Branch Meetings Next Week

FURTHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT 24.2.12

1.       LESSON OBSERVATION POLICIES

There is now clearly a new national wave of attacks underway. The national guidance on Lesson Observations which was recently sent out is invaluable for branches. (if you do not have this  please contact me and I’ll forward it to you). How to deal with ‘walkthroughs’ is an important aspect of this. Westminster Kingsway pioneered the tactic of boycotting observations – and after 2 years, won a victory. Now 3 other London colleges are taking boycott action and 3 more are in dispute.  

In Strode College they are trying to introduce a “critical friend” policy – sounds positive until you discover that their critical friend has to be their Head of HR!!!!

For Yorkshire and Humberside, I intend attempting to collate all the existing policies so that all branches know what happens throughout the region.

2.       SICK PAY/SICKNESS ABSENCE POLICIES

In some colleges there is a proposal  to cut contractual sick pay. Cornwall College, for example, has announced its intention to cut to 3 months full  and 3 months half pay.

Elsewhere, there is in some areas a tightening up of sickness absence policies including the more widespread use of the Bradford Factor. Wakefield College in our region was the first to impose this, and I will be asking the branch for a report on its implications which I will circulate.

3.       NUT 6^th FORM ACTION.

On Thursday 23^rd the NUT commenced strike action over pay and poor funding in 6^th Form Colleges.  We agreed to send a message of support from UCU and urged branches/regions to link up with local 6^th Form Colleges.

4.       2012-13 PAY CLAIM

We agreed that our proposal to the joint unions should be for a 5% pay increase.  To be submitted early April. The pay gap with schoolteachers is on average 6.8%. UCU is producing a Pay Charter which will be ready for the launch of the pay claim.

5.        INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

Both Richmond College and Croydon College are in dispute over redundancies with potential action to follow. The funding allocation has had a 12% cut so it is quite likely that there will be more redundancy threats to come as colleges get their funding allocations.

In our region, as reported at the last Regional Meeting, Bradford College is making one lecturer compulsorily redundant. The branch has voted to go into dispute over this. I raised the issue at the FEC meeting  and the FEC chair will be contacting the branch to see what support the national union can give the branch.

6.       WORKFARE, JOBS and EDUCATION pamphlet

The meeting congratulated the Right To Work campaign for its successful protest against TESCO for its participation in the Workfare Scheme (unpaid work experience!) Agreed to support the Boycott Workfare Day of Action on Sat. March 3^rd, protests on March 14^th for the next unemployment figures and on Budget day.

Branches were also urged to use the campaigning pamphlet JOBS AND EDUCATION that the union has produced. Barnsley College is about to do this and I’ll circulate both what we do, and an evaluation of its success.

TPS consultative ballot opens on Monday:

 UCU’s consultative ballot on rejecting the government’s final offer on TPS pensions opens on 27 February. Your NEC recommends that you vote YES to support further industrial action. You can find lots more, including our new campaign materials at our new campaign site here:

http://tps.web.ucu.org.uk/

Branch meetings

Margaret Street and Thornes - Branch Meetings

The UCU meeting scheduled for 27^th February has been postponed until the following week it will now be on;

Monday 5^th March 2012 at 4:15 – 5:00pm

Agenda

·         Lecturers hours agreement (Collective agreement on hours) The current discussions around this are culminating in the JSC on 15^th March so it is essential enough members attend the meeting so that we can say to them on the 15^th March whether we want to accept the agreement. It is important that you attend the 5^th March meeting because we will vote on whether to accept the amended agreement or whether we want to push for further changes which could potentially mean taking industrial action.

·         Unannounced Observations This is also an issue for discussion at JSC on 15^th March and we also need members to attend the branch meeting on 5^th March in order to decide whether we are prepared to accept their proposed changes. We found that 68% of those surveyed recently did not approve of the proposed changes to the lesson observation procedures. Again we need members to attend the meeting so we can draft our response to their proposed changes.

Protest Leeds

Strike Ballot Called

http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5963 NEC votes to ballot over TPS

UCU's NEC today voted to take strike action on 28 March subject to a consultative ballot. The union will campaign for members to reject the government's proposals and support industrial action starting with a strike on 28 March.

Recommendations agreed:

The NEC agreed to withdraw its previous call for strike action on 1 March and rolling strike action during February.

The NEC agreed to conduct a consultative ballot of members, to conclude by 14 March, asking the following questions:
Do you endorse the decision of the National Executive not to agree to the Government's new final pensions proposals and that the union should continue the campaign against them?
Would you support further strike action beginning with a national one day strike on March 28th alongside other unions?

The ballot material will include the NEC's recommendation that members endorse the NEC's rejection of government's proposals, the NEC's recommendation that members take further action, and a description of why the deal offered by the government is so poor. The ballot will be conducted primarily via email.

The NEC agreed to meet again on 16 March to consider the results of the consultative ballots and reports from sister unions.

A campaign programme and materials will be prepared.

Feedback from Regional Meeting Last Saturday

Regional Executive Committee Meeting

Saturday 4^th February – Leeds Met.

This was a well-attended meeting which consisted of separate committee meetings of both FE and HE committees which then came together for a combined meeting about pensions.

