37 (the notional working week according to the Framework Agreement) you would need to work if you were to undertake the task without compensation.  Please copy LUCU into the correspondence with your manager when negotiating on workload.  If you would like additional support in addressing how workload will be managed in relation to such requests, please contact UCU@lboro.ac.uk.

LUCU Committee

LUCU News December 2021

LUCU News December 2021

USS: Response to Vice-Chancellor’s email

We have reported on our ongoing work with management related to workload, EDI and casualisation in previous newsletters, so we concentrate here on USS.

We welcome the University’s continuing willingness to discuss these issues with the branch. This has led to a several important developments. Firstly, we are pleased that the University continues to recognise that the current USS valuation is excessively prudent and that, as a result, the cuts to our pensions we are being asked to accept are unnecessary. Secondly, we are also pleased that the University has called for a new evidence-based, moderately prudent valuation to supersede the existing flawed valuation.

Making such a call was one of the two demands that UCU made of employers in the current dispute. Finally, we very much welcome the University’s acceptance that UUK should provide the same level of covenant support to all proposals considered at the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC). UUK’s refusal to do this in August, with the consequence that UCU’s proposals could not be considered, is a direct cause of the industrial action scheduled.

However, we are disappointed that the University is not willing to call for the current UUK proposals to be withdrawn, the second of the two demands in UCU’s dispute letter. The rationale given by the Vice Chancellor – this would mean that we would be on a path to crippling contribution increases – is unjustified for at least two reasons. The first is that it ignores the fact that employers’ actions put staff on a path to crippling pension cuts. Essentially the Vice Chancellor’s argument is that the costs associated with the flawed 2020 valuation are so crippling that the University cannot risk being exposed to a share of them, so staff must be exposed to almost 100% of these costs instead. This is simply not fair. The second reason is (as explained here) withdrawing the UUK proposals would not involve significant contribution rises until October 2022. This would create enough space to find a negotiated settlement without the need for industrial action. Such a settlement would prevent the unaffordable increases scheduled for that date.

To be clear, the forthcoming industrial action would not be necessary if employers were willing to (i) call for a new evidence-based, moderately prudent valuation, and (ii) withdraw the current UUK proposals, and (iii) enter into good faith negotiations to find a fairer solution. We are very pleased that the University accepts (i) and (iii), but we are disappointed that it has chosen industrial action over calling for the withdrawal of the UUK proposals.

EGM Report: USS/Four Fights/Industrial Action

At the UCU delegates’ meeting on 12 November, the Branch representatives voted in line with the views expressed by Loughborough members at the EGM two days earlier: that is, in support of re-balloting universities that did not reach the 50% threshold, with industrial action to begin in the New Year.

The NEC met the following week and indeed decided to re-ballot those universities, but also to initiate strike action before the Christmas break. Therefore, failing a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations, we will be on strike on December 1-3 inclusive. We encourage you to let students know in advance if you will be taking part in strike action so as to maintain good relations and to avoid causing them undue inconvenience.

We are grateful to senior management for agreeing to delay pay deductions for December strike action until February, and for agreeing to maintain pension contributions during the action.

Pickets

There will be in-person pickets on campus each day. We will meet at the main University entrance at 8:00 am and picket until approximately 11 o’clock. There will be a BBQ on Friday.

BBQ on the Picket Line

To keep members safe, hand sanitiser will be provided as required on picket lines, social distancing will be observed, a list of participants for contact tracing purposes will be kept, and members intending to join the picket are asked to take a lateral flow test before participating.

Members who do not wish to use public transport to attend a picket might consider offering or taking part in virtual forms of action, such as organising a teach-in or using social media to distribute fliers and messages.

If you can support the action by joining a picket, offering a virtual event, or helping to advertise the action, please contact Marc Gibson

Out of Office Message

Below is a suggested out-of-office message for you to use during the period of industrial action. Of course, please feel free to adapt as you see fit:

I am currently unavailable as I am taking part in the University and College Union’s (UCU) strike action to defend our right to a fair pension. Please redirect your query to the University management, asking them to use their leverage to help secure a return to negotiations.

