Upcoming Industrial Action for Pay and Pensions Disputes
As you are no doubt aware by now, Sheffield UCU is preparing to join branches at 59 institutions across the country in strike action from November 25 - December 4 if agreement is not reached before then with our employers. In addition to joining the daily pickets at your building, we are developing an exciting program of teach-outs to be held at the Student Union, as well as rallies and other activities.
This week, we will be holding a number of activities in the lead up to the strike (further information below). Please come along to get involved!
In the meantime, if you have questions about the upcoming strike action, please review the branch guidance document here and the FAQ’s put together by our national union here.
Pre-Strike Roadshows: In addition to any department meetings your SUCU departmental rep might be organising, we are holding two ‘Roadshows’ aimed at addressing concerns and queries from staff and students, members and non-members on what the strike action will involve
Monday, 18 November 1-2 Dainton LT1
Friday, 22 November 1-2 Alfred Denny LT2
SUCU branch General Meeting: In addition to discussing any updates on the imminent industrial action, there are several important motions that have been tabled by our members. Please attend, and bring a colleague!
Thursday, 21 November 1-2 Council Room Firth Court
Banner making event and student-staff solidarity meeting: We will be meeting on Wednesday in the Red Deer pub at 4:00 pm to make banners for next week’s industrial action, and on Thursday, we will be meeting from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm in the University Arms for banner making.
On Wednesday, from 6-7pm the SU have organised a student-staff solidarity meeting in Hicks Lecture Theatre 9.
Financial Support for SUCU Members Taking Industrial Action
The Sheffield UCU Committee recognises the financial difficulties posed by taking part in industrial action. To help mitigate this, there are two sources of support members can apply to: UCU’s national Fighting Fund and the local SUCU Hardship Fund.
UCU Fighting Fund
Members earning below £30,000 p.a. will be able to claim up to £75 per day from their second day of strike action onwards. Members earning more will be able to claim up to £50 from their third day of strike action onwards. We are awaiting updated guidance from UCU nationally, but applications to the Fighting Fund for the 2018 industrial action were made via an online form and required proof of loss of income e.g. payslip showing strike deductions. We will update you if there are any changes to this process.
Your first port of call should be the Fighting Fund: UCU nationally has vastly more resources than we do locally. However, we recognise that the Fighting Fund may still leave individuals in hardship, and our local SUCU Hardship Fund can then assist.
SUCU Hardship Fund
The SUCU Hardship Fund is for members who are disproportionately hit financially by taking part in industrial action, e.g. sole-income households, members on hourly-paid, part-time or fixed-term contracts, or due to other personal circumstances. Claims from lower paid members and those on insecure contracts will be prioritised.
To apply to the SUCU Hardship fund, please fill out this form. All information will be treated as strictly confidential. It will be seen only by the SUCU administrator and the SUCU Committee members responsible for agreeing payments.
Donating to the SUCU Hardship Fund
The SUCU Hardship Fund is made up of solidarity donations and branch funds. We ask members who have a dispensation not to strike to donate their earnings for the strike day/s to this fund. If you want to donate to the fund, you can do so using these details:
Account name: UCU Sheffield 70 Hardship Fund
Sort code: 60-83-01
Account number: 20391171
Please get in touch if you have any questions.
New Monthly Meetings for Professional Services Members
Current UCU members, as well as interested non-members, are invited to attend the first monthly meeting of Professional Services members. This will be an informal meeting to specifically address this group's needs and concerns. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, 19 November from 12-1pm in Jessop Building Room 117.
Trans Day of Remembrance
On Wednesday, November 20, from 5:30-6:30 pm, there will be a vigil held at Hallam Square to remember and honour the lives of trans and gender-diverse people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence in the past 12 months. A range of speakers including members of the trans community and representatives of local trans and LGBT+ organisations will speak, followed by a minutes silence to mark those we have lost this year.
