Age Profile of Members

Following the short survey we presented this to management. It very clearly portrays the ageing profile of the technician members of our group. Management have agreed to take on board this and reflect on how this wil impact on the workforce over the succeeding years. They have a lot of work to do to ensure that they have succession planning. We will keep you posted on the discussions taking place.

Health & Safety News

Latest news on the Unite, Amicus section health and safety news website - click the link after each story for the full text. Remember to check the Amicus website at http://www.amicustheunion.org/safetynews/ for regular safety news updates.

Building, strengthening and supporting trade unionism in the SERTUC Region, Saturday 26 January 2008

There are two million trade union members who live and work in the SERTUC region. The first line of defence of those workers’ interests at work are their workplace representatives: shop stewards, health and safety reps, equality reps, environmental reps and union learning reps. This event is designed to celebrate the role of the work place rep and to help you perform your role more effectively. There will be presentations and discussions in both plenary and workshop form on time off rights, trade union education, H&S update, negotiating skills, organising, as well as a full employment law update from a trade union law professional. The event will also strengthen trade union reps’ understanding of what SERTUC is and how it can support them in their work, as well as underlining the support available from the TUC nationally. There is no charge for attending this event. Congress House is a fully accessible building. Delegates should contact their union for travel and subsistence costs, but a crèche will be provided if required and lunch is included. This event is designed to celebrate the role of the work place rep and to help you perform your role more effectively. There will be presentations and discussions in both plenary and workshop form on time off rights, trade union education, H&S update, negotiating skills, organising, as well as a full employment law update from a trade union law professional. The event will also strengthen trade union reps’ understanding of what SERTUC is and how it can support them in their work, as well as underlining the support available from the TUC nationally. There is no charge for attending this event. Congress House is a fully accessible building. Delegates should contact their union for travel and subsistence costs, but a crèche will be provided if required and lunch is included.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7747

The Quality of Working Life - Promoting a Healthy Agenda, IER conference, 6 February, London
9.30am-4.30pm, at the UCU Conference Centre, Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP, including two Unite speakers. Is it time to reconsider our approach to delivering health and safety at work? Does the modern day fragmented labour market demand a new framework of law? Do the often unrepresented and increasingly undocumented workers, need a clearer framework of regulation within which to work? Would the development of a Quality of Working Life Bill clarify and streamline the duty of care still expected of our employers? The Institute is keen to develop these ideas and this conference can kick-start the debate.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7681

Blue Plaque for Robert Tressell (Noonan) author of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Liverpool Trades Union Council will be unveiling a blue plaque to Robert Tressell at The Old Royal Liverpool Infirmary (opposite the Dental Hospital, at 10.30 am, Sunday 3 February 2008. The unveiling ceremony will be conducted by Mr. Reg Johnson, the last surviving member of the author’s family. A reception will be held at the Casa Club.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7668

Agriculture safety and health awareness days
Free half-day sessions in February and March 2008. Find an event near you. In recent years HSE has run a number of these practical demonstrations around the country, to help farmers make their workplaces and work activities safer and healthier. They are also used to demonstrate good practice and raise awareness of current health and safety issues in forestry and arboriculture. Qualified instructors are used to demonstrate how to avoid the most common causes of accidents and ill health. Nearly all attendees have told us that they have found Awareness Days helpful and worthwhile, would attend another similar event and recommend them to others.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7812

TUC Hazards at Work, new edition out now
The second edition of Hazards at Work: Organising for Safe and Healthy Workplaces has just been published. This is the TUC’s essential guide to health & safety law, good practice and advice. It will answer most of the health & safety related questions that members and reps ask advice on. A Unite branded edition is included in the materials provided on our Managing Safety training course so be sure to enrol now. Alternatively order a copy here - discounted for Unite members. Your Regional Council may be able to provide you with funding for a copy.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7450