Solidarity with Leicester UCU

Some of our members will be supporting Leicester colleagues to GTVO in their re-ballot on USS. If you can’t travel to join the Loughborough picket line, but live in Leicester, please consider visiting their picket lines: they propose an 8:30 am start, with each day ending with a rally and march at 11am.

Branch News

LUCU Health and Safety officers undertook a programme of health and safety inspections in one School (as per Regulation 5 of the 1977 Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations), following multiple reports from members in three subject areas who reported excessive workloads and work-related stressors that were having a detrimental impact on their physical and mental wellbeing.

The inspection took place between 26 October and 19 November. Four meetings chaired by a LUCU H&S officer enabled participants (both members and non-members in the School) to feed back on their work experience in terms of Demands (workload, work patterns and environment); Control (how much say they have over how they work); Support (resources provided both centrally by the University and by line management); and Change (how changes are managed and communicated). This was followed up by a survey. In total, we captured feedback from 66 staff.

The data collected revealed significant stress hazards, and a discursive analysis of responses, along with the survey results, was submitted to HR, with a request that management urgently develop an action plan to address the problems (with deadlines for reaching interim targets, as well as long term improvements). We are pleased to report that the University recognizes the validity of concerns about staff wellbeing in the School, and a meeting is scheduled between HR and the School’s SMT to start formulating an action plan. We will continue to monitor the situation through our reps, as well as through consultation with management about progress on the action plan.

New Reps

We would like to welcome two new reps. Saul Albert, who lectures on social psychology in Social Sciences and Humanities, is our new rep in Communications and Media. Tony Sutton, who is a University Teacher in Wolfson, will now be representing members in Mechanical Engineering. Saul succeeds Dominic Wring, while Tony is taking over from Kaddour Bouazza-Marouf. The Branch Committee would like to thank Dom and Kaddour for their many years of excellent service to members in their areas.

LUCU reps serve as essential ‘on the ground’ points of contact for members. If you might be interested in serving as a rep for your area and would like to know more about what the role entails, we encourage you to talk to our Membership Secretary Marie Hanlon

LUCU Committee

LUCU Memo to Students

LUCU Memo to Students

We suggest that colleagues send a message to students in advance of the industrial action to maintain the best possible relations at what can be a stressful time for everyone involved.  The branch has created the following message to make this easier: please amend as you see fit for your student groups.

Begins
Subject: UCU Industrial Action – Beginning December 1, 2021  

Dear <usual form of address>,  

Many of you will know by now that the University and College Union (UCU), the trade union representing academic and academic related staff, has announced a first wave of industrial action over cuts to staff pensions, excessive workloads, job insecurity, and pay levels that have not kept up with inflation. This will impact universities across the sector including Loughborough.  

I regret that, unless the strike is cancelled (which, up to the last minute, is not impossible), strike action is likely to impact on your modules that are scheduled to occur between 1st and 3rd December. This means that teaching will be cancelled, and tutors will not be holding tutorials/office hours, nor answering emails.  

I will confirm nearer the time whether the module will be affected by industrial action.   If you would like to know more about why your lecturers are taking this action, you can access further information via our local Loughborough UCU YouTube channel.  

Kind regards
<your name>
Ends
Template Memo to Students

Helping Branches Achieve the Ballot Threshold

Helping Branches Achieve the Ballot Threshold

Helping branches achieve the ballot threshold

UCU National are requesting volunteers to help message members at branches that did not make the threshold. The request is for people to use the ThruText system to help with get the vote out (GTVO). This is a really simple tool to use and can be accessed from most web browsers. If anyone is interested in taking part and helping branches across the country to achieve the ballot threshold please fill in your details here and the campaigns team will be in touch.

Helping the LUCU to help you
We used the ThruText system at Loughborough in the last ballot window and it was very effective. With further re-ballots looking likely, please do log onto MyUCU and check that both your contact details and employment details are up to date. We would like to encourage more of our members to list a mobile phone number on MyUCU for use in future ballots.

LUCU News November 2021

LUCU News November 2021

GTVO – USS & Four Fights

We are very grateful to our Reps and members who volunteered their time to get the vote out! And thanks to all our members who endured with such good grace the many communications about returning your ballots. We are quietly confident that we are over the 50% threshold, and we will be writing to you again next week with the formal results for each ballot.

