The third New JNCHES negotiating meeting took place on the 5th May.
UCEA opened by advising there was increasing pessimism on their side about finances and budgets within HE. The trade unions countered that with inflation at 4.3% their members were also pessimistic about the way their pay has been eroded by inflation and the absence of a decent offer from UCEA.
UCEA did advise it was interested in one aspect of the joint trade union side claim and that was in relation to training, career development and apprentice proposals. A document had previously been tabled for the TU side that showed with the new statutory right for staff to request training coming into force on the 6th March some workplaces had introduced agreements on how to promote and handle this important aspect. In particular Unite and Unison had been instrumental in achieving an agreement at University of Birmingham. In FE the Employers Association, AoC, had also signed up to a joint agreement with the trade unions and this was presented to UCEA as a good example of true co-operative working.
Another Unite initiative was less well received and that was the proposal for fee remission for children of staff working at universities. Unite provided examples outside of the UK to show what other countries were doing. UCEA felt this was unhelpful towards equal access for all. I look forward to working families being given equal access to Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Cardiff, Trinity Dublin and Queens Belfast.
The joint unions again reiterated the aim of getting a workable job security agreement. UCEA still seem to be unable to grasp why this issue will not go away.
After the inevitable adjournment UCEA returned to advise that they had no mandate to move on job security. They were still interested in the trade union ideas on training, career development and apprentices and would come back on this perhaps through one of the new sub committees set up after the 2009 pay discussions.
In an earth shattering move UCEA increased their 0.25% offer on pay to 0.4%. This was still less than the then prevailing 4.3% inflation rate and is worth only £52 per year to anyone on the lowest grade. The offer is unconsolidated which means salary scales would not alter. UCEA urged trade union negotiators to accept the offer quickly because with an impending election things could only get worse. How right they were.
The joint trade unions noted the offer was still a pay cut and advised it was not enough to protect inflationary pressures especially for low paid staff. UCEA advised they were prepared to weight the 0.4% to lower paid grades if staff at the top of the grades would take less. Needless to say our academic colleagues are not in favour of this idea.
In the end negotiations concluded with agreement to meet again on the 28th May. I expect this to be the final meeting and with UCEA and the trade unions so far apart I cannot see a solution resulting in acceptance by the joint unions.
Last year I warned everyone to get their membership records up to date. This still applies. One of the reasons is to avoid any complications that could appear if we go to a full national ballot. As my colleagues covering British Airways have discovered the High Court is not renowned for its pro trade union sympathies!
A further report will be sent out after the next meeting on the 28th May.
Yours sincerely
Mike Robinson
National Officer
Education Sector
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Education Sector Day of Dissent
Joint unions in Education sector Unite, Unison, GMB, UCU, EIS, AMC and ATL are planning a Day of Dissent on Monday 21st June, the longest day and also the day before what will probably turn out to be the most infamous day for working people, Budget Day 2010!
I don't think anybody could mistake the plans by the current Government to take not just an axe but a chainsaw to public sector finances including major parts of the education sector. We await the Government budget plans which have already been well trailed including the intention to destroy so called "Gold Plated Pensions" in the public sector.
On top of that workers are already seeing the attempt to limit pay increases in both HE & FE with currently 0.4% and 0.2% unconsolidated amounts on offer worth £52 and £26 per year respectively to our lowest paid members in higher and further education. This is at a time when inflation has just hit 5.3%.
The joint unions in the sector Unite, Unison, GMB, UCU, EIS, AMC and ATL are asking all reps, stewards and members to organise meetings during a lunchtime or your own time to show dissent at what is being proposed to you and your standard of living.
Let me make it clear this is not industrial action which requires a formal ballot. Rather its campaigning activity to be undertaken outside of working time.
All union members in the education sector are asked to co-ordinate activities with other unions in their locality. It is suggested this could be a workplace gathering during a lunchtime or other convenient period. "Town" meetings are another alternative perhaps at or outside local town halls. Cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Southampton or any other large conurbation may wish to organise city wide meetings or at a particular focal point.
The joint unions in the sector are producing leaflets or posters and these will be available shortly, as will further details on a dedicated website at Defend Higher Education Link
A special event is planned for London, again details nearer the time.
The Day of Dissent should be carried out on the same day to maximise the effect. Please do all you can to inform members about the planned event of Monday 21st June. Copy this email on to staff in your workplace as example.
Please do all you can to show your dissatisfaction on the Day of Dissent. If you need further details or want to contact other unions to plan your action contact your sector Regional Officer or the Unite Regional Office who will put you in touch with local officials from other unions.
Let’s show our dissent!
I don't think anybody could mistake the plans by the current Government to take not just an axe but a chainsaw to public sector finances including major parts of the education sector. We await the Government budget plans which have already been well trailed including the intention to destroy so called "Gold Plated Pensions" in the public sector.
On top of that workers are already seeing the attempt to limit pay increases in both HE & FE with currently 0.4% and 0.2% unconsolidated amounts on offer worth £52 and £26 per year respectively to our lowest paid members in higher and further education. This is at a time when inflation has just hit 5.3%.
