Category Archives: Workload Campaign

Monday 28th is your last chance to vote in the two active ballots:

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There are only a few days left to have your say in the higher education ballots so please post your ballot paper by Monday 28 October at the very latest.

Voting now will improve the union’s bargaining position and empowers your negotiators. If we beat the 50% threshold for strike action we anticipate that the employers will seriously consider making us an offer before any action happens, because they will remember how effective last year’s strikes were. If we don’t, there is no realistic chance of us improving our lots in relation to pensions, pay, workload, casualisation, or equality. It really is that stark.

A strong turn-out in Cardiff specifically will also help the local branch in its on-going negotiations for improvements with Cardiff University. A weak one will have the opposite effect.

We as a union have democratically decided to encourage members to vote “Yes“ to strike action and ASOS in both ballots, but whatever you think about pay, pensions, job security or equality: please don’t leave it to others to speak for you. Please vote, and also remind your colleagues to vote by sharing this short video clip or by sharing this Facebook event

The UCU’s demands in both active strike ballots:

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We *know* that this info has been shared a lot, but we still have to point people in the direction of info like this.

You can find the campaign leaflet for the “Four Fights” ballot on pay, the gender pay gap, workload and casualisation here. It goes into good detail about the issues we face and the demands we’re making.

You can find the campaigning leaflet in defence of our USS pensions here.

If you’d like to hear from our national negotiators first-hand what they’re bargaining for on our behalf, and what a mandate for strike action could get us, then  watch this video, recorded at a Cardiff UCU event a couple of weeks ago.

For those of you who want to prioritize: first up is Sam Marsh (one of our pensions negotiators), talking about USS (00:00-13:00mins); then comes Robyn Orfitelli (one of our negotiators on pay, casualization, equality and workload) at 14:00-32:30mins; followed by a Q&A with both (32:30-40:11mins)).

Robyn (@rorfitelli, r.orfitelli@sheffield.ac.uk) and Sam (@sam_marsh101, S.J.Marsh@shef.ac.uk) have both kindly offered to take any questions from Cardiff members, either by email or on Twitter.

Still haven’t voted? Abstention is not an option!

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A turnout under 50% of UCU members will invalidate the ballot, even if a majority of members vote in favour of action. This unusually restrictive anti-trade union law means it’s more important than ever to vote, even if you don’t support the action.

We strongly urge every member eligible to vote in the ballots to vote. Again, abstention is a direct attack on those who *do* want to have their say, so whatever you think about the issues, please vote.

Can I Afford to Go on Strike? The UCU strike funds

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The UCU nationally has strike fund to help those most in need of assistance (see the recent email from Jo Grady about this), and we do at local level too. At Cardiff, we’re better prepared than ever to support striking members with a healthy solidarity fund which we’re building all the time. During the last strike UCU took extra care to support precariously employed members such as those on low incomes, PhD students, and Postdocs and we aim to do so again. We realise that hourly paid workers may have difficulty evidencing loss of pay and will take that into account.

While we hope that as many union members as possible do take part in industrial action it is also worth noting that voting “yes” now does not oblige you to strike later. If you are on the fence about this ballots please consider voting “yes” now anyway. Signalling that a high percentage of union members is willing to strike strengthens our negotiators’ position and will hopefully help us to resolve the dispute without industrial action becoming necessary.

We are currently planning a benefit gig to fund-raise for our local strike fund to be held in early December 2019. We’ve got a number of bands already willing to play for us, and when we’ve got a date and venue we’ll share the info!

Jo Grady, UCU General Secretary: Two talks in Cardiff, 22nd October

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The new General Secretary of our Union will be visiting the University on 22nd October this year to talk with members about the two active ballots we face right now, as well as hold a separate session specifically about the issues faced by staff in insecure/precarious employment.

  • Defend Pensions, Pay, and Conditions: A Q&A with UCU General Secretary Jo Grady: 1-2pm, 22nd October 2019, Small Chemistry Lecture Theatre, Main Building, Park Place.

Find out about the issues behind our current struggles to defend our USS pensions, as well as the Union’s strategy in the “four fights” ballot. Bring your friends, along with an open mind and any questions. The session will be recorded and shared afterwards.

Meet with Jo and Cardiff UCU’s Anti-Casualisation Working Group to hear about the fight against gig-economy-style precarious labour in UK Universities, and find out what you can do to help.

This visit will be a cracking opportunity to chat with the Union’s new gaffer, find out her plans for UCU and the issues we face, as well as to hear about the aims behind the current strike ballots. You can read more about Jo in this recent Guardian profile.

Work-related mental health crisis in Universities:

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Research by Liz Morrish (who spoke recently at Cardiff in an event supported by us) identifies widespread structural issues with workplace stress in UK HE.