How You Can Help Build Support

Members have produced the following graphics that explain succinctly what is at stake regarding USS, workload, pay, and casualisation. We would appreciate members using the graphic as an email footer, sharing it on social media, and/or printing and displaying it on their office doors.

Video archive

If you haven’t had a chance yet to watch the videos by our Pensions Rep Matthew Inglis and our Negotiating Secretary Marc Gibson, you can find them on the LUCU YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIx1LVG6eg71sYj_RwLIxnQ

Covid Update

The Dispute Process

We can confirm that the agreement reached with management last year following the dispute process remains in place. The dispute resolution process comprises a pro-active response from SMTs. Managers are asked to identify as early as possible staff who may be concerned about providing in-person teaching. Requests to teach online rather than in-person should be treated sympathetically, and HR business partners are available to assist in determining what action is most appropriate to help staff, without necessarily triggering an OH consultation.

The resolution process has been very successful, but we continue to hear of a few isolated cases across campus where members are being unduly pressured to teach in-person. These individuals are being supported by our caseworkers.  If you are facing pressure to teach in-person, please let us know at UCU@lboro.ac.uk, or contact our Casework Coordinator Andrew Dix – A.dix@lboro.ac.uk, and we will raise the case as a matter of urgency with HR.

Health and Safety on Campus

We continue to meet regularly with management to monitor how the University is responding to the pandemic and the health and safety measures it is putting in place to protect staff and students. We are hearing reports from members who are increasingly concerned about people not wearing masks while moving around buildings or in teaching spaces, students being unresponsive when asked to wear masks in teaching spaces, students complaining about requests to wear masks, overcrowding in some hallways and teaching spaces, and requests to work on campus when people could perform their duties from home.

We have lobbied management to implement the following: 

  • To make mask-wearing mandatory as it is within their legal right to do;
  • To make public ventilation figures for every teaching space;
  • To provide CO2 monitors in shared enclosed spaces, including teaching rooms;
  • To allow home-working wherever possible (following SAGE guidance).

To be fair and transparent, we have offered management the opportunity to explain to members their reasons for declining these requests, and you will find their response attached to this newsletter.  

LUCU will continue to lobby management to agree to the above requests, because we believe that decisions should be based on scientific guidance rather than government guidance where the two may be in conflict, and our Health and Safety Officers believe the above measures would result in a safer campus environment.  Further, in relation to mask-wearing, we do not agree that it is appropriate to place the burden of enforcement on staff.   We would like the University to resource a plan for enforcement as they did last year.

We will also lobby management to provide appropriate support for staff whose requests for students to wear masks is being ignored and work to ensure that our members experience no detriment due to student complaints about reasonable requests to wear masks.  Please let us know if you have any concerns about Covid safety measures, especially concerning mask-wearing, in your work area: UCU@lboro.ac.uk.

LUCU Committee

Ballots Now Out and Video Update

Ballots Now Out and Video Update

Ballots have now been posted out and those being balloted in the USS and Four Fights disputes should have received them in the post. Look out for this envelope:

When you receive your ballot please open it up, vote Yes & Yes and Yes & Yes on the ballots and put them in the pre-paid return envelope provided. Please then post this back as soon as you can. 

Please click here for the latest video on the USS dispute, where Marc Gibson, Branch Secretary gives his views on the USS dispute.

To see previous videos the branch has released during the dispute please go to our YouTube channel, don’t forget to subscribe so you are notified of any new videos we post.

LUCU Committee

USS Pensions Dispute – Video Update

USS Pensions Dispute – Video Update

Our Pensions Rep, Matthew Inglis, has produced another excellent short video to update you on the USS dispute explaining the UUK proposal and comparing it to the current scheme. Click here to watch now.

You can still see Matthews previous video that explains the cause of the pension dispute and demonstrates how the 2020 evaluation is flawed, here.

Please share the videos to help publicise this issue.

