Grimsby and Scarborough Colleges

Dear Colleagues

 

I am writing to you to let you know about the dreadful proposals and management approach  that our members at the Grimsby Institute and Yorkshire Coast College branches are experiencing. Both have the same employer i.e. the Grimsby Institute Group and the Principal is Sue Middlehurst.

MiddlehurstS@grimsby.ac.uk

 

Last academic year the Principal indicated that during 12/13 she wanted to “harmonise contracts” a euphemism for renegotiate terms and conditions. She then appeared to pull back from this announcement and indicated at the beginning of January 13 that she wanted to increase annual contact hours to 864 hours per year. Unfortunately for her teaching hours are protected by a collective agreement that is incorporated into contracts and which also has a 12 month notice period attached to it. She then pronounced that her legal advice was that the agreement had no legal status. Our legal advice contradicts this.

 

In March 2013 the college then issued a Section 188 notice announcing a restructure of the LLDD department. As well as being less jobs in the new structure any staff who survived the cull were to be brought on changed job titles, new terms and conditions with reduced holidays and more teaching hours (for some up to 864 hours but for others up to 1100 hours), for some new places of work and fixed point salaries (potentially less pay and no future incremental progression).

 

The Grimsby branch declared a dispute and in early June balloted for industrial action with 94% of the membership who voted agreeing to strike action.

 

On 3^rd June the college notified the regional office of further redundancies at Grimsby (33.28FTE’s) in 6 FE departments again any staff that survive the cull will be brought back on changed contracts and fixed point salaries.

 

On 17^th June the college notified the regional office of further redundancies at Scarborough (12 lecturers) in 6 FE departments again any staff that survive the cull will be brought back on changed contracts and fixed point salaries.

 

I am afraid the writing is on the wall for remaining unrestructured FE departments as to what the future holds in store for current terms and conditions.

 

Cynically the college has said they will not touch HE delivery staff until they have obtained FDAP status.

 

The Scarborough branch is in dispute but due to the late issuing of the redundancy notice affecting their members there is insufficient time to ballot and have any action before the summer holidays.

 

Management are proposing dismissing staff during the summer holiday period.  

 

Yesterday we were informed that colleagues in LLDD had gone through selection processes and that while 7 staff had secured roles in the new structure 5 had been unsuccessful. Which means that as a consequence the department now has 7 vacant posts. The 5 unsuccessful candidates, all of whom are long serving members of staff with masses of experience and qualifications enabling them to teach students with special educational needs, will not be offered any of the vacant posts because they have failed to meet the benchmark required to be a teacher in the department. Very sadly I need to report that one of the potentially sacked teachers is the UCU departmental rep in the area.   

  

During this process a poor general VR scheme was opened and while some staff came forward the college did not agree to release everyone who applied – even if they work in the departments where staff have been placed at risk. These staff are now been asked to apply for jobs they do not want.    

 

The college has pulled back from reducing annual holiday entitlement but beyond this little progress has been made. There has been no major shifts in the job reductions needed and no movement from the employer regarding changes to pay, terms and conditions.

 

On the announcement of industrial action the employer is using unpleasant tactics to try and dissuade members from taking part on Tuesdays strike.

 

What Can You do?

 

Please support both branches by :

 

1.       sending messages of support to :

 

Ian Rodwell at Grimsby RodwellIS@grimsby.ac.uk

Eamonn Griffin at Grimsby   GriffinE@grimsby.ac.uk

Ian Rollinson at Scarborough IRO@ycoastco.ac.uk

Carol Roles at Scarborough crs@ycoastco.ac.uk

 

2.       If possible bring your banners to either the main Grimsby campus, Nuns Corner  picket from 7.45am onwards on Tuesday 2^nd July or support the Yorkshire Coast College Branch at their lunch time protest outside the Scarborough campus on Lady Edith’s Drive

3.       Send messages to the Principal  Sue Middlehurst expressing your outrage at her proposals.

 

In solidarity

 

Julie Kelley

UCU Regional Official

 

 

Please see below the press release issued below

 

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU)

PRESS RELEASE

 

date: Friday 28 June 2013

for immediate release

 

Strike action on at Grimsby Institute

 

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at Grimsby Institute will be striking on Tuesday (2 July) in an ongoing row over job losses and cuts to staff pay and conditions.

 

In the recent ballot, 96% of members who voted backed strike action. Staff are furious that the college is using national funding cuts as an excuse to axe one in five teaching staff, despite spending less on staff than the national average. As well as the job losses the union says the college is seeking to rip up workload agreements, slash staff pay and ride roughshod over employment rights.

 

There will be pickets outside the main Grimsby campus at Nuns Corner from 7.45 am. The president-elect of the national UCU union, John McCormack will be on the picket line and speaking to the striking workers.

