Author Archives: isaac

Events (14th May 2021):

Posted on by

1.  Health & Safety Research Seminar – TODAY Friday May 14, 9.15am – 12.30 pm

During the pandemic many different groups of workers have been at the front line, maintaining services, keeping others safe and the economy going while confronting risks. Employee health and safety representatives have been performing risk assessments, calling for adequate PPE, communicating with workers and managements and much more. In short, they have been fulfilling a vital purpose. Training and support from individual unions has underpinned the work of health and safety reps, and helps explain their impact.

What lessons can be learned from working through Covid? What more could employers, unions and government do to improve the effectiveness of employee health and safety consultation?

This Health & Safety Research Seminar is open to anyone and will include talks from trade union and management health and safety specialists, OSH specialists and others with a practical knowledge of supporting employee health and wellbeing during the pandemic.

The program is available here and to register please use this link.

2. Building UCU Event – June 10, 4.40 pm

Join Jo Grady on 10 June at 4.40pm for the launch of new resources aimed at building our ability to bargain better to improve our members working lives. There are short introductory guides for members and activists that outline the kind of trade union we need to build and a longer handbook/code of good practice as a reference point for branch officers. Find out more by registering here.

Branch News and Updates (14th May 2021):

Posted on by

1. Update from Wales Congress
UCU Wales Congress was held online on the 24th April and included the contributions of UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, and UCU President, Vicky Blake. Our branch’s motion on supporting the “Free Siyanda” and other Black Lives Matter campaigns was moved and our second branch’s motion on support for Julian Assange was a draw, and was therefore referred to Wales Council for an action on the sentiment of the motion regarding free speech, but not on the details. You can see all the motions outcomes here.

At the Congress it was agreed that there will be a special meeting of Wales Council on Friday, 14th May at 4 pm to discuss the block voting by UCU Wales on motions to Wales Trade Unions Council Congress on 25/26th May. The motions to be discussed can be found here. We apologize for the short notice in informing members of these. If you have strong feelings about any of the motions, please contact Renata Medeiros (MedeirosMirraRJ@cardiff.ac.uk) or Luzia Dominguez (DominguezL@cardiff.ac.uk), who will be our branch’s delegates for this meeting, before 4 pm today.

2. USS pensions meeting
The pensions meeting held last Wednesday by our branch pensions officer Dave Atkins and Woon Wong, branch member from Cardiff Business School and national UCU joint negotiator on pensions was well attended. For those who could not attend, please see here for a summary of what was discussed:

If you want to join us to help defend your pension, then please contact ucu@cardiff.ac.uk.

3.  Covid-19 rights – information to members
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) produced guidance on taking time off for covid-19 vaccinations and for ‘post-COVID-19 syndrome’, ‘long-tail COVID’ or ‘long COVID’.
You can access the guidelines for vaccination here.
You can access the guidelines for long-covid here.

Any health condition lasting six months or longer is considered a long-term illness or chronic health condition. Any condition that has a substantial adverse effect on your daily life for more than 12 months is considered a disability and is protected by the Equality Act 2010. Many people have now been reported to suffer from long-covid for over 12 months, making it hard for employers to argue that it is not a long-term illness and in many cases the severity of the effects classify as a disability. In such cases the employer is under a duty to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the workplace to help accommodate the employee to continue at work. Also, if anyone with a pre-existing disability or health condition was made worse from having Covid, a review of their existing reasonable adjustments should be carried out and new reasonable adjustments introduced, if necessary.

Please get in touch with the union if you are facing issues with long’covid that are not being properly addressed by the university.

4. Political fund: right to give a withdrawal notice
Since 1913 trade unions who wished to be involved in activity that might be deemed political had to ballot their members on the establishment of a political fund. Since 1984, trade unions have to repeat the ballot every 10 years. UCU last balloted members on the retention of its political fund in March-April 2018.  Members voted to retain the fund.

Employers spend millions of pounds lobbying government and politicians in their favour and union political funds can be used to help redress that balance. UCU uses its political fund income to promote the interests of UCU members, campaigning and lobbying irrespective of party political affiliation.
However, individual members can opt in or out of making contributions to the fund. UCU members in Great Britain who joined the union on or after 1 March 2018 are notified annually of their right to withdraw from the fund.  A notice to those members was issued recently and can be found here.

5. HE negotiators: call for nominations
The HE national negotiators will be elected by the online annual sector conference: nominations are open until the 21st May. The process is by self-nomination.

UCU national negotiators participate in regular (about once every two/three months) meetings with the other trade unions, and occasional intense periods of negotiation when pay claims are under discussion.

If you wish to nominate yourself, please find details of how nominations can be made here.

Solidarity and Wider Campaigns (7th May 2021):

Posted on by

1. USS connections with military junta in Myanmar

A number of HE staff across the UK who are members of the USS pension scheme and are concerned about events in Myanmar, have drafted an open letter to the board urging them to act responsibly in relation to their public equity holdings that are connected to the military junta. If you are a member of USS and would like to add your name to the open letter, you can do it here.

2. Cardiff May Day Rally

For those members who were not able to join the May Day rally organized by the Trade Unions Council (TUC), you can view a video of the event here.

The event was chaired by Cardiff TUC president Katrine Williams and the speakers were: Mairead Canavan (NEU), Andrew Wilkes (Electrician – Unite), Helen Perriam (NHS), Eugene Caparros (CWU), Amarjite Singh (CWU) and Bianca Ali (Black Lives Matter).

The success of the event, despite all the Covid complications, was a testament to the resilience and militancy of the trade union movement in Cardiff, of which our branch is a part.

Events (7th May 2021):

Posted on by

1.   Organizing for Power – Strike School Course

Organising for Power series of international online training courses run by the trade unionist and author Jane McAlevey and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. These courses are a great way of connecting and learning from activists all over the world.

Members can register for the next Organising for Power course, which is entitled ‘Workers Rising Everywhere’. There are six sessions taking place from 5-7pm each Tuesday from 18 May to 22 June.

UCU members can register individually and be assigned a working group by the organizers or can register as a group of 10 people who will remain as a working group throughout the course.

Our Anti-casualisation officer, Renata Medeiros, is organizing a group that includes members from different UCU branches in Wales, People’s Assembly and the Wales Better-than-Zero campaign. There are still two places available to join this group. If you are interested, please contact Renata at medeirosmirrarj@cardiff.ac.uk. The deadline to register is the 10th May.

2.  LGBT+ liberation in contexts of hostility: Wednesday 12 May, 4.00pm

UCU LGBT+ will host an online event about action for LGBT+ liberation ahead of the international day against LGBT+ phobias (IDAHOBIT). There are experiences of anti-LGBT+ feelings at every level, this event looks at actions for support, empowerment, and solidarity. The event is on Wednesday 12 May from 4-5.30 pm and you can register here.

3. Standards for Managing Psychological Health in the Workplace – Webinar May 19, 1pm

The British Standards Institution (BSI) is introducing the new ISO Standard for Managing Psychological Health ISO45003. For those interested, there is a webinar on Wednesday, 19 May at 1pm and you can register here.

Branch News and Updates (7th May 2021):

Posted on by

1. Dispute Strategy

Our ACAS mediated negotiations with the University over empowering staff with a choice about face-to-face work have concluded without an agreement. The request for a ballot has been sent to UCU Head Office and the prospect of industrial action for September is very real if the University does not provide reassurances until then and the pandemic still poses a considerable public health risk, as defined by Public Health Wales.

Our motion on empowering HE staff with a choice about face-to-face work was approved by the last Higher Education Sector Conference (HESC), which means that there will now be a Wales-wide campaign to back our local dispute. As we initiate a large media campaign to pressure the University to reconsider their position, we urge members to use their social media presence for this purpose and to share Cardiff UCU’s posts widely (and create your own). Please also consider forwarding our newsletter to any colleagues who are not members of UCU but might be interested in our updates.

We created a new section in our website called Cardiff UCU in the News, where you can easily follow and share our media campaigns. We will continue to work on our website to improve engagement and accessibility and will keep you updated on those developments.

If you would like to help with our media campaigns, please contact the UCU office (ucu@cardiff.ac.uk) or our Anti-casualisation officer, Renata Medeiros (medeirosmirrarj@cardiff.ac.uk), who is currently coordinating this.

2.  Cardiff University Test & Trace – request for more transparency

Please see here a letter that we sent to the University Executive Board (UEB) regarding the University’s Test & Trace system.

Testing is essential for containing the virus and we welcome the University’s testing service but in order for staff and students to be fully informed and able to interpret the outcomes, the University should publicly share more information on the service, as requested in our letter.

3.  USS Conference

The UCU Solidarity Movement held a USS Conference on the 23rd April with over 430 members from 58 UCU branches. Below are links to two videos representing the two segments of the meetings with time at which each speaker starts for usability.

Video Details:
1 – https://youtu.be/qOjqfmFSQi0
Chaired by Deepa Govindarajan Driver
Speakers:
Vicky Blake (05:40)
Sam Marsh  (12:30)
Neil Davies (18:45)
Marion Hersh (25:03)

2- https://youtu.be/cxPhwBRwJxY
Chaired by Peta Bulmer
Speakers:
Tim Wilson (01:15)
Carlo Morelli (06:08)
Sarah Joss (11:21)
Megan Povey (16:55)
Summary: Roddy Slorach: 22:49

The pensions meeting held on Wednesday with our branch pensions officer Dave Atkins and Woon Wong, branch member from Cardiff Business School and national UCU joint negotiator on pensions, was well attended. For those who could not make it, we will provide notes and links to documents next week.

4. Governance survey

The University management is undertaking a review of the governance arrangements for education and students and is asking staff for feedback on their proposals by the 21st May. Democratising the University is one of our branch’s campaigns and we believe the governance system in most HE institutions across the UK, including Cardiff, is far from democratic. Unfortunately, the new structure proposed by University management does not offer the solutions we need. For example, it still does not empower academics, who are the experts who do the teaching and assessing, with adequate decision making about the education programs and instead allows College and School E&SE committees to override decisions made by School’s Boards of Studies.

In order to fight this top-down mode of governance, we urge members to engage with this survey and to get in touch with the branch if they wish to discuss it.

5. Call for Trades Council Delegates

At our branch’s Annual General Meeting on10th March, we voted to reaffiliate to Cardiff Trades Council. The Cardiff Trades Council brings together unions to campaign around issues affecting working people in their workplaces and local communities. They have helped us link up with other Trade Unions and raise thousands of pounds in donations to our strike funds over the past few years. As part of our affiliation to Cardiff Trades Council we are entitled to eight delegates who represent our branch in the Council monthly meetings.

Please email ucu@cardiff.ac.uk if you would like to be a delegate. You don’t need any previous experience in trade unionism and it is a great experience to learn more about the trade union movement in Cardiff and Wales and to connect with other local activists.

You can find more information about Cardiff Trades Council on their webpage here or on Facebook.

Solidarity and Wider Campaigns:

Posted on by

1. UCU disputes across the UK

Our branch is not alone in its dispute with University management. UCU branches across the UK are fighting to defend jobs and conditions as the Covid-19 crisis continues to hit education sectors hard.

Please check this page for a round-up of the on-going campaigns and requests of support. Our branch will continue to send solidarity messages to our colleagues.

2. Research by Durham University on wellbeing during Covid-19

A team of researchers based in the Department of Psychology at Durham University is developing a research project that explores the impact of social class on the wellbeing of UK university staff during the Covid-19 pandemic and they are asking for participants to the survey they recently launched. With the aim of impacting on policy, they are requesting support from staff at a range of universities and employed in a wide variety of roles. Please use this link to access the survey or visit the project on Twitter: @SESWellbeing_HE.

3.  Black Lives Matter

In the last month or so, two Black men have been killed after contact with the police in South Wales. Following the death of Mohamud Hassan, who was tasered more than once and came into contact with 52 officers during his short stay at the South Wales Police station in Cardiff, another young black man, Moyied Bashir, died recently after being aggressively restrained by the police at his home in Gwent, whilst in a mental health crisis. You can read more about Moyied’s case here and support his family’s campaign to bring justice for him here.

Solidarity & Wider Campaigns (February 18th 2021:

Posted on by

1. Rural Primary School Closures 

 

A number of primary schools in Wales are at risk of closure with the implications that some pupils might have to attend school in England (without the possibility to learn Welsh) and/or travel greater distances to reach school. Schools are very important to small communities and governments should be investing in more schools with fewer pupils rather than fewer schools with more pupils. You can read more about it in this Guardian article  and sign the following petitions against the closure of two Welsh schools:

Ysgol Mynyddygarreg.

Churchstoke Community Primary School.

 

2. Free School Meals in Wales 

 

Child poverty across Wales, and the UK, is on the rise but the Welsh Senedd if failing to act on this, namely by refusing to provide free school meals to all Welsh children or even to expand their eligibility (currently only available to households with less than around 7K/year), despite pressure from a number of Welsh councils and groups like People’s Assembly Wales or the Child Poverty Action Group. It is even more shocking that in England and Scotland all children get free meals in the first three years of primary school but in Wales they don’t. You can support the campaigns requesting free school meals to all children and requesting guidelines on how these are delivered during the pandemic by signing the following petitions for the Welsh Senned:

Free school meals for all pupils in Wales

Revise the guidance for Free School Meals, removing the option for delivery of food parcels 

Ramadan Mubarak

Posted on by

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a holy month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. It remembers the month the Qur’an (the Muslim holy book) was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims fast during daylight hours in Ramadan to get closer to God through prayer and contemplation. Many acts of worship apart from fasting are also done during this month, including the ‘Taraweeh’, an important prayer observed in the evening. It is also a time of joy that involves daily convivial meetings with family and friends for breaking fast at sundown, called ‘Iftar’. At the end of the month, many households partake in celebrations for ‘Eid al-Fitr’ (Festival of Breaking the Fast).

Ramadan in the UK began on the 12th April and will end on the 12th May. We wish Ramadan Mubarak to all our observing members.

Events (April 22nd 2021):

Posted on by

 

1.   Cardiff UCU Thursday Lunchtime Talks

We are happy to announce the latest in our series ‘Understanding Cardiff: perspectives from members’ – casual conversations in which members with particular expertise explain and take questions on some of the most pressing issues facing our branch.

In a timely intervention for Stephen Lawrence Day, today Thursday April 22nd we will host Understanding Inequality: Conversation and Q&A with Abyd Quinn-Aziz
https://cardiff.zoom.us/j/89561180131?pwd=emJMUUVIMThhdDNFT2lQNHFZdUlPZz09

Previous lunchtime talks will be available on YouTube soon.

2.  International Workers’ Memorial Day – 28 April
To mark Workers’ Memorial Day TUC has produced some resources to remind everyone why safety at work is so important. Here are 5 ways to get involved with Workers’ Memorial Day:

  1. Register for the TUC national zoom call with special guest speakers
  2. Check out the timeline of workplace tragedies and the fight for safer work
  3. Pay tribute to someone who lost their life to work in the online memorial
  4. Search for your local Memorial Day event or add your own
  5. Download posters and graphics to print off or share online

And you can find all the IWMD resources at https://www.tuc.org.uk/wmd

To share this with colleagues click to tweet or share to Facebook.

Solidarity and Wider Campaigns (April 22nd 2021):

Posted on by

1. Stand Up for Sleep-In Pay Unison Campaign

On 19 March 2021, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that care workers’ sleep-in shifts do not count as working time and do not need to be paid in line with the National Minimum Wage.

The decision is an insult to care workers who have gone above and beyond during the pandemic – and there are real concerns that some employers will now use this as an opportunity to cut care workers’ sleep-in rates.

You can sign a petition to show your support for care workers and send a message to the Prime Minister here.

2. Kill the Bill Protests

The Police and Crime Bill is a new piece of draft legislation that includes major government plans on crime and justice in England and Wales and, among other things, will hand police and the Home Secretary greater powers to crack down on protests. This can have great implications for Trade Unions and our ability to effectively organize industrial action (our main bargaining power). Protests against the bill have been going ahead in England and Wales since it was announced and have already resulted in a delay of amendment votes by the bill committee, now scheduled for June. Protests will continue to maintain the pressure and resist this dangerous bill. A strong union presence is paramount.

People’s Assembly Wales shares regular updates and details of protests in Cardiff on their Facebook page and you can also subscribe to their mailing list by contacting them on cardiffpeoplesassembly@gmail.com