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.

UCU, the University & College Union @ The Manchester College

Lobby the local Labour Party - Friday 11 September

The Manchester College have:

Attacked education provision for the most vulnerable in society by

• Closing a creche, damanging access for single mothers and others
• Closing basic ESOL courses, limiting access for refugees
• Closing sign language courses, hurting disability access

Failed to follow legal procedures required for redundancies by

• Refusing to discuss ways to avoid redundancy
• Failing to outline proper reasons for the redundancies
• Failing to agree or even discuss redundancy selection criteria
• Failing to use objective selection criteria
• Failing to make any real efforts towards redeployment
• Refusing those to be made redundant attendance at their own appeal

Invented a redundancy within Maths purely in order to victimise our Branch Secretary

• No courses to close or hours to be cut from courses
• No proper justification given for redundancy
• Shortage of maths teachers now evident at college
• Management legally found to have victimised trade unionists before

Continuing to attack UCU and staff

• Refusing to meet with the union
• Refusing legally required facility time for reps i.e. time used to help members
• Aiming to introduce new contracts for all teachers

With further cuts in public funding ahead, and already over a million unemployed young people in the UK, we say:

• No education cuts and job losses when society needs education more than ever.
• Educational provision for the most vulnerable should be especially protected.
• Trade unions should be allowed to operate freely and independently.
• Our Branch Secretary, and the others made redundant, should be reinstated.

Lobby the local Labour Party - Friday 11th September

Management at the college are connected to the Labour Part (who also run the City Council). We like to hope that we can get support and help if we let them know what is really happening at the college. Please come along.

6.30pm at The Palace Hotel on Ducie Street near Piccadilly train station
or meet after work at 6.30 in the Bull's Head opp lower entrance to Picc. Station

London Met – the first institution to suffer ignominy of greylisting

On Tuesday London Metropolitan University (LMU) became the first institution to be greylisted in UCU’s history. A huge thank you for all the amazing response we've had so far. We have been inundated with messages of support and been copied in on hundreds of emails to vice-chancellor, Alfred Morris. We will be responding to all the individual queries as soon as possible and everyone can expect a response by Wednesday of next week.

What you can do:

· Send a message of support to the branch via jstephens@ucu.org.uk

· Non-attendance, speaking at or organising academic or other conferences at LMU

· Not applying for any advertised jobs at LMU

· Not giving lectures at LMU

· Not accepting positions as visiting professors or researchers at LMU

· Not writing for any academic journal which is edited at or produced by LMU

· Not taking up new contracts as external examiners for taught courses

For more details on the LMU situation go here http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3680 and here http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407959&c=2

Not in Our Name

In just two weeks the BNP will be taking their seats in the European Parliament. We need to send the strongest possible message that they are not there in our name.

Over 80,000 people have already done just this by signing Hope Not Hate’s ‘Not in my Name’ petition. Hope Not Hate needs your help to make sure that over 100,000 have signed this petition by the time the BNP go to Strasbourg.

Hope Not Hate have set up a simple tool to let you do this – please invite your friends to join the campaign:

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/morenamesneeded

They need your help in showing that Griffin and Brons don’t repeat us – that they don’t speak for Britain.

Hope Not Hate are currently organising who they are going to hand their petition in to at the European Parliament on 14^th July and want to make sure that as many people as possible have signed the petition before then.

Vestas Wind Turbine Plant Closure

As you may know, the Vestas corporation is planning to close the only factory making wind turbines in Britain, on the Isle of Wight. There is now a campaign among local people on the island and Vestas workers to save the Vestas plant. This will save 600 jobs. More than that, it matters to them because it matters to the planet.

They have asked for emails from individuals and organisations expressing support. The address is savevestas@gmail.com. PLEASE DO THIS as soon as you can. Just tell them briefly who you are and what you feel. It will be important in giving them confidence and courage. Please do it now and ask your friends and colleagues to do it too.

We will never halt climate change without wind power. We need thousands of wind turbine plants, not none.

Jonathan Neale, International Secretary
Phil Thornhill, Coordinator
Campaign against Climate Change

Manchester College strike action over job losses

24 June 2009

Members of UCU today (Wednesday) overwhelmingly voted for strike action at Manchester College.

Following a ballot where 74% of members polled voted yes to strike action and 84% voted in favour of action short of a strike, the union announced that members will walk out on Wednesday 1 July.

The union is furious that the college, which is a result of a merger last summer between MANCAT and City College Manchester, is pushing ahead with what it describes as 'unnecessary and punitive' job losses. The redundancies would see six jobs go in maths and biology and seven in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).

Some of the courses to close include the most basic level ESOL classes and UCU is concerned at the effect this will have on the most vulnerable people in the local community. The union warned today that Wednesday's strike could be the first action in a long campaign to save jobs, if the college refused to back down.

UCU head of further education, Barry Lovejoy, said: 'At a time when we should be looking to extend further education's ability to meet the needs of our communities, Manchester College seems intent of pushing ahead with unnecessary and punitive job cuts. The college should be joining with unions in presenting a case to government to preserve education funding at a time when our communities need it the most, rather than pushing through these irrational job cuts.

'Manchester College is one of the biggest in Europe and should be looking to make full use of the expertise of the staff it has, not axe them when the local community needs them most. Management needs to develop a better relationship with the union. It's in the interests of staff and students for there to be better industrial relations.'

South Manchester College Redundancies

David Swanson, long-time rep and trade union activist at South Manchester College is being victimised by bosses, among around 20+ staff targeted for compulsory redundancy. The targeting of David is a clear case of victimisation. The UCU at MANCAT have balloted for industrial action. They will be going on strike next Wednesday.

Please send messages of support and solidarity to: UCUthemanchestercollege@googlemail.com

Anti-BNP Demo

There is going to be an hour of leafleting against the BNP in Salford Precinct this Saturday morning 22 May. Meet at 11am by Tesco. Apparently the BNP tried to set up a stall in the Precinct last weekend, but local people objected and they left.

Media City Costs

We had clarification of the above at the recent Union-Management Joint Forum at which it was stated by the Director of Finance that these were always known to be £27.5M, not the £10-12M that we had somehow thought. So, with the HEFCE grant of £8M, the University has to come up with nearly £20M in order to move into MediaCity in the next 2-3 years. Annual running costs are apparently expected to be £5M.

Project Headroom Update

Apologies for the blog going quiet, news on Project Headroom has been quite slow lately. If anyone has anything please do send it to the UCU email address. Substantiated facts only I'm afraid, no rumours & myths.

Jim Atherton & John Dobson went to a Headroom overarching meeting on the 14th April. The current state of play is :-

• They have achieved 140 of the 150 job losses they wanted.
• There are 10 positions still at risk and 33 staff in the ‘at risk’ groups
• The jobs are risk are:

- Health Faculty Office – 1 AR

- Languages – 1.5 Academic

- Learning Development Unit – 1 non-academic

- ILS – 2.5 carried over from Phase 1 (1 AR, 0.5 non-academic).

- CSE – 2 (1 academic, 1 academic related)

- ELS – 1 academic

- Estates – 1 non academic

• While there are no guarantees, it seems likely that these 10 will reduce considerably during the next few weeks through ‘bumping’ and redeployment.
• The 90 days minimum statutory redundancy consultation ends on Thursday 16th April.
• We have refused to end the redundancy consultation. This was not controversial and was accepted by Management. However, we have agreed that work can progress in making arrangements for the volunteers to leave. Agreeing a leaving date is the first step.