Extraordinary General Meeting 26th Jan 2011- 12:45 - Chapman 1

At the general meeting on the 26th January, the membership will be updated on developments on the voluntary severance pay negotiations. It is important that all members support the decisions made at the meeting and in view of the grave nature of this matter, it is imperative that all do their utmost to attend

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING – THURSDAY 16TH DECEMBER 2010 in Newton B2

An EGM will be held on Thursday 16th December 2010 at 12.45pm to discuss the results of our negotiations with the employer on redundancy payments and salary protection pay. A VOTE WILL BE TAKEN ON THE PROPOSALS. It is very important that all members attend.

All UCU Salford members should have received email notification of the travel arrangements for the demo on 10th November. If you haven't received this email yet, please contact one of the Committee for more information.

Pensions Update Meeting - 1st November

Dear members,

Due to demand, Philippa has agreed to re-run the presentation Roger Brooks delivered on the proposed changes to the USS Pension scheme. This session will be delivered on 1st November 2010 at 12:30 and will be held in the Clifford Whitworth Conference Room. A light lunch will be provided, and the meeting will finish no later than 13:50.

Please be aware that this is not an EGM, and is simply an opportunity for those members who were unable to attend Roger’s presentation the first time around, or wish to discuss the pension issue further. No other items will be on the agenda. Philippa will highlight a number of areas where UCU considers the employers proposals to cause a greater detriment to pension prospects than members may realise.

Your committee will be in touch again shortly to advise on the date and time of the next EGM.

To all health educators in higher education

To all health educators in higher education

Health Educators’ Summit , Tuesday 30 November 2010, 1000 -1630, UCU headquarters, London.

UCU is organising the event in conjunction with the Royal College of Nurses , Royal College of Midwives, Chartered Institute of Physiotherapists and British Association of Occupational Therapists, with whom we have joint membership arrangements. Health educators working in higher education health faculties throughout the UK face a period of unprecedented turmoil and uncertainty as a result of healthcare workforce changes, NHS reforms including £20 billion in NHS cuts dressed up as ‘efficiency’ savings, and the looming prospect of huge higher education sector funding cuts.

The Summit is your opportunity to get the latest information and authoritative insights on the future delivery of healthcare and the potential implications for health professionals. Find out what the government’s NHS reforms could mean for your institution and how we can work together to defend health education provision in higher education.

Places are limited so register now by clicking on http://www.ucu.org.uk/healthsummit.

Contact me if you have any queries.

Barbara

Barbara Beckles

National Industrial Relations Official (HE)

UCU

University and College Union

Carlow Street

London NW1 7LH

020 7756 2553 (direct line)

020 7756 2501(fax)

07581 186517* (Blackberry) * out of office access

bbeckles@ucu.org.uk

Extraordinary General Meeting.

An extraordinary General Meeting will be held for all UCU members on Wednesday 8th September 2010 at 12.45pm until 2pm in the Clifford Whitworth Conference Room. A light lunch will be provided.

The meeting will discuss the Pensions issue and the Lauwerys Report.

EGM Location Confirmed

The location for the EGM on 21st June has been confirmed as Gilbert Room 1. (Gilbert rooms are the small building between Maxwell Well and the Salford museum - building 19 on the campus map.)

Extraordinary General Meeting of the Salford UCU Branch

Dear Members,

Extraordinary General Meeting of the Salford UCU Branch

A meeting will be held on Monday 21^st June at 12.30pm till 1.30pm. Venue to be confirmed. A light lunch will be provided.

An agenda has been emailed to all members, if you have not received one, please contact the comms officer on

comms-ucu@salford.ac.uk.

AGM Agenda

The agenda for next week's AGM has been emailed to all members today. If anyone has not received it, please contact comms-ucu@salford.ac.uk for a copy.

AGM Catering

Can all members planning on attending the AGM on 5th May, please ensure that they email comms-ucu@salford.ac.uk with their intention as soon as possible so we can ensure that we provide an adequate lunch.

UCUS Annual General Meeting Notice

Dear Members,

The UCU Salford Branch Annual General Meeting is to be held on Wednesday 5^th May 2010 at 12noon in the Clifford Whitworth Conference Room .The current President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Communications Officer and Equality Officer will seek re-election to their posts.

UCU Salford welcomes nominations from interested parties to these aforementioned posts as well as for Workplace Representatives, Health and Safety Reps (4), Green Rep, Learning Rep. and Pension Rep.

Nominations should be received in writing to me no later than 7 working days before the day of the AGM. Nominations must be accompanied by the written consent of the nominee and supported by the identifiable signatures of 2 members of the Branch.

The meeting will have guest speakers and lunch will be provided.

Anthony Hesketh,
UCU Salford Branch Secretary

National Negotiations News

Please see the following from Justine at Head Office:

Higher Education – 5 Unions 1 Demand: time to raise the pressure on the employers!

National negotiators for the five higher education unions are scheduled to meet the employers on Monday 19 April. This follows a recent meeting at which the employers offered a non consolidated 0.25% cash sum and refused to engage with the unions on our claim for an agreement on job security. The five unions were united in rejecting this offer and asked the employers to come back with a revised offer. With the sector riven by local disputes, it’s time to raise the pressure on UCEA by showing that the five unions are united in pressing our claim.