For further information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/509465946563378/
New SUCU Officers
Jess Meacham and Themesa Neckles have been co-opted to the branch committee as ordinary members. As a result of the vacant Vice President role and lack of candidates for the position, the branch committee has co-opted former branch Secretary Sarah Staniland into the role. Former Policy and Governance officer Lauren Selfe has been co-opted into the branch Secretary role and former ordinary committee member Caroline Metz has been co-opted into the Policy and Governance officer role.
Report Back on Democracy Commission Meeting
In preparation for the upcoming special congress in December, Sheffield UCU held an extraordinary general meeting on November 1 to discuss the findings of the national union’s Democracy Commission. The Democracy Commission was created as a result of a motion brought to Congress in 2018 by Sheffield UCU to improve democracy and transparency in the union. Though our meeting was inquorate, we had a positive discussion among the members present and the minutes from this meeting were referred to the branch committee.
Report Back on Anti-Casualisation Workshop
On the 2nd of October, the SUCU anti-cas team had its first casuals workshop. We were delighted to be joined by UCU members from across the North as well as members from our own branch. The workshop covered maternity rights for casual staff, pensions rights for casual staff and a taster training on organising in the workplace. We also ran a zine making workshop with @antiprecarityCymru.
If you’re interested in taking a look at some of the materials from the event, you can access them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1C_vIGMxLv3BAGL9XAl-_L0U-TcF5ULZr?usp=sharing
We will be publishing our zine collaboration soon so do keep your eyes peeled. Over the next few months we’ll also be arranging open meetings for casuals so watch this space!
Maternity Action
Kate Moran from Maternity Action is hoping to interview some UCU members who are on casualised contracts (such as zero hours or very short term, low hours contracts) who are either pregnant and due to go on maternity leave, currently on maternity leave or about to return to work after maternity leave - including those having problems returning to work. Research has shown that many women are afraid of raising concerns with their employer such as health and safety risks, rights to time off to attend ante-natal appointments, requests for flexible working on their return, access to suitable facilities for those breastfeeding and expressing. Women on casual contracts are particularly susceptible fearing that their employer may offer them fewer or no hours or shifts if they raise concerns - which in turn may impact on the amount of maternity pay that they receive. Maternity Action would like to cover these types of issues and any others that women in this situation are facing by discussing them with volunteer interviewees on a one to one basis.
We are hoping to recruit UCU members who are in this situation and would be willing to be interviewees. The interviews would be used in the report but would be anonymised and kept confidential. Interviews will take place over the phone at a time that suits you. If you’re interested contact Kate: katemoran@maternityaction.org.uk
Petition in Support of Professor Jane Hutton
Last month, UCU-nominated USS trustee and whistleblower Professor Jane Hutton was sacked from her role in USS in a totally non-transparent process. Professor Hutton, who is an internationally recognised expert and professional statistician, brought to light significant failures in the governance of USS and the 2017 valuation process that led to an overestimation of the projected scheme deficit. Mike Otsuka covered some important work Jane has done for USS members, available here. Our national union has raised concerns about the process of removing Professor Hutton, calling for the evidence for her removal to be released and for USS members to support her. Sheffield UCU President and national pensions negotiator Sam Marsh has suggested a reason for dismissal may have been her emailing the Joint Negotiating Committee in relation to 'three occurrences of problems in board papers intended to inform decisions on the valuation’. Professor Hutton stated that “I do not accept the validity of either the process or the decision. I will be taking a number of actions to address the process, the decisions, and the accuracy of the assumptions and modeling which underlie the 2017 & 2018 valuations."
Please consider signing the petition in support of Jane Hutton here.
Hong Kong Motion
For the last few months there have been massive protests for democracy in Hong Kong which have been met with serious repression by the Chinese state and Hong Kong's administration. The were sparked by a proposed extradition agreement with China, but are also for Universal Suffrage, an inquiry into police brutality, the resignation of Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's Chief Executive, and more. There have also been significant protests in Sheffield in support of those in Hong Kong, and on October 2nd these protesters were aggressively intimidated by people defending the Chinese state's actions.