FE Committee

·         Proposals for resolutions at the forthcoming FE sector conference were concerned with the continued casualisation of contracts for staff and agency staff. Also contracts in general which were seen as increasingly target driven business models with little respect for work/life balance. Additionally, proposals by the Government to devalue vocational qualifications were seen as an area of concern.

·         Regarding pay negotiations with the AoC – UCU are considering a request to the AoC  to recommend a pay deal which is commensurate with the amount lecturing staff have lost due to pay freezes and inflation.  This is currently awaiting an FEC vote on 24/02/12.

·         The National report gave a brief update on IFL membership. While this is still not yet finalised, the general secretary (Sally Hunt) is in negotiations about this and the advice is still NOT to pay!

Joint FE/HE committee on Pensions

·         The regional chair began the meeting by saying that there has been a lot of information and disinformation about the NEC vote to propose strike action on a day in March. Two members of the NEC were present at the meeting and explained what had occurred regarding this. They referred to a document known as the 1^st Actuarial – this document analysed the TPS in terms of modelled outcomes and in all of these modelled scenarios (based on extrapolation) it seems that members of the TPS will lose out if the Heads of Agreement (HoA) proposed offer from the Government is accepted.

·         The NEC explained why they had voted for strike action in March, this is because the Government is planning to take the first increases to the TPS contributions in April. This will mean in practical terms that a teacher at the top of the lecturer scale will lose £30.00 per month from April 2012 and this will rise every year to reach £75.00 per month. In addition people are being asked to work for longer (until 68 years old for younger staff) and will receive far less when they retire. In the circumstances, the NEC felt that action had to be taken as there were not really ‘significant’ changes in this offer and that the General Secretary would not budge on her position.

·         The chair went on to  tell us about the ATL decision to sign up to the HoA which was widely reported in the media as being a massive 90% vote in acceptance – was based on a turnout of 5.7% of members.

·         In addition the UNISON decision to sign was a very narrow vote - 7 to accept and 6 to reject. There is scope for them to change this and refuse to support the HoA and it was widely felt that this would be the case.

·         According to the NUT, the NAHT (Head teachers union) have now decided to change their position and to reject the HoA.

·         The BMA (Doctor’s union) and the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) are also likely to strike.

·         There are several private sector unions who are likely to strike in support of public sector workers.

·         It is likely that the strike day will not be the 1^st of March now, but is more likely to be a day in March instead.

·        Finally, the FE Committee was asked to vote on whether they endorsed the NEC’s resolution of Friday 20^th January 2012 and 18 college representatives voted unanimously to endorse the NEC’s decision.

UCU Left Voting Advice

Dear Colleagues,

You are bound to have noticed that this year's General Secretary and NEC election is being more hotly contested than usual. In my opinion this has because a real debate has opened up in the union about how best to fight to defend members' pensions, jobs and standard of living. That is why it is important to encourage all members to vote in these elections.

I noticed that Sally Hunt in her most recent email to members included a link to her recommended list of candidates. She did so because she said that members often ask her who they should vote for. I am retiring this summer so did not stand for re-election but if I had I am confident that I would not have appeared on her recommended list!  As lots of members ask me too who I would recommend them to vote for I have attached a document which spells out not just my thinking on who to vote for, but that of many of my fellow NEC members.

 I hope you take time to read this and the statements in the election mailing. If you want further information do not hesitate to ask.

I have found being on the NEC to be a tremendously stimulating experience and hope I have been able to contribute a little to shaping how the union has responded to the worst  attacks we have ever faced. A delegate to the Manchester FE Special Sector conference in Sept 2010 described the threats we face as "a tsunami" and for once that metaphor is no exaggeration. We have survived as well as we have so far because of both the determination of the membership and of the NEC. In my view, we need to keep that fighting spirit at all levels in the union.

Best wishes,

Dave Gibson

UCU elections 2012
Voting advice from UCU Left
Suggested voting order from UCU Left for the National Executive and national officer posts. The
election begins on Monday February 6th and closes on Thursday March 1st.
NORTH EAST electoral region
Please ensure you always use numbers and not an ‘X’

Trustees (3 seats)
Alan Whitaker 1
Neil Macfarlane 2
Alistair Hunter 3
Philip Burgess 4

General Secretary
Mark Campbell 1

Vice President (FE)
Angie McConnell 1

North East HE (3 seats)
Elizabeth Lawrence 1
Gavin Reid 2
Veronica Killen 3
Jeff Fowler 4

North East FE (2 seats)
Graham Mustin 1
Umit Yildiz 2

UK-elected FE (6 seats)
Umit Yildiz 1
Richard McEwan 2
Jenny Sutton 3
Steve Boyce 4
John Holden 5
Paul Pritchard 6

Representatives of women members HE
(3 seats)
Marion Hersh 1
Ann Blair 2

Representatives of women members FE
(2 seats)
Alison Lord 1
Jenny Sutton 2

Seat for casually employed members FE
(1 seat)
Regine Pilling 1

UCU/400 UCU Trustee, General Secretary, Officer and NEC elections 2012:

Ballot period and guidance notes:
Information about the upcoming UCU Trustee, General Secretary, Officer and NEC elections  which open on Monday 6 February 2012 is set out in this circular. This includes information about the ballot period and where to direct any queries about the ballot.  http://www.ucu.org.uk/elections
http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu400.html
http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/rtf/ucu400.rtf