 

The union is particularly cross that the college is sacking staff over the summer holidays and fears for students’ education, particularly in the department that teaches students with special educational needs.

 

UCU said many of those students spend time building up a trusting relationship with staff and will be devastated on their return in September to discover some of their lecturers have been sacked. The union said the college has rewritten some people’s job specifications to a level to ensure they cannot meet the requirements.

 

Grimsby Institute’s problems do not end in Grimsby. Members of UCU at the Yorkshire Coast site of Grimsby Institute in Scarborough will be holding a lunchtime protest on Tuesday to show their solidarity with their colleagues and to protest at planned job cuts there as well.

 

UCU regional official, Julie Kelley, said: “Strike action is always a last resort, but UCU members at Grimsby Institute have had enough of the way the college has treated them. Sacking staff or seeking to force them out so they can hire new staff on cheaper pay is no way to improve the standard of education in Grimsby.”

 

UCU president-elect, John McCormack, said: “UCU members at Grimsby Institute have the full support of the national union in their action. Axing staff and slashing pay is no way to reward for hard-working staff.”

 

According to the latest accounts (up to 31 July 2012), Grimsby Institute spent 52.1% of its income on staff costs in 2011-12, against a sector average for comparable further education colleges of 61.5%. In that financial year it made a surplus of £3.7m and (as of 31 July 2012) held reserves of £19.6m.

 

The college argues that its reserves have been allocated to various building and capital projects across its campuses. However it is the union’s view that stylish buildings are no replacement for staff who have confidence that their job is secure and are valued by the institution.   

 

During 2012, the college made a significant number of staff redundant at both Grimsby and its Scarborough campuses, which included shutting A-level courses at Grimsby. UCU is worried that the quality of education at the college will be affected by job losses, inevitable bigger classes, and increased workloads for the staff that remain.

 

 

 

 

Lunchtime Rally in support of the other teaching unions

Ceasefire and peace for Colombia.

Dear colleague, 

I’m writing to you as one of the 4,000 international academics who supported the successful campaign for the freedom of Colombian academic Dr. Miguel Angel Beltran to ask you to show your support for the civil society organisations working for a ceasefire and for peace in Colombia.

You can sign an open letter to the Colombian government here:
https://www.ucu.org.uk/colombiaopenletter

The Colombian government continues to persecute other academics and critics, including members of the political opposition, trade unionists, indigenous leaders, journalists, and human rights defenders. On 20 November 2012, Olga Cadena Corrales, 68 year old Colombian historian, was murdered. Over 243 social activists were assassinated in the first two years of the current government.

In March 2012 more than 100 Colombian academics wrote to both the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas calling for a peace process and an end to the hostilities.

Peace talks have now begun but the Colombian government has refused to agree to a bilateral ceasefire and the talks are to take place without proper civil society participation.

Colombians for Peace, a wide-ranging civil society movement and leading force for peace, that includes many high profile Colombian academics, has written to the negotiating table calling for a ceasefire and seeking civil society participation. However, in recent months, those calling for peace have received increasing death threats, and there has been a rise in assassinations against opposition activists.

UCU and Justice for Colombia are calling on UK and international academics to add their voices to this call for a negotiated peace involving civil society organisations and for guarantees for their safe participation.

I would ask you to consider adding your name to the below letter and encourage other academics to do the same.

https://www.ucu.org.uk/colombiaopenletter

Thank you for taking the time to read this email.

Yours sincerely

Sally Hunt
UCU general secretary

Halesowen College: Reinstate David Muritu as a Maths Lecturer at the college

This is an attack on education and trades unionism. On December 20th Dave Muritu, a known local socialist trades union activist, was sacked from his position as Maths lecturer. This followed disregard of the college disciplinary procedure (no evidence was presented 3 days in advance of the hearing), without anything other than deductive reasoning (his sacking was linked to results, with no regard for competency procedure or accurate review of statistical significance (his results are above national average).
Please sign and convey your disappointment in the college failure to prioritise student needs and achievement over politics. The only logical conclusion which can be drawn from the situation is that as no substantial evidence has been produced, Dave has been sacked on grounds of disagreement with the principal on educational theory and politics. The maths department have received considerable lack of support in the face of student needs, including
1) Failure of the principal to agree specialist cover in staff absence, inspite of a substantial surplus which could fund this
2) Students in a functional lesson being encouraged by management to give up the studies their time is allocated for in order to participate in a “focus group” based around leading questions with no rigorous development or consistent recording of data
3) Victimisation of a known trades unionist, along with possible victimisation of other known activists in the maths department, setting a precedent for activists to be targeted with knock-on effects for other trades-unionists nationally.
Please sign and join us in fighting this outrageous decision collectively.

