SUCU Branch News 22 October 2014

USS dispute

The national ballot result has now been published. 87% voted for action short of a strike and 78% for strike action over threats to pensions. The turn-out of 45% was the highest for a national ballot since UCU was formed in 2006, showing the strength of feeling. The employers have already begun to make concessions. The national Higher Education Committee will discuss next steps on Friday 24 October and we will bring you more news as soon as we have it.

Bullying & Harassment Awareness Day

The campus unions will be holding a stall on the concourse on Friday 31 October between 12 and 2pm to raise awareness around bullying and harassment in the workplace and how to tackle these serious issues. We are working with the HR team to develop new policies for the University on this theme and welcome your input. Please get in touch by email or drop by the stall. We welcome volunteers to help staff the stall on the day!

‘Reward & Recognition’ negotiations

You may be aware that SUCU together with the other campus unions are in ongoing discussions with management about SRDS and ‘reward and recognition’. Management are putting brief updates on the HR website.

The TU’s hope and expect that we will be able in due course to put proposals to our members which overall are an improvement for staff.

We have had some queries and, to avoid any misunderstanding, discussions affecting pay continue to be on the basis of the ‘Framework Agreement’ underpinning our current pay structure. In particular regarding incremental pay progression this says, ‘Staff will have a normal expectation that progression from point to point up to the exceptional threshold will take place on an annual basis, subject exceptionally to existing procedures for dealing with performance problems, when increments may be withheld. Accelerated incremental progression, including progression into the exceptional range, will reflect sustained exceptional contribution by the job holder.’