1. Home
  2. News and events
  3. Branch updates

Branch updates

News in brief from SUCU Committee.

October Branch News – Pay, Health and Safety, Prevent and more

Published on

October Branch News

October saw a well attended general meeting, details emerge over the 2015 pay claim, a focus on health and safety at work and meetings with university management over Prevent, Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), USS and more. Earlier this month, and after some debate at national meetings, UCU's Higher Education Committee decided that the 2015 pay offer of 1% will not be contested. While the offer is highly disappointing and fails to make up ground on real-term pay erosion of 15-20% over recent years, it was decided that efforts will instead be put into a campaign building towards the 2016 claim. We hope that a strong, nationally coordinated campaign will take place in the run-up to the negotiations in March. We held a stall on the concourse to mark European Health and Safety Week earlier this month, promoting awareness of workplace stress, bullying and harassment.  Health and safety legislation is important protection for staff. Last year we carried out an inspection of a department where there were serious concerns over staff well-being, and worked with the university to put changes in place to improve the situation. Our well-attended October general meeting saw a number of motions passed. One outlined our position on the government's Prevent agenda, which we see as a threat to freedom of speech amongst other things (read our blog post about this: http://ucu.group.shef.ac.uk/understanding-prevent/). We made a commitment to maintaining local pressure with regards the USS pension fund and a pledge of support to People's March for Climate, Justice and Jobs. We also hosted a guest speaker from the Tamil Solidarity campaign and voted to affiliate to that movement. Minutes of the meeting, including the text of the motions, are online: http://bit.ly/209YH0D Also in the last month, we met with the university to discus capability procedures, pushing in particular for a review of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs). We have big concerns over the way PIPs are being used, especially with regards staff with disabilities. In a separate meeting, we pressed representatives from HR and Finance to engage with us to develop the university's position with regards USS, and will be writing to the Vice Chancellor on this issue. In addition, in a constructive meeting on the Prevent agenda we were pleased to find the university shared some of our concerns. Finally, you may be interested to read about a recent employment tribunal case which was won by a staff member at the University of Sheffield. Management have agreed to meet us to discuss what can be learned from this case. http://bit.ly/1KqYFWk

Are you hourly paid?

We are hearing that in some departments, staff undertaking regular teaching are still being engaged on a casual basis. A regularisation threshold of £750 or 10 engagements per year should be applied by the University management, set up following pressure from Sheffield UCU. As a result of a University wide review of hourly paid workers, 78 people have been given employment contracts. Please contact us if you are in this situation and have been refused a contract.

Dates for the diary

Tuesday 24 November: Sheffield UCU General Meeting, 1pm, Octagon Council Chambers.

Noteworthy events

Monday 2 November, London: TUC lobby and rally against the trade union bill. https://www.tuc.org.uk/trade-union-bill-get-involved Wednesday 4 November, London: National demo for free education. http://anticuts.com/demo-nov-2015/ Saturday 28 Nov (Sheffield) and 29 Nov (London): People's march for climate change, justice and jobs. https://www.facebook.com/events/1490417151253648/

New look Branch News

Published on

This is our new look Branch News, which we will send monthly rather than weekly. We hope it will give a better summary of what has been happening locally, while still passing on interesting events and reading. For more frequent updates, follow us on Twitter (@sheffielducu). If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know.

About Sheffield UCU

The Sheffield UCU committee is active both locally and nationally, meeting regularly with university management (alongside representatives from  Unite and UNISON) to negotiate policy development. In the past year this has covered the Reward and Recognition framework, the anti bullying and harassment procedure and a big involvement in pursuing health and safety issues in a department where there were concerns. We also have volunteer caseworkers working closely with staff members who need support. The committee membership is at the bottom of this email.

September Branch News

Sheffield UCU president, Craig Brandist, was invited for a meeting with the Vice Chancellor, Keith Burnett, to discuss concerns over the procedures for setting professorial pay. Members have raised concerns about the way the review takes place and the lack transparency in the system, which leaves it open to favouritism or misuse. The VC listened to our concerns and recognised their validity. We hope this will lead to changes in the system and we will keep the pressure on for them. Also discussed was the Recognition Awards element of The Deal, aspects of which we are not comfortable with, and the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework. While the downgrade of the USS pension scheme was finalised earlier this summer, a campaign to save it from further downgrades in the future (and possibly even to claw back ground) is beginning. We will be meeting with the university at the end of this month to discuss the way the scheme is being administered to try to find some common ground with which to pressure the USS board. Recent investments have performed so well that the USS investment team was given a £4m increase in bonus, while, paradoxically, the board claims the scheme's deficit has grown. Finally, we were very pleased that the the Student's Union and the university subsidiary company Unicus have finally agreed to pay all staff a living wage. This is welcome news, and about time too! http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/staff/news/students-union-unicus-joint-increase-1.507597 email: ucu@sheffield.ac.uk web: http://ucu.group.shef.ac.uk/ twitter: @sheffielducu facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sheffield-UCU-183109855035943 Please encourage colleagues to join UCU: https://join.ucu.org.uk/

Dates for the Diary

Tuesday 13 October: Sheffield UCU General Meeting, 1pm, Octagon Council Chambers.

