In this issue – strike ballot result…report on meeting 25/09/24…grievance reporting…equalities…national pay

 

Massive Majority to renew industrial action mandate
Our recent local ballot closed on Friday 4 October and our industrial action mandate was renewed with a massive majority. More than 81% of members who voted supported strike action
and over 90% supported action short of a strike.

This gives branch negotiators a much better chance of securing key concessions in ongoing discussions with management and ensures that the views of UCU members are taken seriously
in the months to come.

Thank you to everyone who voted and/or encouraged their colleagues to do the same. We exceeded the punitive 50% turnout threshold which serves as an important reminder that every vote really does count!

As a committee, we will be seeking input from members as we decide how best to utilise this renewed mandate, and this will be the main subject of discussion at our next branch meeting on
Wednesday 16 October at 1pm.

25th September Branch meeting report
Thanks to all members who attended our online branch meeting. We really appreciate you giving up your time, especially during the chaos of Week 1.

Alongside updates from negotiators and on UCU’s national campaigns, we devoted a large part of the meeting to a general discussion about Kent-specific concerns and possible courses of
action open to us as a local branch. Suggestions from members, which we are now working on, included:
• Writing to Council – the committee is preparing a draft letter to send to the Head of Council, raising our concerns with the current leadership and strategic direction of the institution, and requesting a direct and open dialogue for the future.
• Motion of no confidence in the Executive Group – members are welcome to bring such a motion to any future branch meeting, where it can be voted on. At the moment the committee are exploring ways to build a more evidence-based motion, and we plan to hold an event for all our members to input into this evidence base, so that a vote of no confidence acts as both a meaningful gesture of protest and a detailed breakdown of specific concerns.
• Targeting EM25 work through ASOS – this is something the committee are considering very seriously and will look to bring more specific plans to a future branch meeting for discussion and voting. We need to operate within the (sadly restrictive) terms of our industrial action mandate and ensure that our goals are specific and achievable. In the meantime, negotiators continue to challenge EM25 at all relevant fora, and we encourage you to do the same, and to let us know of what you have raised and what responses you get (if any).

Creating space to hear from members in meetings was hugely valuable for us as a committee, and we want to continue to find ways to best represent your concerns and act on your suggestions. As such, alongside regular branch meetings, we will also be aiming to hold a large-scale ‘town hall’ event later this term to help shape our future strategy (which will hopefully be supported by UCU’s new ‘Building to Win’ initiative). Watch this space for more on that!

In addition, we have launched an online form to act as a ‘grievances box’: Please submit your concerns HERE and be as specific as you can. We are particularly interested in operational
issues (related to teaching, research, recruitment, EDI, administration, etc.) which we can use to demonstrate to management how the University is not meeting even its most basic obligations. We will follow these up in negotiations.

Next branch meeting is 1pm Weds 16th October – please send any motions, items you would like discussed to O.D.Lyne@Kent.ac.uk by Friday 11th at midday (apologies for shorter notice this time)

 

Equalities news:
UCU committee members and negotiators have repeatedly expressed their serious concerns about the inadequacies of EDI Impact Assessments and other EDI related issues emerging from the actions of EG. We have raised these concerns in all available fora including directly with individual EG members, in negotiation meetings, etc. Despite repeated assurances by EG that they would take EDI concerns seriously in the changes being imposed across the University, we have yet to see any convincing evidence that this is happening and in fact the University is proceeding with measures that will negatively impact minoritised staff. We are also deeply concerned by the message EG is sending about the importance of EDI (or lack thereof) by the reduced importance of the University-wide EDI role compared to the other EDI roles and the inadequate appointments process for this. As such UCU committee has decided to no longer provide feedback on EDI Impact Assessments as we feel that there are no resources being
made available to provide any genuine mitigation and we fear our participation may be misconstrued as agreement/acceptance of a process that is not in the interests of any of our members. We will continue to engage in all other fora concerning equality issues and to continue to fight for equality.

National Pay & Branch Delegate Meeting:
Thanks to everyone who replied to the e-survey on how the national union should respond to the employers pay offer. The results were that a majority wanted to reject the pay offer and the pay related items offer (which is currently nothing more than heads of topics employers agree to talk about); a majority thought national UCU should put the offer to members in a ballot to ask if it was to be rejected and an industrial action ballot commenced. But the biggest response to the national pay process is a sense of disengagement, which continues the feeling discussed in branch meetings after the end of the MAB last year. At the branch delegate meeting, while a few branches were keen on commencing immediate action, and a few for acceptance of the offer, it seemed that many were feeling the same—opposed to the pay offer, but uncertain that industrial action was going to be worthwhile, with a number of branches expressing dissatisfaction with the way the last dispute was led. All branches voted for a campaign to fight for more funding for HE to support pay improvements and a majority voted that a consultative ballot of members should take place. A number of branches, including Kent, asked for deeper democracy and reminded that previous industrial action was called off without consultation. A small measure of progress is being made in regard to more of the nationally elected negotiators being part of such decisions in the future as the UCU will now be able to send more than the 2 reps (one elected and one a UCU staff member) to future national negotiation meetings. Watch out for the consultation ballot papers arriving and have your say about what next.

Kent is likely to apply for the exceptional circumstances and delay the award for 11 months—we will keep you posted if this happens.

Kent has sponsored the London Region Defending Post 16 Education conference: Sat 19th October details & book here: Defending Post-16 Education conference

Next branch meeting is Wednesday 16 October at 1pm. You should have received your Teams invite by now – if you haven’t then please email o.d.lyne@kent.ac.uk.