P20_21_024_Minutes_General_Meeting_2020_09_16

P20_21_023_Agenda_Cardiff_UCU_GM_2_December_2020

Our H&S officer and representatives have raised numerous concerns on behalf of our members with management over insufficient room ventilation. Management have agreed to deploy new monitoring equipment to check air flow/quality. If you have concerns about poor ventilation in any area that you work or lecture in, and the potential increased risk this may have with regards Covid-19, could you please contact ucu@cardiff.ac.uk so that we can liaise with University Health & Safety staff to deploy monitoring equipment in that

The University management has shared the results of the staff survey on the intranet. While management highlighted the three most positive results (including that 58% of staff reporting feeling that UEB is transparent in its communications) we would like to point out to the less positive results that feed into some of the concerns we have been raising for a long time and point to a leadership crisis that should be properly acknowledged and addressed by UEB:

• 39% of staff feels more engaged with the University and its leaders this year compared to the last;
• 40% of staff agree that the UEB have listened and responded to their views;
• 45% agree that senior College leaders provide effective leadership;

We urge UEB to effectively engage with UCU and the other unions to improve this. In particular to take seriously the concerns we raise in the name of our members, such as the current concerns on the safety and coercion to work in campus, instead of rebutting them on the basis of lack of knowledge if those concerns have not been raised through the University managerial mechanisms.

The only way we know that you have moved School/Department, or even have left the University, is if you tell us. Please could you remember to update your membership details if your circumstances change.

We also ask that you check your membership status, particularly if you are on Standard Free Membership, or are a Student member who has started some teaching.  If you have questions about your membership status, please contact the membership team at Head Office (membership@ucu.org.uk) or the branch office (ucu@cardiff.ac.uk). You can check and amend your membership details here.

The academic-related, professional services staff committee hosted a webinar called ‘Keeping universities running during the pandemic – the importance of supporting ARPS staff’ on Monday 16 November. If you weren’t able to join live, you can watch the webinar on Youtube or watch it on Facebook  .

Guru Nanak Gurpurab is a worldwide celebration of the birth of Guru Nanak (also referred to as Baba Nanak) the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.

He was born into a Hindu family in 1469 in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan.  When he was 30, he mysteriously disappeared for 3 days and when he returned, he started preaching the Sikh faith.

The word “gurpurab” is a mixture of Guru, which means teacher and Purab, which means celebration. It’s celebrated in November or December and this year on 30th November.