Interesting Reading

"Trade union bill not backed by evidence" Open letter to the Guardian, 17 August. http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/aug/17/trade-union-bill-not-backed-by-evidence "USS bonuses went up £4 million as final salary pension scheme axed", Times Higher Education, 3 September. https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/uss-bonuses-went-up-four-million-pounds-as-final-salary-pension-scheme-axed

Noteworthy Events

Saturday 3 October: Cuban Futures conference, London. Find out about what’s happening in Cuba and the reality behind the headlines on US-Cuba relations.  http://www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk/news/article/2757/cubas-top-diplomat-for-us-sees-long-road-to-normal-ties Sunday 4 October: TUC demo at the Tory Party Conference, Manchester. Transport from Sheffield available.  http://tinyurl.com/shefpa4oct Monday 19 October: Banner Theatre's "Chicago - The Great Teachers Strike 2012", Sheffield Trades and Labour Club, 200 Duke Street, Sheffield (organised by Sheffield Trade Union Council and supported by this branch).  http://bannertheatre.co.uk/union-gap/ Wednesday 28 October: Black Lives Matter Conference, Nottingham, 9.30am-5pm.  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-lives-matter-the-past-present-future-of-a-movement-for-justice-registration-17541594381 Monday 2 November, London: TUC lobby and rally against the trade union bill.   https://www.tuc.org.uk/trade-union-bill-get-involved

Sheffield UCU Committee

President: Craig Brandist (c.s.brandist@sheffield.ac.uk, Russian and Slavonic Studies) Senior Vice President: Mick Ashman (m.ashman@sheffield.ac.uk, School of Nursing and Midwifery) Vice-President: Jane Simm (j.m.simm@sheffield.ac.uk, Careers Service) Branch Secretary: Sarah Staniland (s.s.staniland@sheffield.ac.uk, Chemistry) Membership Secretary: Rob Stanton (r.stanton@sheffield.ac.uk, CiCS) Treasurer: Pablo Stern (p.stern@sheffield.ac.uk, CiCS) Communications Officer: Sam Marsh (s.j.marsh@sheffield.ac.uk, School of Mathematics and Statistics) Anti-Casualisation Officer: Sam Morecroft (sjmorecroft1@sheffield.ac.uk, Politics) Equalities Officer: Wendy Michallat (w.michallat@sheffield.ac.uk, French) Health and Safety Officer: Mick Ashman (m.ashman@sheffield.ac.uk, School of Nursing and Midwifery) Pensions Officer: Sam Marsh (s.j.marsh@sheffield.ac.uk, School of Mathematics and Statistics) Committee Member: Nikolay Ogryzko (n.ogryzko@sheffield.ac.uk, Medical School)

SUCU Branch News 13th August 2015

Published on

Welcome to new members of Sheffield UCU

Month on month we continue to grow in number, with a 5% increase over the last year across the university.  Every member makes a difference - by adding to the strength of the union in negotiations and influencing the direction it takes.  Please spread the word to colleagues about joining us, and see information here about how you can get more involved.  Free mugs and "build the union" bags have just arrived so if you'd like to collect some from the SUCU office please contact ucu@sheffield.ac.uk.

Events of interest:

Black Lives Matter Conference, Nottingham, October 28, 2015 9.30am-5pm.  More...

SUCU Branch News 30 July 2015

Published on

Decision from Information Commissioner on University of Sheffield

A member has alerted us to a recent decision by the Information Commissioner concerning the University of Sheffield's refusal to disclose information relating to Employment Tribunal claims over a three year period.  For example, University management are refusing to say how much has been spent on legal costs.  SUCU Committee fully support the need for the information on Employment Tribunal data and will watch this with interest and of course keep members updated.

Events of interest: 

  • "Time to Act! - Divest from Fossil Fuels, Invest in Climate Jobs, Build the Climate Movement" National Conference Sheffield, Sat 19 Sep, Sheffield College: Speakers include Louise Haigh MP. More information...
  • Cuban Futures conference, Sat 3 Oct, London: Find out about what’s happening in Cuba and the reality behind the headlines on US-Cuba relations. More information...
  • TUC demo at the Tory Party Conference, Sun 4 Oct, Manchester: Transport from Sheffield available. More information...

SUCU Branch News 16 July 2015

Published on

New SRDS process

We recently alerted you to the introduction of a new SRDS process which we are closely monitoring, along with the other campus unions.  Its important to ensure that any objectives agreed in your SRDS are under your control, and that any risk dependencies which can affect their achievement (eg Research Council funding or specific support needs) are identified.  Please keep sending your comments in confidence to ucu@sheffield.ac.uk.

UCU survey of researchers

Are you or have you ever been a researcher in higher education? UCU has launched a new survey to gather evidence on the impact of short-term funding on the production of research. UCU is interested in gathering evidence of how short-term funding structures affect the production of research to help us make the argument for more stable funding and sustainable research careers. We also want to know what researchers think about the funding of research. If you are or have ever been a researcher, please help us by filling in this survey.  The survey is open to all involved in research, so when you’ve completed it, make sure to pass it on to other researchers, along with this link to join UCU, the union fighting for better research careers.

Member surgery 23 July

There are some appointment slots available at our surgery on the 23 July, 10.00 to 12.00 for individual members seeking advice about an employment issue   Volunteer UCU colleagues from within the Branch who have received casework training will be offering confidential help and advice.  If you would like to book an individual appointment email ucu@sheffield.ac.uk.  Please note that members are not normally eligible for help in the first three months of membership. Read more about SUCU assistance here.

Open letter to the Guardian

Member may be interested to read this open letter - Let UK universities do what they do best – teaching and research.

Events of Interest

Another major GMB Greenco Rally in support of GMB Recycling Workers.  We alerted members previously to this very important struggle for GMB members at Sheffield's recycling centres.  They are fighting an ongoing battle over issues including: bullying, pay, poor welfare facilities, increased use of zero hours contracts, ending payment of the living wage and threatened disciplinary action for the entire work-force for expressing an intention to take legitimate and lawful strike action.  The demo will be on Saturday 18th July, 12pm — 2pm, Blackstock Green Co, S14 1JE (outside the Horse and Groom pub) and speakers include Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh.