There is a new UCU portal focussing on the threats to TPS.
http://tps.web.ucu.org.uk/
Friday, 18 May 2012
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Wakefield Strike Picket Line in Pictures
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
May 10th Hardship Funds
Solidarity Hardship Fund
The committee appreciates that some members may experience hardship as a result of striking on May 10th. With this in mind, we have put a hardship fund into place for members to access should they need to. Some members for instance are single parents or the sole breadwinner, others have two members of the same family striking or may experience other financial difficulties. We have a small fund available to help and will do our best to support you. In order to apply, please contact Lesley Kimber or Peter Korn Morris in the first instance stating that you would like to make a hardship application. The process is completely confidential. We would also encourage members to contribute to the fund. A collection will be coming to your staff room soon or give donations to any member of the committee!
Monday, 30 April 2012
UCU will join strike action and protests on 10 May
UCU's national executive committee have today voted to take strike action on Thursday 10 May alongside other unions in an ongoing row over changes to members' pension schemes.
UCU members in England and Wales who are part of the Teachers' Pension Scheme will join civil service union PCS and parts of the Unite union on strike.Other events on the day include a protest by members of the police and prison officers' trade unions - the Police Federation, NAPO and the POA - in defence of their pensions.
The controversial changes imposed by the government at the start of the month will see members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme work longer, pay more into their pension each month in return for a reduced pensions package when they finally retire.
Staff in colleges and universities across the UK are receiving reduced pay packets this month as the rise in their pension contributions takes effect.
Members can see how much they stand to lose by going to the contribution and benefits calculators here.
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Unions demand 5 per cent rise for staff ‘at breaking point’
Unions have warned that staff in FE are at “breaking point” as official figures revealed that the salaries of college lecturers have fallen over the past year, even before the effects of inflation were taken into account.
Justifying a pay claim of 5 per cent, the joint submission by the six unions that work in FE said that staff have seen their standard of living eroded by the equivalent of thousands of pounds over the past two years as a result of inflation. Some staff have even seen their pay cut directly, with the average salary in FE falling by £38 this year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
And this is only the beginning. Lecturers are likely to face even greater pressure on pay as the government’s funding cuts begin in earnest: so far, just 3 per cent of the proposed 25 per cent budget reductions have been implemented. At Gateshead College, some staff are being asked to take an £8,000 pay cut next year, while Sunderland College is also revising job descriptions and pay grades as part of an effort to save £2.2 million.
According to statistics quoted in the unions’ joint pay claim, staff have on average already seen their income fall in real terms by the equivalent of £3,100 over two years, while the cost of living rose by 9.4 per cent. Even the highest paid teachers received only £200 in salary increases over the same period.
“Whichever way you look at it, staff working in further education colleges have taken a massive hit to their living standards in the last few years, a situation which for many is reaching breaking point and cannot continue,” the unions said.
In the joint claim, produced by the University and College Union, the ATL, the Association of Managers in Education, Unison, Unite and the GMB, the unions called for a 5 per cent increase, with a minimum rise of £750 for the lowest paid. The claim also called for tougher measures to improve conditions for part-time workers and the use of lesson observations.
Unions claim that, in the past 12 months, there has been a “sharp increase” in the use of contracts with no minimum hours of work. This means that staff need to be constantly available for work but have no reliable income - a practice the unions compare to the fast food industry. They have called on the Association of Colleges (AoC) to take action to halt the use of “zero hours” contracts, in line with existing national agreements.
They have also called for a national agreement on the proper use of lesson observations, which they say have been responsible for an “unprecedented” increase in local disputes, as staff are forced to bear the brunt of increased workloads and greater pressure for students to achieve.
The UCU is clearly angry. Head of FE Barry Lovejoy said: “Pay awards have been very minimal, tokenistic, in the past two years. And there have very often been places that haven’t even paid that. We’re beginning to see an increasing number of pay bars, so people aren’t progressing up the pay scale. This can’t go on, year after year.
“Whether it’s this year or in the near future, pay will come to be seen as a very significant point of dispute.”
The AoC, which represents the college employers in the non-binding national negotiations, said that the process is at an early stage and the first meetings between the parties will be in mid-May. “This year, all parties face a particular set of circumstances, which means that everyone is facing difficult conditions in these straitened times,” said director of employment Evan Williams.