French Government finds safety reps improve safety
Health and safety representatives clearly help to improve the quality of prevention policies in workplaces where they are present, according to an official French government report. Thomas Coutrot from the Dares, the research institute of the French labour ministry, reviewed recent studies and concluded safety reps clearly help build workers' awareness and improve the identification of workplace risks.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7788

How gender sensitive is health and safety management in your workplace?
The TUC's Gender and Occupational Safety and Health (G&OSH) Working Party has produced a checklist to help safety reps and others check whether their workplace health and safety policies and practices are gender sensitive.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7725

Shiftwork linked early retirement in women
Shiftwork may increase the risk of enforced early retirement among women, suggests new research. Researchers used information from just under 8,000 male and female employees, who were part of the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study, which began in 1990, and data from the national welfare register. Successive waves of participants in the cohort study were formally interviewed about their workplace, work patterns, health, and lifestyle.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7787

Unite secures £175,000 damages for member injured by dangerous machine
A Preston man who suffered severe physical and psychological injuries after his hand was trapped in a machine at work has secured substantial compensation from his former employer with the support of his trade union Unite. The man, aged 47, trapped his hand in an unguarded machine and sustained a serious degloving injury to the palm of his hand. He has since undergone five operations and has suffered serious psychological injuries. As a result, he has secured £175,000 in compensation.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7786

International RSI Awareness Day, 29th February 2008
Musculo-skeletal disorders including Work Related Upper Limb Disorders (WRULDs) are one of the top two occupational illnesses BUT are mostly preventable. The Hazards Campaign has commissioned a poster from Hazards Magazine for the next International RSI Day, 29th February 2008, as part of a beefed up campaign on RSI/MSDs.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7746

Unite secures compensation for member permanently injured by hand arm vibration
A young man from Doncaster who claims he was forced out of his job after vibrating tools permanently damaged his hands has been paid substantial compensation with the support of his trade union Unite.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7652

Regional Safety Conferences
Unite Health and Safety Unit has been running a series of regional conferences for safety reps. In 2007 these were held in the South West, London and South East, and Eastern Regions. Conference materials from these can be found here. Contact your regional office to find out if your Regional Council is organising a conference in your region – contact details can be found at www.amicustheunion.org/regions/.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7559

Unite secures compensation for RAF fighter technician following aircraft injury
An aircraft technician who was injured whilst working on a fighter jet has been awarded compensation by his former employer, the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) at RAF St Athan in South Wales. DARA is a civilian arm of the Ministry of Defence and was set up to maintain and repair the UK's military aircraft. The claim for damages was brought with the support of Unite the union and Thompsons Solicitors.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7611

Unite's reaction to the Health & Safety Commission and Health & Safety Executive report into the integrity of offshore installations

Unite regional officer, Graham Tran said, "There are good oil operators in the North Sea but there are a number of bad players who are putting lives at risk for the sake of a barrel of oil. Oil companies make huge profits. There is no excuse for falling short on safety. Oil companies must implement the proper procedures and make the necessary upgrades to these installations immediately. Otherwise it's time to name and shame the bad players and have them removed from the North Sea

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7537

Unite secures £250,000 damages after member's back injury at work led to early retirement
A man whose life has been seriously impaired as a result of a serious back injury at work has been paid substantial compensation by Glen Dimplex Cooking of Prescot, Merseyside. Mr Smith, aged 61, from Prescot, worked as a Facilities Engineer and sustained a serious back injury when he fell down a damp sloping grass verge whilst reading meters at one of the firm’s factory buildings. Mr Smith is a member of leading trade union Unite and brought his claim for compensation with the support of their personal injury specialists Thompsons Solicitors. As a result, his former employer agreed to settle for £250,000 just 3 weeks before the trial.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7557

Unite concern over offshore employers
An offshore union leader has called for oil giant Shell to quit the North Sea. Unite regional officer Graham Tran made the demand after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation upheld concerns raised by offshore unions over safety on Shell platforms. The unions claimed there were gaps in 'safety critical' positions on five installations being sold by Shell (Risks 323). HSE has now confirmed a series of safety deficiencies. Mr Tran said he wanted to see Shell leave British waters.’

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7526

Unite secures compensation for asbestos exposure to widow's husband
The widow of a Unite member has won a substantial compensation payment after her husband was exposed to lethal asbestos dust in the workplace. David Hines from Birkenhead was 73 when he died just two months after he was diagnosed with cancer of the lining of the lung mesothelioma.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7527

Health workers may be due extra payouts
The British Medical Association (BMA) says an NHS work-related injury and ill-health compensation scheme has been under-paying some claimants. It is advising any member who has received compensation for an injury at work since 1972 to check they are receiving their full entitlement. BMA says under-payments in some cases could run to tens of thousands of pounds. The advice comes after the Department of Health announced the results of an inquiry which revealed 'anomalies with the administration' of the NHS Injury Benefits Scheme in England and Wales, with 40 per cent of the nearly 24,000 cases reviewed affected by errors.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7489

Unite secures damages for traffic light worker following car collision
A worker hit by a car at a road junction has been awarded compensation with the help of Unite the union and Thompsons Solicitors. Mr Keith Simpson, a traffic light installer who was hit by a vehicle on Loughborough Road at the junction with Brixton Road, Lambeth, London SW9, has been awarded £75,000 in damages after both his legs were severely injured and he was left unable to work for nearly three years.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7525

'Work while you're sick' is hurting firms
Pressure to stagger into work when sick is hurting workers and damaging productivity, commitment levels and motivation, according to research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Its 'Quality of Working Life' report reveals that 17 per cent of managers believe their health is deteriorating and more than four in 10 (42 per cent) claim illness rates in their organisation have gone up over the last 12 months. But the study of 1,511 managers found 1 in 3 believe a culture of not taking time off work for sickness exists in their organisation. Only 53 per cent of employees feel they would be treated sympathetically if they were ill.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7488

Business says business is bad to workers
A top business organisation has urged companies to put the health of the nation's workforce on to the boardroom agenda, after its research revealed 'apathy' on the issue was damaging both workers' health and productivity. Business in the Community (BITC) said its research has revealed that a third of workers (31 per cent) feel their health is neglected at work, while six in 10 (62 per cent) 'don't believe bosses consider staff as assets worth investing in.'

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7487

Stonemason develops deadly silica disease
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned quarrying companies and stonemasons of the risk from the potentially fatal disease silicosis, if adequate measures to monitor and prevent exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) are not in place. The alert came this week after Robert Thomas Charlton, trading as Border Stone Quarries, was fined £6,000 plus £7,602 costs at Tynedale Magistrates' Court, Hexham. Mr Charlton pleaded guilty to breaches of the COSHH chemical control regulations and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) - he had failed to notify the HSE of a reportable work disease, silicosis. (See http://www.amicustheunion.org/silica/ for more guidance.)

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7486

Research proves health and safety pays
A positive approach to health and safety not only helps businesses attract quality employees, but also boosts sales and workforce commitment. Research by the Institute for Employment Studies and The Work Foundation for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) looked into UK business attitudes, intentions and performance and their health and safety strategies. A telephone survey of 3,000 UK businesses found a clear link between higher expenditure on health and safety and three key areas - a greater capacity to attract quality employees, higher employee commitment and faster sales growth. Health and safety was generally seen as either 'important' or 'very important' by firms - although smaller companies were less likely to have a positive attitude or regard it as a key strategic area.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7485

Unite secures £12,000 damages for injured ship's rigger
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd are to pay £12,000 damages to a Ship’s Rigger from Devon who was injured on the stern of HMS Somerset. Leading trade union Unite secured the compensation for member Kevin Renyard via its free legal help scheme with Unite law firm Thompsons Solicitors.

http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7480

The Unite, Amicus section health and safety pages at http://www.amicustheunion.org/healthandsafety/ are updated regularly, and suggestions for additional information to add, or changes in the layout, are always appreciated. This is your website so please feel free to send an email if there is something you think is missing, or could be done better.