If you have colleagues who are not yet members of UCU it’s not too late for them to join and have a voice in the dispute. Please direct anyone interested in joining to https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

LUCU Committee

LUCU Newsletter – October 2021

LUCU Newsletter – October 2021

In this newsletter, we report on USS, Covid-19 H&S, Anti-Casualisation, and Dynamic Working. 

USS

Our Pensions Rep Matthew Inglis has produced an excellent short video that explains the cause of the pension dispute and demonstrates how the 2020 evaluation is flawed. We encourage all members to watch this: you can find it here. Please share the video to help publicise this issue.

We would like to remind members of the EGM on the USS Pension Dispute on October 8, 2021 – 1:00 – 1:50 on Teams. You can join the meeting via link that has been emailed to all members. If you are unable to attend and wish to ask a question about the dispute, please contact UCU@lboro.ac.uk.

Covid Update

Face Masks

Following our last Covid update, some members raised concerns with the branch about the University no longer requiring the use of face masks; academic colleagues were especially concerned about higher risks posed by teaching in spaces where students were not wearing masks. At the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee meeting on 15 Sept., LUCU raised the issue with management, and they agreed to take a more robust approach toward encouraging the use of face masks on campus.  We appreciate the constructive response to the concerns we raised. In addition, so that colleagues can feel more secure about asking students to wear face masks, the University has provided a slide that can be inserted into lecture materials or used on LEARN to request that students wear face masks in teaching sessions (unless exempt). You can download the slide here.

Ventilation

Ventilation levels have been checked in all areas that have mechanical ventilation and the details of the ventilation rates should be included in the risk assessments which are available for staff to read if they wish (please speak to your School Safety Officer is you are unsure where to find them).  CO2 monitors are being used in several locations where there are concerns about ventilation levels (especially those with poor or no mechanical ventilation).

Testing and Covid Cases

All students moving into on-campus accommodation have been required to take a lateral flow test before being permitted to collect their keys. Up to mid-afternoon on 29 September 2021, there had only been four positive results, and, given that approximately 2,000 tests per day are being carried out this is a good sign.  Students will continue to be required to undertake at least one lateral flow test per week; external funding for the current testing programme is in place to the end of October, but almost certainly will be extended to the end of the first term at least.  Staff are asked to take a lateral flow test at least once a week when they are coming onto campus. 

Returning to Campus

With term having started, many staff have been asked to return, at least part time, to working on campus.  This may be for a number of different reasons, but unless there is a specific health and safety risk which has not been addressed, in general our contracts oblige us to comply with these requests. LUCU’s position is that the University should follow Indie-Sage advice, which would see those staff who can work from home continue to do so, and those activities (e.g. area and school meetings) that can be done virtually continue to take place on Teams.  We will continue to make this case to management. If you have specific concerns (e.g. too many people in an office or teaching space, having to use public transport at peak times to travel to campus, etc.) then please discuss these with your line manager in the first instance. Don’t hesitate to contact the union if you do not feel your concerns are being adequately addressed.

Dynamic Working

In discussions with management, LUCU has been broadly supportive of the initiative to introduce dynamic working. We welcome the greater flexibility this mode of working offers – especially for colleagues in professional services – and its potential to benefit those who have caring responsibilities or a disability.  The opportunity for staff to work ‘dynamically’ is at the discretion of line managers, and LUCU is keen to ensure that the policy is applied fairly across job families, schools, and units across campus.  If you experience any problems in relation to Dynamic Working, please contact your area Rep or the committee at UCU@lboro.ac.uk so that we can bring them to the attention of HR.  If your request to work ‘dynamically’ is refused and you feel that you have been treated unfairly, you may also contact our Casework Coordinator Andrew Dix for individual support: A.Dix@lboro.ac.uk

Anti-Casualisation Campaign

The Casualisation Task and Finish Group, established following industrial action in 2018/19, has concluded its first phase. This has resulted in a Charter of Principles that the University has committed to in respect of casual employment, which is to be reviewed annually by management and campus unions. While we do not think this will eradicate the problems that casualisation causes, we hope that it will:

1) Improve pay and conditions for hourly paid workers in the immediate term;

2) Enable staff on open-ended contracts to make the case for more secure forms of employment when new staff are required;

3) Provide a platform for further organisation and negotiation.

