1. General Meeting next week – TOMORROW Friday 12th February 1.10pm 

Please join the branch General Meeting on zoom tomorrow to discuss the current dispute in light of the mandate for industrial action given by the indicative ballot. This includes strategies to achieve the 50% turnout and forms that an Action Short of a Strike or a Strike Action could take, if we do not reach an agreement with management in the meantime.

To register for the meeting, please complete this form 
2.  Cardiff Dispute and Media campaign 

The recent article in the independent media platform voice.wales covering our dispute, has generated disaccord with the University management who sent us a letter of complaint. pointing out that the article was misleading and unfair that they were unaware of the issues presented. You can read our response here.

We are committed to working with University management in resolving the dispute and we have brought their proposed statement in response to our demands to a vote with the members at our last General Meeting on xxx. Their statement was rejected by a large majority of members present since it did not offer the reassurance we were asking for, that no worker should be compelled to work face-to-face on campus. We are open to alternative wordings that offer us the same reassurance and our negotiators will meet with management again on the 18th February.

In the meantime, and while we prepare to ballot members on industrial action in case a resolution is not achieved, we urge all members to update their contacts on our database to ensure that your ballot will be sent to your home address. You can do that here or email the office (ucu@cardiff.ac.uk).
3.  Four Fights National Dispute 

UCU national office is surveying members on the latest offer by the employers at UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association) over the four fights dispute relating to: Pay inequality, Job insecurity, Rising workloads, and Pay devaluation. If you have not voted on whether to accept or reject the offer, please check your inboxes for an email sent on Monday 8th by CES titled UCU consultative ballot on UCEA final offer 2020/21.

UCU is recommending that we vote to REJECT this offer, because:

– the 0% pay adjustment is yet another real-terms pay cut;

– there is no commitment to ending the sector’s reliance on zero-hours contracts and reducing other types of precarious contracts;

– there is no commitment to controlling and reducing excessive workloads;

– it does not offer any meaningful actions on gender, ethnic and disability pay gaps; nor does it recognise the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on carers, LGBTQ+ members, disabled members, and our Black, Asian, and ethnic minority members.

This offer does not recognise our efforts during the pandemic and the work we have done to keep higher education functioning. The employers’ offer is unacceptable, and only the possibility of more industrial action can bring employers to their senses

4. UCU HE Sector Conference & Wales Congress – REMINDER 

The HE Sector Conference will take place on Saturday 17th April 10.30 AM – 12.30 PM and the UCU Wales Congress & AGM will take place on Saturday 24th April 2021, via Teams.

Issues relating specifically to HE are dealt with in the Sector Conferences while overall policy issues for Wales or wider political issues are dealt with at the Congress. Each branch is entitled to submit 2 motions to the Conference and 2 motions to the Congress.

Our branch is entitled to 23 delegates with voting rights (but more members can join as observers). If you would like to attend either event or both as a delegate for our branch, please get in touch with the office. All delegates much be registered by noon on 2nd April. This is an important opportunity to represent our members in shaping the priorities of UCU Wales and we strongly encourage members to put themselves forward – we usually do not fill all the places we are entitled to.

We also encourage members to submit motions to the branch to be voted by members at our AGM and decide which motions to put forward as a branch for the Sector Conference and for the Congress. Motions must be no longer than 150 words, not including titles. Titles must not be more than 10 words. Guidance on how to compose a motion can be found here. All motions must be submitted to the branch office ahead of our branch’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 10th March.