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Chris O'Leary
Research Officer
amicus
email healthandsafety@unitetheunion.com
web www.amicustheunion.org/healthandsafety/
telephone 020 7780 4006
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fax 020 7780 4040

Subscribe to Hazards magazine, supported by Unite, Amicus section as a key source of information for union safety reps.
www.hazards.org/subscribehazards.htm

Risks is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 13,000 subscribers and 1,500 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week, click here.

www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/index.cfm?mins=242

Labs at risk from loss of expertise

Age “time bomb” and poor training threaten skills drain as technicians not replaced.

Chloe Stothart reports.

University laboratories face a “demographic time bomb” as large numbers of technicians reach retirement age with no one to replace them.

The average university technician is aged over 40 and almost a third are over 50 years old, according to their trade union, Amicus Unite. It also warns that the training schemes that drew that generation of technicians into the sector have largely withered.

A report for the Higher education Funding Council for England by consultancy Evidence Ltd found a 22% drop in the number of technicians in engineering between the 1996 and 2001 research assessment exercises, almost a 23% decline in biological sciences technicians and 16 and 17 per cent decreases in technicians for physical sciences and pre-clinical technicians.

“People are not coming into the sector as there is no development for them, and we are losing people because of the demographic time bomb”,said Matt Levi, manager of the Leadership Foundation’s Heated project, which was set up to research the problem.

“If we are going to be world class we need the technical specialists, and there is no question that very, very specialist skills will be lost unless we do something,” said Mr Levi.

Ken Jakeman, deputy manager of Birmingham University’s School of Biosciences, said that a large number of the institution’s technicians would reach retirement age between 2013 and 2015.

He said that the shortage of technicians and the time spent training them can eat into research projects. “It does increase the time it takes to do the same research because you have to train more people up”, Mr Jakeman said.

“The quality of research at present is not affected, but I don’t know whether it will be in future. Decisions need to be taken now to prevent that happening.”

He added that some technicians leave academia at the end of fixed-term contracts for better opportunities in industry or the National Health Service.

Early retirement schemes at some universities have further eroded the number of technicians, said Alan Willcocks, departmental services manager in the department of cell physiology and pharmacology at Leicester University.

Newer technicians do not have all the skills of their predecessors, Mr Willcocks said. “The vacancies we have for lower grade technicians are taken by recent or inexperienced graduates, so while they are well educated they simply do not have the ype of experience needed in terms of technical training to run or manage a department or work at a more senior level.”

Mike Robinson, national officer and Amicus Unite, highlighted the impact on students. He said “Universities will not be able to function without these technicians. They are the unseen aspect of student life. Some of what they do is so complex that, if technicians are not there, students will not be able to carry out the research they want to do.”

University technicians who do not currently have a dedicated professional organisation, are about to get a new body that aims to solve their skills crisis.

The Heated project will become a membership body offering training courses and research into the sector in the summer. It has received £75,000 start-up funding from Hefce and must be self-funding within 18 months.

The modest funding level could be a difficulty, said mr Levi, but he still believes Heated could solve the skills problem.

But Mr Jakeman said that while Heated could resolve professional development issues, universities need to resume taking on trainees in order to have a cohort of young technicians.

“Probably half of us are in our late fifties”: a vital but shrinking workforce

The essential efforts of university lab technicians are usually unsung, writes Chloe Stothart.

Manchester University broke with this tradition by naming a building after William Kay, the assistant of Ernest Rutherford, who was instrumental in the great scientist’s experiments to uncover the structure of atoms. But such public acknowledgement is rare, and today there are plenty of technicians who quietly keep the wheels of the university’s labs turning with little or no recognition.