The joint unions in the sector Unite, Unison, GMB, UCU, EIS, AMC and ATL are asking all reps, stewards and members to organise meetings during a lunchtime or your own time to show dissent at what is being proposed to you and your standard of living.
Let me make it clear this is not industrial action which requires a formal ballot. Rather its campaigning activity to be undertaken outside of working time.
All union members in the education sector are asked to co-ordinate activities with other unions in their locality. It is suggested this could be a workplace gathering during a lunchtime or other convenient period. "Town" meetings are another alternative perhaps at or outside local town halls. Cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Southampton or any other large conurbation may wish to organise city wide meetings or at a particular focal point.
The joint unions in the sector are producing leaflets or posters and these will be available shortly, as will further details on a dedicated website at Defend Higher Education Link
A special event is planned for London, again details nearer the time.
The Day of Dissent should be carried out on the same day to maximise the effect. Please do all you can to inform members about the planned event of Monday 21st June. Copy this email on to staff in your workplace as example.
Please do all you can to show your dissatisfaction on the Day of Dissent. If you need further details or want to contact other unions to plan your action contact your sector Regional Officer or the Unite Regional Office who will put you in touch with local officials from other unions.
Let’s show our dissent!
Latest Pay News
Pay latest
After the first three meetings with JNCHES the TU side have managed to shift the UCEA position by a mammoth 0.15 %.
Although statistically this represents a whopping 60 % increase in the original offer this is somewhat akin to Manchester United claiming to win the premiership on the grounds that they have more seats than Chelsea . (Fill in your own election coalition here)
It is disappointing that the TU side whilst collectively agreeing that any unconsolidated increase is not worth accepting have not made any progress on this issue so far. There is, however, a further meeting arranged on May 28th and given that we have yet to hear the words full and final offer we may yet be surprised.
There are a couple of issues going on in the background not the least being the continual efforts of Unite to put forward the case for low paid staff. This whilst we have yet to agree on the size of the biscuit let alone the proportion of the crumbs we get.
For info the original offer worked out as roughly £35 pa for our low paid staff but this could be pushed to a flat £65 if everyone accepted. UCU and EIS have both indicated that they are not willing to look at that kind of breakdown.
On the separate issue of the seats at JNCHES we have made no further progress on resolving the reduction from 18 to 16 but UCU have raised the stakes by indicating that they want it resolved by going to the TUC. Alienating the TU side when we are working towards some kind of joint action seems to me to be perverse but UCU sometimes don’t seem to operate on the same wavelength as other staff. The current JNCHES delegates are Mike Robinson, Dave Jones , Sandra Robinson, Diane Massie, Jo Westerman, Dave Crowe and Tony Britton. Following a ruling of a previous NEICC it is accepted that one of the delegates will be from the old T&G section and as Dave Crowe has been ill then Mike Baxter has been drafted in as a replacement.
There will be another NEICC meeting in June and I suspect that the official Unite line will be circulated in time for that meeting
After the first three meetings with JNCHES the TU side have managed to shift the UCEA position by a mammoth 0.15 %.
Although statistically this represents a whopping 60 % increase in the original offer this is somewhat akin to Manchester United claiming to win the premiership on the grounds that they have more seats than Chelsea . (Fill in your own election coalition here)
It is disappointing that the TU side whilst collectively agreeing that any unconsolidated increase is not worth accepting have not made any progress on this issue so far. There is, however, a further meeting arranged on May 28th and given that we have yet to hear the words full and final offer we may yet be surprised.
There are a couple of issues going on in the background not the least being the continual efforts of Unite to put forward the case for low paid staff. This whilst we have yet to agree on the size of the biscuit let alone the proportion of the crumbs we get.
For info the original offer worked out as roughly £35 pa for our low paid staff but this could be pushed to a flat £65 if everyone accepted. UCU and EIS have both indicated that they are not willing to look at that kind of breakdown.
On the separate issue of the seats at JNCHES we have made no further progress on resolving the reduction from 18 to 16 but UCU have raised the stakes by indicating that they want it resolved by going to the TUC. Alienating the TU side when we are working towards some kind of joint action seems to me to be perverse but UCU sometimes don’t seem to operate on the same wavelength as other staff. The current JNCHES delegates are Mike Robinson, Dave Jones , Sandra Robinson, Diane Massie, Jo Westerman, Dave Crowe and Tony Britton. Following a ruling of a previous NEICC it is accepted that one of the delegates will be from the old T&G section and as Dave Crowe has been ill then Mike Baxter has been drafted in as a replacement.
There will be another NEICC meeting in June and I suspect that the official Unite line will be circulated in time for that meeting
Intelligent People in Union Shock
Times Higher Link
Out today: Times Higher Ed Supp, 20-26 May, p.10 - Professor Steve Chapman, Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt is quoted as noticing that higher education had (surely means has) "many intelligent people working in it - many of those are in the unions..."
Well, there’s a surprise.
Out today: Times Higher Ed Supp, 20-26 May, p.10 - Professor Steve Chapman, Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt is quoted as noticing that higher education had (surely means has) "many intelligent people working in it - many of those are in the unions..."
Well, there’s a surprise.
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