UCL-UCU: Extraordinary General Meeting, Thu 12 Aug, 13:00-14:00

The agenda for the meeting will focus on the two national disputes over USS pensions and over pay, casualisation, equalities, workload, and redundancies.

We will hear the motions below (Appendix 1) for the online Higher Education Sector Conference (the supreme decision-making body of UCU) called for 9 September to discuss next steps in the pay and pensions disputes.

The deadline for motions is 12 noon on 23 August; for delegate registration, 17:00, Friday 3 September. Click here for the HESC calling notice.

Our meeting will be an opportunity to debate motions and to select delegates for the HESC which will be held online. Provisionally, conference business will take place from 11:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:00, with additional short breaks within each session.

Colleagues interested in joining the UCL UCU delegation should email ucu@ucl.ac.uk in the first instance.

We have received three motions for debate - see Appendix 1 below.

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Appendix 1 - motions for debate

HESC Motion 1: Launch the USS ballot now

HESC notes that:

1. June 2021 HESC motion HE12 was passed with amendment 12A.1 committing the union to organise a member-level campaign and ballot members for industrial action over the summer from June to September, should the employers not join UCU in pressuring USS and the pension regulator to cancel the 2020 valuation in favour of a new 2021 valuation using an "evidence-based moderately prudent approach".
2. the employers did not do so. But HEC failed to enact motion HE12.

HESC resolves to:

1. Ensure HEC does not repeat this mistake.
2. Immediately commence the balloting of members for industrial action to defend the USS DB scheme on its current basis, on a schedule sufficient to enable members to take action in the Autumn Term.
3. Implement the public campaign among members outlined in the aforementioned resolution.

[133 words]

HESC Motion 2: Ballot members over the 2021-22 pay round

HESC notes

1. that the 2021-22 pay round has resulted in UUK recommending employers impose a 1.5% increase, and no progress on casualisation, equality, workload or redundancies
2. the success in increasing GTVO turnout in 2019 by placing both ballot papers in the same envelope

HESC resolves

1. to ballot members over the 2021-22 pay round, in the same envelope as USS where possible

[61 words]

Branch Motion

Motion 3: Support the call to 'crowd fund' a legal challenge to USS launched by KCL UCU

UCL UCU notes the campaign launched from KCL to raise £50,000 to take USS trustees and managers to court for (a) negligence with respect to the pension assets, (b) self-serving negligence by inflating personnel costs, (c) discrimination by failing to consider discriminatory aspects of proposed pension changes, and (d) negligence and failure to act in beneficiaries' best interests by not divesting from low-performing and climate threatening fossil fuels.

UCL UCU resolves to pledge £2000 to the legal fund, and to encourage members to make donations.

More information: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-pensions-and-planet/