General Meeting reminder + motions for debate, Wed 13 Nov 1-2pm, Archaelogy G6 LT

This is a reminder of our General Meeting, which is open to all members, convened to discuss the forthcoming industrial action on Wednesday 13th November, in Archaeology G6 LT, Gordon Square, 1-2pm, a wheelchair accessible venue that has an induction loop facility.

In APPENDIX 1 and 2 below we attach four motions we have received for debate.

Agenda:

1. Organising the strike
   a.    Key issues - what everyone needs to know
   b.    Pickets
   c.    Strike meetings
   d.    Strike fund
2. UCU democracy
   a.    Motions to Special HE Sector Conference on USS dispute (6 Dec)
   b.    Motions to Democracy Congress (7 Dec)
   c.    Election of delegates to both conferences

There will be two national meetings taking place in Manchester: a special HE Sector Conference on the USS dispute on 6 December, and a special Congress (HE+FE delegate meeting) on 7 December considering motions to improve UCU's internal democracy.

We are entitled to up to 7 delegates for each meeting. We have received some nominations for delegates, which we will confirm at this meeting. However if colleagues wish to attend either or both meetings, we expect to swap delegates around to maximise member involvement. We will take nominations from the floor.

The deadline for motions for the Democracy Congress is Wednesday, 5pm. We intend to have at least one further meeting to hear motions and amendments for the USS dispute - not least because we anticipate the dispute will develop. The deadline is later.

Please attend this meeting, and encourage colleagues to attend.

Your union needs your help.

We can win this fight if, as in 2018, many colleagues step up and build the action.

UCL UCU Executive Committee

APPENDIX 1: Branch motions

1A) Branch motion on consultation over negotiation priorities

UCL UCU notes that branches have been asked whether to prioritise particular claims in negotiation with the employers. The five claims may be informally summarised as:

1. no increase in employee contributions to USS (currently +1.6%)
2. at least a real-terms increase in baseline pay (rather than a 0.8% cut against RPI)
3. action on inequality pay gaps (beginning with gender pay gaps)
4. action to reduce casualisation and job insecurity
5. action to reduce workloads

UCL UCU believes that an important strength of the current set of claims is that they unite staff whose interests are frequently counterposed by the employers. The UCEA 'four fights' dispute (points 2-5) unites staff across grades and between pre- and post- 92 sectors.

UCL UCU also notes that were the employers to unite with UCU in opposition to USS's de-risking valuation model, 3.1% of salary now, and larger sums in the future, would be released that could address the other claims.

UCL UCU therefore resolves that branch representatives are instructed to report that our claims as indivisible and that no claim should be de-prioritised in this way.

1B) Branch motion on solidarity with insourcing strikes

UCL UCU recognises and fully supports the demands of UCL's porters, cleaners and security staff, who are currently campaigning for UCL to bring them back in house.

On 2 October, UCL UCU pledged to support the campaign by both IWGB and Unison who are representing those workers.

UCL UCU resolves to put £1000 into a campaign fund to support UCL's porters, cleaners and security staff in their campaign.

APPENDIX 2: Motions proposed for UCU Democracy Commission Congress

2A) Rule Change Motion for Democracy Congress

Amendment to Democracy Commission proposal on national dispute committees (Recommendation 13):

In proposed new Rule 35, insert after "Delegates will be elected or nominated by branches, with an entitlement of one delegate per branch", the following clause: ", who will wield a vote weighted in proportion to their Sector Conference delegate entitlement."

Purpose: to ensure decisions made by such a body are in proportion to branch size, using the formula used for electing delegates to conferences. It is envisaged that card votes can be weighted and counted accordingly.

For the original proposal, see the Final Report of the Democracy Commission. As amended, that rule would read:

5.7.1   Recommendation 13: Rule change: dispute committees

Insert new rule 35 (renumber remaining rules accordingly)

35.1 For all multi-institution industrial disputes, a dispute committee will be constituted immediately following the declaration of a dispute from delegates from each branch involved in the dispute, which will exist for the duration of the dispute. Delegates will be elected or nominated by branches, with an entitlement of one delegate per branch, who will wield a vote weighted in proportion to their Sector Conference delegate entitlement. NEC members from the relevant sector/subsector may attend as observers. The committee will be chaired by the relevant Vice President (for single sector disputes), or by the President (for cross-sector disputes). The frequency of meetings will be determined by the committee. Branches may send different delegates to each meeting.

35.2 The scope of the dispute committee is limited to the dispute for which it is constituted.

35.3 No decision affecting continuation, escalation, or ending of an industrial dispute, including putting to the membership for approval a proposed deal to settle the dispute, will be taken without the approval of the dispute committee constituted for that dispute.

Purpose: To create in rule dispute committees for multi-institution disputes.

2B) Standard motion for Democracy Congress

Research into the principles and practicalities of electing officials

Congress believes that ultimately the best way to support and hold our union officials to democratic account is that they be directly elected. 

Congress resolves that the NEC commission research into the positives and negatives of elected officials and to present findings to next Congress for discussion.

Congress notes that following any such review any changes will need to be formally decided by a future Congress and will take time to implement, and affirms that they will not impact on existing staff without agreement.

(84 words)