As a result, our UCU branch has passed a motion in full support of the democracy protests in Hong Kong and in Sheffield, and we encourage members to come out for demonstrations and events both in solidarity, but also to ensure the safety of the protests. At the same time, we do not support British intervention in Hong Kong or the expression of any anti-Chinese sentiment.
The motion also called on the University of Sheffield to publicly support democracy in Hong Kong, as well as taking seriously any cases of harassment or intimidation of staff and students participating in the protests.
IHRA Motion
It has been the policy of our national union since its 2017 Congress to oppose adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. In conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish racism, the definition constitutes a threat to open debate and free discussion about the future and past of the Middle East and Palestine. The UK Government has adopted this definition of ‘antisemitism’ and urged Universities UK to advise all UK HE institutions that they should prevent meetings or events about Palestine that fall foul of the definition. Some universities have already complied with this instruction, and have banned campus events. Others have explicitly refused to adopt the definition, and have resisted outside pressure to comply. The University of Sheffield’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Committee was asked to consider making a recommendation on the definition over the summer.
In our first general meeting of the school year in October, UCU members voted to support a motion opposing the university’s adoption of the definition; educating members of the campus community about antisemitism and other forms of racism; and supporting staff and students working for justice for the Palestinian people.
Solidarity Statement with Kurdish People
The Sheffield UCU committee condemns recent attacks on the Kurdish people in the Rojava region in northern Syria. Considering that Turkish and Kurdish colleagues may not be able to speak out due to threats and widespread repression of academics, journalists, activists and dissident voices on the part of the Turkish government, the Sheffield UCU committee wishes to express its solidarity with the Kurdish people, who have so often shown the way in terms of democracy, feminism and environmental activism. The Sheffield UCU committee opposes the persecution of Kurds and other ethnic minorities in Turkey, Syria, and elsewhere. We call on the UK and EU to accept far more Syrian and Kurdish refugees and resolve to support the work of ASSIST Sheffield and South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG) with a donation of £200 each.
October 2019 Newsletter
Published on
Welcome back to a new school year! In this bulletin, you can find updates on the pay and pensions disputes, the Climate Strike, support for international students and scholars, the Equality Groups conference, earlier deadlines for module and programme changes and more.
But first, please mark your calendars for next Tuesday, October 8, when UCU General Secretary Jo Grady will be returning to Sheffield for a visit on as part of her national speaking tour! She will be giving a talk from 5:30-7:30 pm in Diamond LT4. Please register to attend here and follow the event Facebook page for any updates here.
October General Meeting
Our first membership meeting of the new school year will be Thursday, October 17 from 1-2 pm in Firth Court.
Updates on Pay and Pensions Disputes
We held a briefing at the end of September for all staff on the disputes over USS and pay and equalities.
With a sharp step up in USS rates due in October and the methodology for the next valuation currently being formed, our branch president and national USS negotiator Sam Marsh explained how crucial the next few months are to the future of the scheme and why we must take a stand now. You can watch his short presentation here.
Our branch VP and national pay negotiator Robyn Orfitelli demonstrated how below inflation pay rises interact with precarity and unequal promotion pathways to create generational pay inequality, and how a strong ballot result can help us fight back. You can watch her short presentation here.
For further information, please see the poster below.
Our next organising committee meeting will be Thursday, October 3 from 1:00-2:00 in Hicks F28. All members are welcome to attend.
We will also be holding a special Ballot Day event from 1-3 on October 8, the same day as Jo Grady’s visit (see information above) in the Council Chamber of the Octagon. Please bring your ballots to post and stay for some pizza. For those who are able to stick around, we will be doing GTVO activities after lunch. Please help us get the vote out!
If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please contact Communications Officer Katy Fox-Hodess: katy.fox-hodess@sheffield.ac.uk.
