Reminder - Extraordinary General Meeting today, Thu 4 June, 11-12 + motions for debate

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Motions for debate are attached below.

On Friday we wrote to members warning that UCL plans for 2020-21 teaching provision under the ‘Emergency Resilience Framework’ (ERF) had not been consulted over by staff, with UCU or with relevant UCL governance structures (Academic Board being virtually mothballed and bypassed). We expressed concern that processes resulting in the ‘suspension’ of programmes and modules have not involved, or taken into account, the academic and workload concerns of staff.

Of most urgent concern were cases notified to us of teaching fellows invited to redundancy meetings on the basis of this backroom course cherry-picking. We challenged UCL HR at the Joint Consultation and Negotiating Committee, arguing among other things that redundancies were premature and counterproductive, workloads were likely to increase, and that the process of redundancy selection was unlawful. As an immediate demand we called on UCL to commit to not making teaching redundancies until October.

We can report we have been informally notified by HR Director Matthew Blain that SMT agreed that any redundancies as a result of the ERF process would be rescinded and were seeking information about where such processes had progressed.  

Therefore:

1. If you are a member of teaching staff and have been asked to accept a reduction in FTE, invited to a redundancy meeting, or have had notice of redundancy served as a result of this ‘ERF’ process, ask your manager to reverse the decision and contact us if you have further issues.
2. If you have been asked by your line manager to conduct such a meeting or consultation process with staff, speak to HR in the first place, citing this message!

We will report further at our meeting today.

UCL UCU Executive Committee

Appendix - motions for debate

1. Governance 

UCL UCU notes:

1. UCL setting up Aquamarine and Sapphire groups and subgroups as 'advisory to the Provost' while the Provost rules as President;
2. Academic Board (AB) has been denied the right to meet, and Council has only met in a consultative capacity, thus preventing these bodies fully carrying out their constitutional responsibilities according to UCL’s Charter and Statutes;
3. AB has been given no role or representation within bodies in the emergency Command Structure;
4. the Sapphire ‘Emergency Resilience Framework’ (ERF) has sought to identify courses and modules to close or curtail top-down based on a review that has not been scrutinised by the AB.

UCL UCU believes:

1. this governance crisis is now impacting directly into teaching content, staff morale and potentially, redundancy selection;
2. meaningful decisions about how courses are to be delivered can only be made by the staff themselves working collectively;
3. that the best way to address this crisis is through a renewal of governance mechanisms, including local department and faculty board meetings and AB, with which the responsibility for teaching ultimately resides. 

UCL UCU resolves:

1. to seek 10 names for an urgent AB meeting without delay, and to raise AB motions to empower colleagues to insist that course planning decisions are made bottom-up not top-down;
2. to raise funds, if required, to support a legal challenge to the decision not to allow AB (and Council) to meet and make decisions.

2. Launching a national dispute to defend members building on the Four Fights claim

UCL UCU notes:

1. our UCL UCU branch consultation on 22 May recorded a large majority to Reject the UCEA ‘Four Fights’ offer, not to put it out to members without a campaign, but in favour of ‘adjusting the claim to take account of changed conditions as a result of the Covid-19 financial crisis’;
2. the result of UCU branch consultations overall was a 2:1 vote in favour of Rejecting the current offer, opposition to re-balloting immediately, but a majority in favour of members being consulted on the offer, without specifying the means to do so;
3. the current offer is not a significant improvement over the offer in February when UCU asked members to take a further 14 days of strike action, and since then the Covid-19 crisis has undermined it;
4. there is no urgent need to consult members on the offer as there are no consequences in pay, or obligations on employers, for either accepting or rejecting it;
5. HEC agreed to call a Special Sector Conference in the w/c 6 July to discuss a new claim for 2020-21 which builds on the unresolved Four Fights claim and incorporates a national demand for the defence of members and their jobs.

UCL UCU resolves to call on HEC to:

1. not try to end the dispute by rapid e-ballot (irrespective of a call to Reject)
2. instead, encourage motions for the SHESC on this new national claim, and 
3. consult members about the current dispute as part of the process of consulting over the new national claim.

3. Defending Teaching Fellows from the ‘Emergency Resilience Framework’

UCL UCU notes:

1. UCL’s Sapphire ‘Emergency Resilience Framework’ (ERF) has sought departmental compliance in reducing the number and size of modules and courses at short notice, claiming that the reduction is necessary to manage staff workload with the move to online teaching, and with staff often presented with fait accompli.
2. UCU became aware in w/c 25 May of cases of Teaching Fellows invited to redundancy meetings as a result of decisions made by the ERF. Reps challenged this process at UCL’s Joint Consultative and Negotiating Committee and notified members on Friday. As an immediate demand, UCU called on UCL to commit to no redundancies until October.
3. UCL has now informally told branch officers that such redundancy decisions are a mistake, and will rescind invitations to meetings and reverse any termination decisions.
4. that Teaching Fellows may find themselves offered a reduced FTE post rather than redundancy, but this also would be in breach of the commitment outlined above.

UCL UCU believes that this issue is a clear warning that UCL is no different to other University employers who expect to make frontline staff redundant in order to manage a crisis of tuition fee market failure triggered by Covid-19.

UCL UCU resolves to:

1. campaign to ensure that all UCL teaching is properly resourced, recognising that teaching online (with or without face-to-face teaching) is likely to require a greater workload, in preparation and in delivery, and therefore Teaching Fellows and PGTAs should be in greater demand.
2. ensure that UCL follows through on its stated commitment not to make TFs redundant as a result of the ERF process, and to keep members updated. 
3. call on departments to consult TFs and PGTAs over their workload and not to attempt to reduce their contracted FTE.
4. call on UCL to ensure that departments are given the necessary financial budgets to support the move to on-line teaching, so that no staff member is expected to work unpaid hours to do so.
5. call on UCL to renew TF fixed term contracts for 2020-21.
6. encourage TFs to join the UCL UCU Teaching Fellow network.

4. Include PGTAs in departmental ERF discussions

UCL UCU notes:

1. as per UCL’s Exemption Criteria for Permanent Recruitment, that PGTA roles are considered essential to meet 20/21 course commitments and thus are exempt from the hiring freeze.
2. that PGTAs are among the most precarious staff UCU represents at UCL, and the failure of departments to hire PGTAs as normal and/or the failure of departments to notify PGTAs their hiring plans in a timely manner will result in financial hardship for PGTAs who rely on this type of work to support themselves (and dependants) through their PhDs.
3. that the protection of PGTAs during the COVID-19 pandemic falls directly under the umbrella of the Four Fights campaign. The failure to hire PGTAs as normal or to delay the hiring process significantly will more often cause financial hardship to PGTAs from BAME backgrounds, women, LGBTQ+ and those with disabilities.

UCL UCU resolves:

1. to ensure that PGTAs are consulted in the development of departmental Emergency Resilience frameworks.
2. to support PGTAs in demanding their departments hire PGTAs as normal and to have confirmation of PGTA hiring plans by the end of June.
3. to call on all lecturers and teaching fellows not to undertake the work normally given to PGTAs.