Val Boote, Manchester’s mass spectrometry manager, is one such. She regularly rolls up her sleeves to fix the mass spectrometer in her lab when it breaks. “We spend our lives with spanners in our hands,” she said. By figuring out why these expensive machines will not work and fixing everything from broken pumps to blocked tubes, technicians in the mass spectrometry labs save the university about £20,000 a year in maintenance costs, she estimates.

“The savings from keeping instruments going could fund a junior technician,” she said.

Ms Boote’s job is all about keeping the machinery working for students and processing their samples. However, she has also been part of some interesting discoveries. “a mother took her baby to hospital because its faeces were red and she could not understand why,” she recalled. “We did an examination and found the nappy rash cream she had been putting on the baby’s bottom contained mercury.”

The lab’s investigation helped to get the dangerous element removed from the cream.

Ms Boote left school after O levels and went on to work at drugs company Pfizer where she was trained on the job and did an ordinary national diploma and a higher national diploma. She got the job in Manchester in 1971 in mass spectrometry, her favourite area, and has been there ever since.

At 57, she is one of a large cohort in the department nearing retirement. “probably half of us are in our late fifties and we have just had a few retirements,” she said.

Although she took on a trainee a year ago, there is always a danger that he could leave the sector for a better paid job in industry once she has trained him. Some universities are cutting back on staff and have not been taking on trainees, she added.

If the number of skilled technicians continues to slide, Ms Boote speculates that universities may have to pay external engineers to maintain their machines, force departments to share lab facilities or send samples to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s national laboratory service in Swansea.

“instead of getting results here the nest day, they would have to send them away and wait a week,” Ms Boote said. Such belt-tightening would have a negative effect on students’ work. “How many more Rutherfords could universities produce under these circumstances?” she asked.

Environmental Reps Course

Mike has arranged for another three day Higher Education Sector Environment Course to be held at Quorn Grange, 88 Wood Lane, Quorn Leicestershire LE 12 8DB on 14th / 15th / 16th November. A new survey has found that the HE sector is one of the dirtiest sectors in the UK economy and much of HE is lacking advancement on environmental issues. Amicus is teaming up with an organisation called People and Planet to deliver a starting point for union reps on a Go Green agenda. See http//peopleandplanet.org/ Any problems or if you require more information, please let me know.
If you are interested in attending this course, can you let me know as soon as possible. Travel costs, accommodation and meals will be provided by the union.