The Charter of Principles can be read in full here. We’ll soon be publishing guidance for casual workers who feel these principles are not being honoured, and for staff on open-ended contracts who wish to support casualised colleagues. UCU has also recently produced some excellent materials for casual and open-ended staff: you can find them here. In the meantime, if you have any concerns, queries or suggestions, please contact David Bell on anticaslboro@gmail.com. If you are concerned that your employment at Loughborough is not in keeping with the spirit of the principles, please copy in your Department Rep, if possible (see here for a list of Reps).

LUCU Committee

General Meeting to discuss USS Pensions

General Meeting to discuss USS Pensions

The branch committee have called a meeting of all members to discuss the USS pensions situation on Friday 8th October at 1pm. Please add this to your calendar and join us on the day.

Members ,check your email for a link to join the meeting.

The timetable for UK-wide industrial action over USS pension cuts and Four Fights (pay, workload, casualisation, and equality) is as follows:

Mon 18 Oct – ballots open

Thurs 4 Nov – ballots close

Mon 8 Nov – HEC meets to consider results

See a video message from Dr Jo Grady, UCU President, here: https://twitter.com/ucu/status/1440745807716642818

Please let your colleagues know it’s not too late to join UCU and have a voice in the ballots: https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

LUCU Update on USS Pensions

LUCU Update on USS Pensions

University staff will have received the recent communication from Chris Linton concerning proposed changes to the USS pension scheme. As Chris explains, the proposed changes have come about because USS continues to adopt excessively prudent assumptions when valuing the scheme. In particular, USS’s assumptions about asset growth are absurdly pessimistic. In the period since the valuation date (March 2020), the scheme’s assets have grown by £19.7bn. In contrast, the assumptions in the valuation suggest that this level of growth would not have been achieved until 2110. After just one year the scheme is a full 90 years ahead of schedule!

Unfortunately, our employers have decided to push the cost of this flawed valuation onto staff. While it is true that employers have agreed to increase the level of so-called covenant support, the cost of this is at best highly speculative, that is, of the form “borrowing might cost the University a bit more in a few years”. In contrast, we are being asked to accept cuts of between 20% and 35% of our pension now. You can find out exactly how much you are being asked to sacrifice by using the USS modeller: http://ucu.org.uk/ussmodeller

We would like to address one specific section of Chris’s email in some detail. He writes that UCU developed some alternative proposals, but that these were not “formally submitted to the [Joint Negotiating Committee] for determination”. Precise, and in our view eccentric, meanings for the words “formally” and “determination” are required for this sentence to be true.

In collaboration with branch pension officers, including Loughborough’s, UCU developed a set of proposals (which can be seen in this news article). These involved sharing the costs of the flawed valuation between employers and employees. The idea was that members might be willing to accept a short-term price to avoid industrial action, so that UCU could join forces with UUK and push USS into governance reform that would permit a sensible valuation to be conducted in 2022. UCU’s proposals were submitted to the Joint Negotiating Committee (as item 3.2 in the papers for the meeting of 13th August). Unfortunately, UUK decided that they were not able to consult with employers about the proposals during August, apparently because too many people were on holiday. As a result, UUK decided that they could not provide covenant support to any proposals that were not their own. Because no occupational pension scheme can operate if employers refuse to support it, this meant that UCU’s proposals could not be put to the vote in the JNC meeting on 31st August. In short, UUK vetoed them. Notwithstanding this, Loughborough UCU has asked Loughborough University to review the UCU proposals directly. We are pleased that the University has agreed to look at them in detail, to understand them and to comment on them.

There is still time to resolve this dispute without industrial action. UUK could choose to withdraw their proposals and engage in good-faith discussions with UCU about solutions to both the short-term and long-term issues that USS’s behaviour has raised.

Unfortunately, this looks unlikely. As a result, last week UCU’s Special Higher Education Sector Conference agreed to launch an industrial action ballot.

We have called a meeting of all members to discuss the USS situation on 8th October at 1pm, and further details will be circulated in due course.

LUCU Committee