Report back from Climate Strike
A big thank you to everyone that participated in the Climate Strike on September 20. We had a fantastic turn out from UCU Sheffield. We were part of the largest action against climate change ever to have taken place, and got to hear from a couple of youth strikers themselves! Importantly, we also demonstrated that there is strong support amongst staff for urgent action on climate change. If you are interested in getting involved with future organising on this issue, please contact UCU Sheffield Climate Strike working group coordinator George Coiley at ggcoiley1@sheffield.ac.uk.
Get Involved with UCU in the New School Year (Even on a Busy Schedule. . .)
You don’t have to be a branch rep or officer to be involved with UCU! 2000 members contributing just 15 minutes per week to UCU is 500 hours per week of union support, which makes a huge difference in our local and national activism!
We've designed three posters (below) showing 8 ways you can get involved in Sheffield UCU: one if you have 15 minutes a week to spare, one if you have an hour in a week, and one if you want to get a bit more involved (although still not with a huge time commitment). Print out one (or more) of these posters to help you stay involved even during the busy term time!
And remember, right now, the number one way you can help UCU is to send in your ballot papers!
Unis Resist Border Controls
Sheffield branch has been active on issues related to migrant members for some time, including working collaboratively with Unis Resist Border Controls in the #LetAhmedStay campaign. URBC have brought another awful case to our attention - you can read about Adriana Ortega-Zeifert’s situation here. We have sent a message of solidarity and a donation to Adriana’s legal fund on behalf of the branch, but encourage all Sheffield members to also do what they can to support. Details of how you can do so can be found here.
Stop the Repression in Egypt - No More Academic Collusion with the Dictatorship
According to the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, more than 2000 people, including prominent academics, have been arrested since 20 September, in response to peaceful protests criticising current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. We are alarmed that Boris Johnson believes that the UK can make "positive progress in our bilateral relationship" with the Egyptian regime in such circumstances. We are also deeply concerned that once again, UK universities are showing their willingness to put potential revenue from student fees before commitment to human rights and academic freedoms, by pursuing partnerships with private educational firms running "branch campuses" or offering UK degrees in Egypt.
Please consider adding your name to the public statement calling on UK universities operating in or planning to open for business in Egypt to suspend these projects until the human rights situation improves enough to ensure that academic freedoms are protected and calling on the regime to release political prisoners, respect human rights and protect freedom of expression.
UCU Equality Groups Conference
UCU's various Equality Groups will gather in Birmingham in November for their annual meetings. These cover the four areas of disabled members, black members, LGBT+ members and women members. People who are active (or wish to be more active) in any equality work of our union and identify with any of these categories are welcome to sign up to attend these conferences. More details here. Last year's Congress also created a migrant members committee, which will meet in a stand-alone conference in early 2020 - we'll update you on how you can be involved in that conference closer to the date.
As a branch, we also have the right to move motions and nominate a candidate for election to each of the various standing committees mentioned above. If you have a particular policy area you would like to move a motion about, or are interested in serving on one of these UK-wide committees, please get in contact with our E&D Officer, Mark Pendleton at m.pendleton@sheffield.ac.uk
Update on Earlier Deadlines for Module and Programme Changes
We've been hearing from members who are extremely worried about the sudden announcement that the deadlines for making changes to modules and programmes for 2020/21 have been moved forward this year, from late January to late November. These earlier deadlines are already driving up academic and professional services staff workloads during the first months of the academic year, which for many of us are already some of the busiest in the calendar.
Staff are dismayed at the short notice they've been given, with the announcement coming just a couple of weeks before the start of the new semester. Not only that, the move threatens to derail carefully laid PLA plans in many departments, where colleagues have been working hard to plan curriculum changes for 2020/21, as dictated by the university's PLA strategy. The earlier deadlines are linked to delivering the new student system, and SUCU is concerned that the university is driving forward two contradictory initiatives - the Student Lifecycle Project and PLA - with little thought to their coherence or their impact on staff workloads and wellbeing.