UCU Congress in 2019 also saw an important fringe event (co-organised by Cardiff UCU branch President Ryan Prout) about the epidemic of stress and bullying in the workplace. Among other things, stats were shared form the UK’s Education Support Partnership charity.

Counsellors at Education Support Partnership, the only charity dedicated to improving the wellbeing and mental health of the whole education workforce throughout the UK, dealt with a record 9,615 cases between April 2018 and the end of March 2019, the largest number in the charity’s history. At the same time, its counsellors continue to report that more calls are coming from those already experiencing a crisis. Read more here.

Cardiff UCU continues to campaign on unmanageable workloads at Cardiff University, and along with the Union nationally is seeking to use Health and Safety legislation to pursue its claims and force recognition and changes. To find out more or get involved, or want help negotiating unrealistic workload demands, email ucu@cardiff.ac.uk.

If you are experiencing mental health difficulties and need someone to listen now, please, please, please ring the Samaritans on 116123, call the University’s outsourced and confidential employee assistance programme Care First on 0800 174319.

Here is more info on support provided by the University to staff.

Workload and its effects

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This week was the anniversary of the death of our colleague Malcolm Anderson, who sadly took his own life on 19th February 2018. Many of you will have seen the BBC’s report into workload and stress that was screened on Wednesday night. It includes a moving interview with Malcolm’s widow, who describes the impossible workload that Malcolm was trying to manage, and how it pushed him too far.

For those who have not seen it, the report is available on the BBC’s website and on YouTube.

Staff in Cardiff Business School (CARBS), where Malcolm worked, continue to fight against unmanageable workloads and in November carried out a survey of academic staff in CARBS whose workload is allocated through the Workload Allocation Model. The survey was designed by the CARBS Workload Group and the UCU Workload Health & Safety team and provides evidence requested by the University Workload Governance Group to support staff claims of excessive work demands.

The report of its findings is now available:

(Yet more) Cardiff Uni focus groups to review the workload model

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Cardiff UCU has been negotiating and campaigning to get the unworkable and unrealistic Workload Allocation Model reviewed for years. Last year, the University finally listened, and many of you took part in a series of useful workshops run by Cardiff Uni’s Tina Blomme.

The upshot of this is a new, big, review of the workload model involving a number of Task and Finish Groups, as well as further staff focus groups to monitor and feed back on the process. It’s all outlined in Blas.

It might seem frustrating that the outcome of last year’s consultation is yet more consultation, but we’re making real progress here, and we need to keep up the pressure to humanise the workload model.

We need:

  • Volunteers (those who already participated in last semester’s focus groups, but also those who didn’t) to sign up for these academic focus groups – having rank-and-file UCU members on these will be highly important (please read the info on the intranet, and get in touch with Tina Blomme by Jan 25th to sign up); and
  • Some more-expert/experienced members to volunteer to be the named UCU reps on the more substantial Task and Finish groups also outlined in the Blas story (get in touch with ucu@cardiff.ac.uk to express an interest in this).

Workload Reps Training: Wednesday 5th December, 10am-1pm

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As part of our Workload Campaign, we are holding another training session on the morning of Wednesday 5th December for those who were unable to attend the last session.

Adam Lincoln from UCU Head Office in London will be coming to Cardiff to run a half-day introduction to the role of the workload rep., and how we can use our rights as trade unionists (particularly under Health and Safety legislation) to take action in support of manageable workloads. The training will provide you with the skills and information needed to help us take the next step in our campaign to take back our time.

To find out more, or book on to the training, please contact the branch office.

Workload Reps Training and Workload Campaign Meeting: Monday Nov 5

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As part of the next steps in our Workload Campaign, we are holding a training session and campaign meeting on the afternoon of Monday 5th November.

For the training session, Adam Lincoln from UCU Head Office in London will be coming to Cardiff to run a half-day introduction to the role of the workload rep., and how we can use our rights as trade unionists (particularly under Health and Safety legislation) to take action in support of manageable workloads. The training will provide you with the skills and information needed to help us take the next step in our campaign to take back our time.

We will follow this with a Campaign Meeting, to plan the next steps of our workload campaign here in Cardiff. After the meeting we would like to encourage everyone who can (& would like to!) to join us in going for a drink and/or some food locally.

Both events will take place on Monday Nov 5:

  • Training session: 12pm-3pm (with lunch provided)
  • Campaign Meeting: 3:30pm-5pm

If you are interested in attending but have not yet put your name forward, please email the branch office at ucu@cardiff.ac.uk and let us know for catering purposes. If you are interested but can’t attend on this occasion let us know, we will hold further events in the future.