Justifying a pay claim of 5 per cent, the joint submission by the six unions that work in FE said that staff have seen their standard of living eroded by the equivalent of thousands of pounds over the past two years as a result of inflation. Some staff have even seen their pay cut directly, with the average salary in FE falling by £38 this year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
And this is only the beginning. Lecturers are likely to face even greater pressure on pay as the government’s funding cuts begin in earnest: so far, just 3 per cent of the proposed 25 per cent budget reductions have been implemented. At Gateshead College, some staff are being asked to take an £8,000 pay cut next year, while Sunderland College is also revising job descriptions and pay grades as part of an effort to save £2.2 million.
According to statistics quoted in the unions’ joint pay claim, staff have on average already seen their income fall in real terms by the equivalent of £3,100 over two years, while the cost of living rose by 9.4 per cent. Even the highest paid teachers received only £200 in salary increases over the same period.
“Whichever way you look at it, staff working in further education colleges have taken a massive hit to their living standards in the last few years, a situation which for many is reaching breaking point and cannot continue,” the unions said.
In the joint claim, produced by the University and College Union, the ATL, the Association of Managers in Education, Unison, Unite and the GMB, the unions called for a 5 per cent increase, with a minimum rise of £750 for the lowest paid. The claim also called for tougher measures to improve conditions for part-time workers and the use of lesson observations.
Unions claim that, in the past 12 months, there has been a “sharp increase” in the use of contracts with no minimum hours of work. This means that staff need to be constantly available for work but have no reliable income - a practice the unions compare to the fast food industry. They have called on the Association of Colleges (AoC) to take action to halt the use of “zero hours” contracts, in line with existing national agreements.
They have also called for a national agreement on the proper use of lesson observations, which they say have been responsible for an “unprecedented” increase in local disputes, as staff are forced to bear the brunt of increased workloads and greater pressure for students to achieve.
The UCU is clearly angry. Head of FE Barry Lovejoy said: “Pay awards have been very minimal, tokenistic, in the past two years. And there have very often been places that haven’t even paid that. We’re beginning to see an increasing number of pay bars, so people aren’t progressing up the pay scale. This can’t go on, year after year.
“Whether it’s this year or in the near future, pay will come to be seen as a very significant point of dispute.”
The AoC, which represents the college employers in the non-binding national negotiations, said that the process is at an early stage and the first meetings between the parties will be in mid-May. “This year, all parties face a particular set of circumstances, which means that everyone is facing difficult conditions in these straitened times,” said director of employment Evan Williams.
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Outcome for Sally Hunt
Nearly
23,000 of you voted in the ballot. The turnout has far exceeded that in recent
elections including my own. However you voted thank you for taking part!
Overall the results were as follows:
•88.6% voted to support reducing the size of the National Executive Committee and spending the savings to improve member services
•85.1% voted to be balloted whenever the majority of negotiators believe a final offer is on the table and before a decision is taken to accept or reject
•82.4% voted to elect your lay national negotiators by one member one vote rather than by annual conference.
Overall the results were as follows:
•88.6% voted to support reducing the size of the National Executive Committee and spending the savings to improve member services
•85.1% voted to be balloted whenever the majority of negotiators believe a final offer is on the table and before a decision is taken to accept or reject
•82.4% voted to elect your lay national negotiators by one member one vote rather than by annual conference.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
IFL Fees Scrapped
UCU today welcomed the news that staff in further education colleges would no longer be forced to pay a fee to do their job. An independent panel said the Institute for Learning (IfL) could not remain a compulsory body and money should be refunded to staff who had paid to join.
Membership of the IfL is currently compulsory for teachers in adult and further education, but up until this year the fee was picked up by the government. In September, members of UCU voted overwhelmingly to boycott the IfL after membership became compulsory.That action, coupled with the threat of legal action, prompted further education minister John Hayes to announce an independent review into professionalism in the sector in England. As well as welcoming the news that IfL membership is no longer compulsory, the union said it was looking forward to playing a full role in the wider review of professionalism.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'We are pleased that the panel has recognised compulsory membership of the IfL is a bad move. We are also delighted that the relatively small number of people who did pay the fee will now be reimbursed.
'Boycotting the IfL was not a decision UCU members took lightly, but to be effective as a professional body it must enjoy the confidence of the majority of practitioners. Today's recommendations are a vindication of the members' boycott and we look forward to playing a full part in the review of professionalism in further education.'
The full report can be found the department for business, innovation and skills website
The report says: 'The panel recommends that, as already planned, public funding to the IfL should come to an end in the financial year 2012-2013. When combined with our recommendation to revoke the 2007 Regulations, this advice will restore the IfL to its original status as a private membership body, dependent on voluntary subscriptions in return for services.'
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