The earlier deadlines will also make it hard for departments to respond to student feedback on learning and teaching. Once the November deadline passes improvements to teaching can only be made for September 2021, which may leave staff delivering courses that they know need to be improved but can't do anything about. With the university's increasing and unwelcome reliance on metrics, including for learning and teaching (in ACP and the module evaluation process, for example), we're worried about the impact this will have on student satisfaction, course evaluation, and promotion cases for teaching staff.
With the HE Pay and Equality ballot open, now's the time to take a stand against escalating workloads and stress levels, and the complacency of HE senior leadership towards the detrimental impact of their decisions on staff.
Have Your Say on the University's Vision and Strategic Plan
It’s been a busy summer for Sheffield UCU as we’ve worked to settle a claim facing a large number of casualised members and have campaigned on career pathways for academic and professional staff. But it will be an even busier autumn as prepare for the possibility of a new round of industrial action and support this month’s Youth Strike 4 Climate! In this summer's edition of the newsletter, you can learn about all of this and more.
Pay and Pensions Dispute
Beginning this month on September 9, our national union will be balloting for industrial action on both our pay and pensions disputes.
Deadlock at the last meeting of the USS Joint Negotiating Committee resulted in the independent chair once again siding with employers on how to divide up increased costs arising from the 2018 valuation. The latest valuation, a response to the report of the Joint Expert Panel, has landed on significantly higher rates than those proposed by the panel, with member contributions rising to 9.6% of salary this October, then 11% in October 2021. The first step up will cost members hundreds of pounds more per year than the pre-strike rate of 8%. By October 2021, many will be paying over £1,000 more for the same benefits. With no sign of USS listening to anyone but themselves, and employers allowing them to ignore the findings of the JEP, we are once again forced to resort to strike action to defend the future of the scheme. For further information and updates on pensions negotiations, please follow Sheffield UCU president and national pensions negotiator Sam Marsh on Twitter.
Unfortunately, the employers have been unwilling to make substantial revisions to their offer on pay. The final offer they have presented does not substantially address a number of the priorities UCU members have identified, including reducing equalities pay gaps and taking adequate steps to remedy the workload-related health crisis and reliance on precarious labour that we see across the sector. In addition, the employers have proposed allowing institutions with ‘extenuating circumstances’ to delay pay increases for 11 months with no backdating! For further information and updates on pay negotiations, please follow Sheffield UCU Vice President and national pay negotiator Robyn Orfitelli on Twitter.
In order to prepare for the possibility of industrial action later this term and to recruit new members, Sheffield UCU has formed an organising committee that has begun to meet over the summer. All members are welcome to participate -- the more the merrier! We will be holding an organising training on Wednesday, September 11 from 2-3 in B19, 301 Glossop Road. If you are not able to attend but would like to get involved, please email branch Communications Officer Katy Fox-Hodess at katy.fox-hodess@sheffield.ac.uk.
Local SUCU news
September 20 Climate Strike
For the past year, young people around the world have demonstrated leadership on the climate crisis. At Sheffield UCU, we’re organising to show solidarity to the Sheffield Youth Strikers on their next international Earth Day, as they have asked that 10,000 Sheffield workers show support. We will meet at the Students Union at 12.00 and hold a short rally for those who can't take a longer lunch break. For those that are able to take more time out, we will walk down to join the students in the town centre, returning to campus by 13.30.
We've written to Prof. Koen Lamberts asking that he not impose any sanctions on any staff participating, and that he join us in person. Updates to come shortly, but for now please talk to your colleagues about the event and sign up for updates here. If you have ideas about how to encourage or enable more people to attend, or have any questions, please email George ggcoiley1@sheffield.ac.uk.