*WHAT YOU CAN DO:*

Branches: Materials are available at: http://www.ucu.org.uk/defendeducation

OR: http://defendhighereducation.org.uk/?p=76

You can also order copies by emailing jstephens@ucu.org.uk

Members: Sign the joint unions’ petition here: http://defendhighereducation.org.uk/?page_id=13

Further Education – send your support to branches in dispute

With Northumberland College about to be hit by strike action (Thursday 22 April) and 11 London colleges currently balloting for action with a twelfth, Bradford, about to ballot, colleagues in these branches need your support. Northumberland colleagues are set to take strike action in defence of 67 jobs and in resistance to attacks on terms and conditions across the college. The 11 balloting colleges are: Barnet College, City and Islington College, College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, College of North West London, Greenwich Community College, Hackney Community College, Lambeth College, Lewisham College, Richmond Upon Thames College, Tower Hamlets College, Westminster Kingsway College. Please send messages of support to: jstephens@ucu.org.uk and we will pass them on to the relevant secretaries.

Best, Justine

Justine Stephens

Head of Campaigns

UCU

Carlow Street

London

NW1 7LH

Campaigns News

For the latest edition of the UCU campaigns news, you can see our facebook discussion page

Campaigns News

Don't forget that every week we will be posting a copy of UCUs national Campaigns News report on our facebook discussions page.

Protests at Glasgow University with over 80 jobs at risk

Members of the UCU will protest at Glasgow University on Wednesday (14 April) in a row over job cuts.

The university has already targeted 25 jobs in the department of education and is now looking at the possibility of at least 60 more jobs going across the institution. The union says job losses are unnecessary and that the university has broken promises to staff.

See the Full Story on UCUs Website

Unions rebuff Ucea’s one-off 0.25 per cent offer

Please see the full article in the Times Higher.

UCU National Campaigns News

ACTION: All branches – April 10 demonstration for public services

UCU is supporting a joint trade union demonstration on 10 April in central London as part of a campaign to defend the Welfare state and public services. We are asking all branches to support the demonstration. Download a flyer for the march here: http://www.10410demo.co.uk/forms/flyer.pdf. Make sure you and your colleagues are there. You can find out more about the march, including full details on how to get there, here: http://www.10410demo.co.uk/

ACTION: HE branches:

The first ever joint union claim for higher education has been submitted to Ucea. The first meeting is on Monday (29 March). The claim includes:

· calls for catch-up pay for the real terms cut last year and a keep-up element for next year, with a need to recognise the lowest paid.

· demands for national negotiations over a approach to job security.

· ways to address equality, particularly for hourly-paid lecturers, and close the gender pay gap.

*What you can do*:

1. approach your management to ask that they tell Ucea to negotiate meaningfully on the entirety of the claim, particularly job security - we want them to agree to a national approach to a national problem.

2. submit the claim jointly with the other unions to demonstrate our united front to your management and let us know the response at: 5unions@defendhighereducation.org.uk

3. distribute widely the joint union materials that will be with you shortly from the UCU campaigns team.

The full claim can be read at: http://www.ucu.org.uk/he2010

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION (UCU) PRESS RELEASE

date: Wednesday 24 March 2010 for immediate release

Strike and rally off at University of Kent as threat of compulsory job losses removed

The University and College Union (UCU) today confirmed that it had cancelled a ballot for industrial action at the University of Kent after talks between the union and the institution resulted in the threat of compulsory job losses being removed. A planned protest organised by students in Canterbury for today has also been shelved.

Staff in the school of biosciences were at risk from compulsory redundancy, but now an agreement has been thrashed out that commits both the university and UCU to a redundancy avoidance agreement.

UCU Kent branch president, John Fitzpatrick, said: "Industrial action is always the last resort and the talks have delivered a great result for everyone at Kent University. The support from UCU members and students right across the university was magnificent and crucial to the successful outcome."

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “We are delighted that the dispute at Kent has been resolved. This is the second dispute in as many weeks to have been resolved by talks, rather than industrial action. With ballots taking place at UCL and Westminster at the moment and strike action happening at King’s College on Tuesday, we reiterate our message that we want to resolve disputes around the negotiating table, not from the picket line. Universities refusing to talk to us could learn a lot from the likes of Kent and Leeds.”

The union and university have issued the following joint statement:

“The university and UCU have had further constructive discussions in relation to the future of the school of biosciences and have agreed upon an acceptable resolution of the matters in issue between them. This successful conclusion to the discussions indicates a renewed spirit of constructive partnership between management and UCU, and both parties are committed to entering into a redundancy avoidance agreement for the future. As a result, the threat of compulsory redundancies has now been lifted from UCU members in biosciences, and UCU has therefore cancelled the planned ballot of its members on taking industrial action which was to commence on Friday 26 March 2010."

ends

contacts:

Dan Ashley
t: 020 7756 2600;
m: 07789 518 992;
e: dashley@ucu.org.uk

Alex Rossiter
t: 020 7756 2598;
m: 07977 562 686;
e: arossiter@ucu.org.uk

UCU Blog News

Since the end of Project Headroom, we have not been using this blog.

UCU and the other unions at Salford University are now working together and meeting regularly with the VC and his representatives to resolve issues. That is not to say that there may not be a need for vigilance and action in the future, but currently things are on a calmer footing.

Should we need to do so, we may reactivate this blog again in the future.