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/halesowen-college-reinstate-david-muritu-as-a-maths-lecturer-at-the-college

Wakefield UCU AGM 5th July 2012

The 2012 AGM was held on Thursday 05/07/12 at Wakefield City campus at Margaret Street. There were 20 members present.

1.    Last years elected officers made their reports:

Highlights of the year included the 1^st Wakefield College Branch newsletter in September, the victory over IFL membership, The new Wakefield College Branch blog, twinning the branch with Wakefield and District NUT in May and support from colleagues in schools around the district as well as from the Five towns trades council in relation to the strike on 10^th May. The Branch now has a hardship fund in place and there were donations to this from local trades council, the NUT and £115 from staff. Members of the committee had attended lobbies of the Conservative party conference in Manchester, and the lobby of parliament in October. The march for the alternative on March 26^th and protests against the EDL in Dewsbury in June.

2.    A new election was held:

·         Peter Korn Morris from Wakefield Campus was unanimously elected as Joint Secretary and Treasurer.

·         Mark Wilson from Thornes campus will take the role of Health and Safety Rep.

·         Ken Spencer from Wakefield Campus was unanimously elected as Joint Secretary and Membership Secretary.

·         Lesley Kimber from Wakefield Campus was unanimously elected as Equality Rep.

·         There is a vacancy for Skills Exchange rep and a member from this campus is considering whether to take this role.

·         Michael Ward from Wakefield Campus was unanimously elected as Branch Chair.

3.    An open discussion was held

One of the key themes that emerged from this was that there appears to be a marked inconsistency in the way policies and procedures are being applied in different departments and by different managers. These inconsistencies have been noted even in terms of the recruitment and appointment of new staff.

Another theme was the perception of the college as a ‘good place to work’ has changed for many staff also that staff perceive that their levels of stress and their workload have increased in the past year. Some staff were felt that this was best reflected in terms of the Sunday Times Best Public Sector (Not for Profit) places to work because Wakefield College were 30^th in the UK in 2010 and were awarded the best public sector employer award for Yorkshire and the Humber for this year. However this success was not repeated in 2011 or 2012 when the college was not listed at all.

UCU will look into these matters.

4.    UCU Campaigns

The committee highlighted that they are running an anti-bullying and stress at work campaign with the support of regional. This is an attempt to raise awareness amongst staff many of whom might not be aware of the characteristics of bullying in the workplace or how to identify it.

ACAS list some of the behaviours which constitute workplace bullying and harassment:-

·         Constant criticism of competent staff, removing their responsibilities or giving them trivial tasks to do.

·         Shouting at staff

·         Picking on staff in front of others or in private

·         Obstructing professional development/blocking promotion

·         Regularly making the same person the butt of jokes

·         Setting a person up to fail by overloading them with work or setting impossible deadlines

·         Regularly and deliberately ignoring or excluding individual from work activities

·         Ignoring staff views and opinions

·         Different rules for different people

·         Criticism and threats

·         Excessive monitoring

·         Unrealistic expectations

If any member of staff has any concerns please do not suffer in silence – speak to your UCU rep as soon as possible for confidential advice and support.

Finally:-

The TUC have called for a mass demonstration in London on 20^th October. This promises to be as big if not bigger than the March for the Alternative on 26^th March and will send a firm message to the Government that we are not prepared to see them dismantle our public services. It is important that as many Trade Unionists (and non-trade unionists) attend as possible. There will be local transport arranged.

TUC march

Final Pay Offer

Branches will now be aware that the AOC (Association of Colleges – our sector’s official government body) at the last negotiating meeting withdrew its demands for an end to automatic incremental pay rises and made a final pay offer for 2012/13 of 0.7%.

The FEC met on 29 June and agreed to consult members in   branch meetings during September and to make decisions on the next steps at its meeting on 5 October.  

The committee recognised that the removal of the conditions was an important achievement allowing UCU to make it clear that any employers who attempt to end incremental progression do so without the recommendation from the AoC. The agreement to recommend colleges adopt minimum rather than zero hours for part time staff, the promotion  of the national workloads agreement and a willingness to discuss best practice on lesson observation are  also very  welcome.   

FEC however is recommending that the offer is rejected because it far below the claim for 5% and with current inflation rates is an effective pay cut. 

In line with a decision of the national annual sector conference in June, branches are therefore being asked to support the position that members should be balloted for a programme of escalating strike action in pursuit of an improved offer.

As a branch we have to decide on our position before September which is basically;

1.    Rejection  or acceptance of  the final pay offer

2.    A ballot of members for a programme of escalating strike action in pursuit of an improved pay offer.