Casualisation Claim
In March 2017, we filed a claim with the university around casualised teaching, demanding the university take action to improve pay and conditions for precariously employed GTAs. That built on several years of action by our branch and resulted in extended negotiations with management. The principles underpinning our claim can be found here. While casualisation remains a major problem across the sector, and here at Sheffield, we have made significant progress locally, with the university agreeing that all scheduled teaching will be delivered by staff engaged on employment contracts.
This saw the creation of a new Graduate Teaching Assistant contract which saw GTAs (usually Postgraduate Research Students who teach) move from casual worker agreements (zero hour contracts) to more secure contracts of employment. These won GTAs the right to holiday pay, sick pay and maternity pay as well as access to the USS pension scheme. The new contract was agreed at Grade 6. In recognition that much GTA teaching requires more advanced skills, including design of teaching, we entered into further negotiations with HR this summer, which resulted in the creation of a new Grade 7 contract for Graduate Teaching Associates. This sets an exciting precedent for GTAs across the university to fight for pay at Grade 7 - a potential pay increase of £2.76 an hour for those currently on grade 6. Please get in touch with anti-casualisation officers Eda Yazici (eyazici1@sheffield.ac.uk) and Steffan Blayney (s.blayney@sheffield.ac.uk) if you want to fight for improvements in pay in your department!
These developments also largely address our claim in 2017 and we have agreed to settle that particular claim. We won’t be taking our eyes off the ball though, with casualisation rolling into our regular set of negotiations with management.
Career Pathways Survey
Many thanks to everyone who completed the online survey on promotions, which was sent out to all Sheffield UCU members early this month. We had over three hundred responses from both academic and professional staff, painting a clear picture of members’ views of the short-comings of the current promotions pathways. Please find the full summary of the survey results here: UCU Promotions Pathway Survey.
Vacant VP Position
Expressions of interest are sought for one of our two Vice President positions. Our outgoing VP Emma Nagouse is leaving soon to take up a national role for UCU. The VP position involves working closely with the President, and chairing Branch and SUCU Committee meetings in their absence. If you are interested please contact our Branch Administrator Jane Rodger (j.rodger@sheffield.ac.uk).
June 2019 USS Update
Published on
Want to contribute to the ongoing UCU campaign over USS, but don't have very much time? Here is a short to do list:
1. Read this email to catch yourself up on the latest news, or if you prefer an auditory version, watch this talk given by our branch president Sam Marsh yesterday at the Open University.
2. Sign this petition, which calls for Trinity College, Cambridge, to reverse their decision to withdraw from the USS scheme (more details on this below).
3. (A larger time commitment item): We are in need of a new Pensions Officer and a new member of the University's USS Working Group to replace Jo Grady, the new General Secretary of UCU. Please email us if you are interested.
A new USS ballot
At the end of May, UCU's Higher Education conference (which was held on the second day of Congress 2019) voted overwhelmingly to ramp up preparations for an industrial action ballot over USS to begin in September. And as of 7 June, employers have been served a letter inviting them to take steps to avoid a re-ignition of the dispute.
Why has UCU decided to ballot? When the Joint Expert Panel's first report dropped in September, there was hope from all sides that it had the potential to end the dispute. Adopting its recommendations would mean a shift in philosophy from USS and rate increases low enough to negotiate over. Both UCU and Universities UK backed the JEP report, the latter with the strikes still fresh in the mind and eager to put the dispute to bed. The issue, as was always likely to be the case, has been with USS' response.
A USS timeline from September 2018-now
The first side-step by USS was their proposal for a new, 2018 valuation as a way to incorporate the issues raised by the JEP. This would not replace the 2017 one, but instead follow close on its heels and intercept the large contribution increases that were a consequence of the original valuation. Support for this approach was secured from the employers, and the Joint Negotiating Committee were shown information that if the JEP's recommendations were applied in full to the 2018 valuation, it would mean that the deficit would vanish and that contributions would fall (although no guarantees were made as to what the final figures would be).