Higher Education E Bulletin

Higher Education E Bulletin Issue 25 – August 2007 Contents Quality of Working Life in Higher Education Survey Times higher article reveals that six institutions are at risk of financial failure Three of Dublin 's colleges are facing shortfall of €16m Guardian survey on university working parents deals Watch Your Step in Education – HSE courses Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills Baroness Fritchie to Chair JNCHES HE Finance Data Review Equal Rights and Health and Safety sections on Education Sector Website Unite Campaign - Greening the workplace in Higher Education Quality of Working Life in Higher Education Survey The Applied Psychology Unit (APU) of the University of Portsmouth is attempting to establish a national benchmark for Quality of Working Life (QoWL) across the higher education sector by asking staff to complete an on-line survey. Unite Amicus Section is supporting this useful contribution to improving the quality of working life for members in the Higher Education sector. To complete the survey online, simply click here . Read the explanation letter from Dr Julian Edwards, Portsmouth University by clicking here. [PDF 16KB] back to top Times higher article reveals that six institutions are at risk of financial failure A recent Times Higher article reports that the number of universities at fiscal risk is far smaller than suggested but that six higher education institutions are currently "at risk" of financial failure. Historical financial monitoring records, covering 1998 to 2003, made public under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that at least 17 higher education institutions had been in the "category 1" risk band - indicating an "immediate risk" to the institutions' future. A series of board papers, released on the advice of the Government's Information Commissioner, show in detail how 46 named universities and higher education colleges were deemed to have been at risk, at varying levels of severity, at one time or another in the five years. Among 17 in the highest "category 1" risk band were the universities of Lancaster , East London , Westminster , Greenwich , Derby and South Bank. Luton University , now Bedfordshire University , was in the highest-risk category in four of the five years. To read the article click here: http://www.thes.co.uk/current_edition/story.aspx?story_id=2037450 back to top Three of Dublin 's colleges are facing shortfall of €16m THE three Dublin universities - Trinity, UCD and DCU - face funding shortfalls of about €16m in the next few years, given their current spending levels. The reduced allocation has particularly alarmed Trinity, which is considering drastic measures to make up for the shortfall. It is looking at the possibilities of increasing the number of Irish and overseas fee-paying students, doubling the number of PhDs and trying to get more financial support from the private sector. The shortfalls follow the introduction of a new funding model for the universities. To read the full article in the Independent click here: http://www.independent.ie/education/three-of-dublins-colleges-are-facing-shortfall-of-euro16m-1048752.html back to top Guardian survey on university working parents deals Click on the link below to read about the family friendly policies in various universities and compare them with those in other industrial sectors. The article compares and rates the schemes: http://money.guardian.co.uk/workingparents/maternity/story/ 0,,2137430,00.html back to top Watch Your Step in Education – HSE courses 55% of all accidents in education are caused by a slip or a trip. Last year, almost 2000 major injury slip and trip accidents in the education sector were reported to the Health and Safety Executive, 571 of which were to employees, a 5% rise on the previous year. 90% of major accidents resulted in a broken bone causing considerable personal distress and a significant amount of time away from work. When taking action to prevent accidents, there is a tendency to focus on protecting and educating students, but staff and others in educational establishments are equally as important and have a major role to play in preventing slips and trips. To bring attention to this issue, an awareness raising initiative is taking place over the next 12 months. Workshops are being held around the country, primarily intended for those responsible for health and safety in higher and further education and local authority health and safety advisors for schools. A range of materials has also been produced to enable duty holders to identify and tackle the problem and promotional aids to assist with raising awareness amongst employees. Union representatives are welcome to attend the events and can further assist us by bringing the events and promotional material to the attention of employers and also by checking standards in their workplace. Web site - http://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/education/index.htm Events - several events already arranged. To register an interest in attending fill in the 'contact us' page - http://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/contact.htm back to top Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills Upon taking office as Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the division of the Department of Education and Skills into two distinct departments. Ed Balls will now head up the new Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) and John Denham will head the new Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills. National Officer for the Education sector Mike Robinson commented on the appointments by saying “this is a welcome change and shows the increased emphasis being put on the education sector at all levels. Unite hopes that the new ministers will continue to have a constructive relationship with all the education sector unions.” back to top Baroness Fritchie to Chair JNCHES HE Finance Data Review Higher Education trade unions and UCEA are delighted to jointly announce that Baroness Rennie Fritchie will be the Independent Chair of the forthcoming Finance Data Review for the sector. The jointly commissioned JNCHES Review, which will draw on independent data sources, was agreed as part of the 2006-09 Pay Agreement. Trade union and employer representatives will be working in partnership with Baroness Fritchie to facilitate the outcome of this Review to inform future negotiations. Baroness Fritchie's biography is hugely impressive and carries experience essential to this role. As one of the first full-time women's training advisers Baroness Fritichie was involved in the training of staff in the Equal Opportunities Commission. Rennie Fritchie became a Dame in 1996 and Commissioner for Public Appointments in 1999, a position that was renewed in 2002 and extended in 2005. In 2005 she was made a life peer as Baroness Fritchie of Gloucester , and sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. Mary Stacey, Chair of JNCHES, said: “Rennie Fritchie agreeing to Chair the Review is excellent news for employers, unions and the sector as a whole. This is an important stage of the current three year pay deal and Baroness Fritchie's experience and dedication will prove invaluable for all sides in establishing the key factual baselines for future negotiations.” This Review will report by autumn 2008 to inform subsequent pay negotiations for the academic year 2009-10 and later. back to top Equal Rights and Health and Safety sections on Education Sector Website There are now new Equal Rights and Health and Safety sections on the education sector website where you can find sector specific document produced through JNCHES and with other partners. These are additional resources to those materials and documents on the main equality sector and health and safety website. Click here to visit the Equal Rights site: http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=6260 Click here to visit the Health and Safety site: http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=6259 If you have any comments or would like to see any other documents up there specific to the sector please email: James.lazou@unitetheunion.com back to top Unite Campaign - Greening the workplace in Higher Education Unite the union is calling on universities to clean up their environmental acts. A survey of higher education union representatives shows that 98% of respondents think their workplaces waste energy and resources. Research shows that universities are 28% dirtier than other businesses. 100% of Unite higher education union representatives surveyed in the report were willing to get involved in environmental changes at work. Unfortunately vice chancellors are not making the most of it. A summary of the Unite survey is attached. Mike Robinson, Unite national officer for higher education said: "Universities need to clean up their acts. They perform much worse than the private sector on environmental issues. Waste paper recycling is as far as some universities go in assisting an environmental agenda. The problem is that university vice chancellors are not engaging staff and union representatives to help universities to clean up their act. Dirty environmentally unfriendly universities have to change" Our survey shows that union representatives have many concerns but the current top down approach from vice chancellors is not working. Unite is calling for a grass roots approach that would seek to move universities into a brighter greener future. Staff should be allowed to retrain in new technologies not solely reliant on carbon based systems. To read the Unite workplace survey click here: http://www.amicustheunion.org/pdf/Higher%20Education%20Workplace %20Survey%20(2)%20(JN488).pdf To find out more about the campaign click here: http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=6895 back to top This e-bulletin has been produced by James Lazou, Research Officer for the Higher Education sector. If you have any news items or stories you would like included in the bulletin please contact James at: James.Lazou@unitetheunion.com back to top

