UCU’s Higher Education Committee voted last Friday to disregard the decisions of Conference 2021 and delay holding a Special HE Sector Conference (SHESC) until September 9th. See UCU Left’s report of the HEC meeting.
A Conference motion called for …
Congress 2021 – Now let’s organise the fightback
After 15 months of HE and FE employers using the pandemic as a justification for attacking the jobs, pay and conditions of their staff, this year’s UCU Congress and Sector Conferences needed to orient and arm the union for a …
HESC 2021: Defending the principles of Higher Education and resisting attacks on working conditions
Our higher education institutions continue to be a battleground. Marketisation and competition push our employers to drive down the share of income spent on staffing and continually attack our pay, pensions and conditions.
At the same time, the Tories’ political …
HEC REPORT 30TH April 2021
HEC discussion focused on negotiations on pay campaigns and pensions. Whilst confidentiality prevents much discussion, it is possible to say the following.
Pay
On pay the 0% non-offer in 2020-21 has been repeatedly rejected by UCU members in electronic ballots …
Prepare for action and throw out SWG so-called ‘principles’
You should have received an email from the General Secretary including five principles agreed by a majority of the USS SWG (Superannuation Working Group).
Our current position, as determined by the December HE Sector Conference (HESC) is to
• defend …
Congress 2021: Motion Prioritisation Recommendations
In this post we offer a suggested list of priority motions that your branch or region might like to consider when you respond to the UCU Congress and HESC 2021 prioritisation consultation.
We found the process of identifying motions that …
We stopped the USS Contributions increase in 2018 – mass action can win again
USS Valuation Statement
Do you want to increase what you pay to 13.6 – 18.6% for a pension that is already in surplus? If not, prepare for action
USS has finally released its valuation proposals, giving a total cost of …
HEC Report 26 February
Too slow, too timid and too obstructive
HEC met on 26 February amid over a dozen universities making redundancies and victimising trade union activists. However, the resistance of members in branches means employers are not getting their own way. Branches …
The Fight for Trans Rights
Note on terminology: this article will use the term trans throughout as an umbrella term referring to a range of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer and gender non-conforming identities (as many trans-led organisations such as Gendered Intelligence do). We will use other …
How do we build a fighting union that can win?
UCU’s interim Congress took place in the context of a public health crisis where our employers and government are playing fast and loose with our health and using the pandemic to cut costs through sacking staff, including UCU members. But …