As soon as agreement to proceed with a 2018 valuation was sealed, the USS executive team contacted the board and recommended dropping two of the three key proposals from the JEP report, while the only one that remained would be inextricably tied to 'contingent contributions' from employers. The justification for USS's rejection of the JEP's recommendations was that adopting them would send the 'discount rate' above the internal benchmarks the regulator uses to judge a valuation's prudence. Yet these internal benchmarks don't exist! The regulator has made this explicit via a cryptic stab at USS in its annual DB funding report. It is possible - indeed likely - that this was not the first that USS had heard of this issue from TPR. If true, USS' public statements to the contrary are all the more disingenuous.
This leads to where we are now: USS has rejected both the JEP report and the overwhelming evidence that their methodology is flawed, and is still relying on Test 1. Nothing has changed in their mindset or approach. Based on this, they insist the correct contribution rate is 33.7% of pay, an increase of 7.7% since before the dispute. There are attempts by USS to mask the situation by offering two other 'options', but these options are either highly unpalatable (trigger contributions which are more likely than not to set off) or disingenuous (even in the eyes of the regulator).
The University of Sheffield has published its response: it is not prepared to play the game and pick an option. This is not surprising. Employers and members alike both look on aghast at the mess that has developed for no clear reason. Added to this, Prof Jane Hutton, one of three UCU-nominated trustees, has recused herself from the board under "considerable pressure" after whistleblowing to the regulator on the obstruction she faced obtaining data on the valuation. This has now led to over 1,000 academics signing a petition to call for an inquiry into the scheme. There are serious issues here that need proper answers, and we suspect that we will continue to hear more about USS governance in the days to come.
The Academics for Pensions Justice group are preparing a legal challenge to USS to add to the mix. Their work now has the support of UCU, due to the motion sent to conference by Sheffield UCU, and given more teeth by an excellent amendment from Leeds UCU.
A further wrinkle in all of this is that Trinity College has announced their intention to leave the USS pension scheme, despite themselves acknowledging that it is a healthy scheme that poses essentially no risk to their endowment. While Trinity's withdrawal does not put the scheme at immediate risk, we are very aware of the possibility that USS will use it as a rationale for further changes or attacks on our pensions. Additionally, we view this action by the Trinity College Council and Fellows as a betrayal of the collective HE community, which fundamentally relies on cross-institutional collaboration in all areas of education, including our working conditions and benefits. It is not too late for Trinity College to reverse this decision, and we are in support of this petition that calls for Trinity to do so, and for staff to withdraw their discretionary labour from the College in the meantime.
What now?
So, to return to the initial question: why a ballot? Because this dispute is far from over. Employers are losing faith in how things are being handled by USS yet failing to publicly call out the problems, propping up a malign administration in the process and allowing money to be siphoned out of the sector. Failing to push back now will lead to USS tightening their grip, making it easier for them to shrug off the second report of the JEP. Employers will almost certainly start planning for ways to mitigate a 2020 valuation which shows more of the same. We will face big problems in the future.
What is at stake is the same as ever: the future of the DB scheme. It is tragic that we're heading back towards a ballot for strike action. But employers know what they need to do to avert it: call out the disastrous internal governance of USS and make sure that there is a major change of direction, or, failing that, pick up the tab for the contribution increases.
We will try our best to keep you informed of developments as they occur, as the situation is currently fast-moving and uncertain.
May Branch News: UCU democracy in action
Published on
Several of our members have asked us to start our branch newsletters with a short ‘to do list’ of ways you can still be involved in UCU this month if you don’t have very much time. Here is the inaugural list.
1. Come to our action group on the Academic Careers Pathways (ACP) on 29 May, 1-2pm, in Hicks F24
3. The library at the Oxford Language Centre is under threat of closure, under a set of circumstances that are extremely concerning. Sign this change.org petition to support Oxford UCU’s campaign to save the library, or signal boost the campaign via social media. (This is just one of many important online campaigns going on. See our twitter account for more you can support!)
4. Read branch news (today), our USS update (coming soon), and our Congress delegates’ report (coming soon).
These lists will vary from month to month, but the one item which will be on every list is to take 15 minutes to read branch news, and our other email or blog updates. In a week when you are incredibly busy, the best way you can support UCU is to keep up with what is going on, so that in the weeks when you have more time, you’ll feel more prepared to get involved.
National UCU News
GS Election
Voting has ended for the election of UCU’s next General Secretary, and the results will be out tomorrow, so keep your eyes open for the famous Friday email. We will also be covering the result on social media. Our thanks to everyone who voted!
Congress 2019
UCU's annual Congress begins this Saturday. Congress is the primary policy-making body for UCU, and there are a large number of important motions and rule changes being discussed over the course of the long weekend, which are all detailed in the full agenda.
Sheffield is sending five branch delegates this year: Sam Marsh, Emma Nagouse, Robyn Orfitelli, Jo Grady, and Mark Pendleton. In addition, Jess Meacham is attending on behalf of the Academic Related Professional Services (ARPS) member committee, and Sam Morecroft is going as a Yorkshire-Humber regional observer.
One of the most important items on the Congress agenda is the interim report of the Democracy Commission, and their recommendations for increasing accountability and transparency in UCU. Here is our brief summary of the Democracy Commission and their important work.
We will be providing sporadic updates throughout the weekend on the Democracy Commission recommendations, the two motions Sheffield has sent to Congress, and other motions that we believe are of special interest to Sheffield UCU. We will also be circulating a delegates report after Congress is over. But if you want live updates throughout the weekend, we recommend following the @ucu twitter account or the hashtag #ucu2019.
USS Update
So much has happened with USS over the past 10 days that we will be devoting a separate email to update you very soon. In the meantime, we recommend all members read this exposé by Josephine Cumbo.
Local SUCU News
#LetAhmedStay
University of Sheffield PhD student and UCU member Ahmed Sedeeq has won his case against the Home Office and has been granted humanitarian protection for five years. We want to thank everyone who fought for Ahmed to be allowed to stay, but especially Unis Resist Border Controls, who started the Let Ahmed Stay campaign, and have campaigned tirelessly for him for over a year. Ahmed also appreciated the strong showing of support UCU members provided.
Ahmed’s case is just one of many caused by the Home Office’s Hostile Environment policies, but we will keeping standing together to push back until these xenophobic, racist procedures are eliminated.
Metrics and the ACP
We are concerned and disappointed that this university continues to embed metrics into almost every aspect of our jobs, the most recent example of which is the newly introduced Academic Careers Pathways (ACP). As the ACP is being rolled out across faculties, we are hearing worrying reports of the way it is being interpreted and employed, and we are calling an action group to discuss how we might respond as a branch on 29 May, 1-2pm, in Hicks F24. If you are concerned about the ACP, please attend! We anticipate that the actions that come out of this meeting will work nicely in tandem with those arising from the very well attended metrics action group that was held on 1 May.
Working Group: Developing collaborations with Palestine
Arising out of a motion from out 7 March GM, we are holding a Palestine working group on 7 June at 3:30pm, in Coffee Revolution in the Student Union. We will be working towards developing collaborations and ultimately a document of our intentions to take to management.
Upcoming events
Our AGM will be on Thursday 6th June, at 1pm in the Council Room in Firth Court. Please put the date in your diaries! The AGM covers a range of important business, including annual reports from branch officers, and the election of a new branch committee. We will also be updating you on the outcomes of our negotiations with management on our local USS grievance, and asking for your feedback on how to proceed. AGM Agenda
Don’t miss our end of the year party on 14 June from 6pm in the Showroom Cinema! All Sheffield UCU members and friends of Sheffield UCU are invited. There will be food, a private bar, and a dance floor. Please book your ticket asap so we can order appropriate catering.