HERA Appeals

Just to remind you that the closing date for Hera appeals is next Friday 31st.

At the moment the Hera team will accept filled in application forms without the pre-appeal meeting having taken place - This does NOT mean that it doesn't happen merely a reflection of how difficult it has been to fit it all in within the timescale.

Already some "appeals" have been won - these are due to inconsistencies being highlighted at Joint Union and Hera team meetings - this will continue.

The first appeal panels have also been organised for 20th and 21st September and more will be arranged.

Parking Permit Allocation

Latest info on parking permit applications

Parking Application Summary

	Docklands	Stratford	Duncan House
Total Applications Received	319 (4 disabled)	105 (2 disabled)	31
Applicants from 06/07 not re-applied	153 (Approx 2:1 Support to academic staff ratio)	49	12
Estimated Student Allocation	23 (12 disabled)	10 (4 disabled)	1
Potential Grand Total	495 (15 disabled) 480 non-disabled	164 158 non-disabled	43
Spaces Available	211 regular bays 36 new bays 248 TOTAL + 50 disabled bays + 22 pay and display + 43 business unit bays + 18 visitor bays	138 + 5 disabled bays + 8 pay and display	42
Permit Allocation at 120%	298	166	50

Amicus intend to run appeal workshops

At yesterdays meeting we decided that we'd offer to assist members in the presentation of any appeal. Clearly the first step is to register your intent to appeal - this will then give you access to a breakdown of your score. This is extremely useful as it will highlight areas of your profile that may be undervalued.

Members should bear in mind that the appeal is not a guarantee of success.

Members should also bear in mind the justification for an appeal - it cannot be simply that you think you should have scored more points !

The UEL appeal process is available by clicking on the link below

Appeal Process

Hera appeals

At long last people should have their Hera scores - now the next stage - the appeal process.

see

HERAGuidance

for the university procedure

Hera Ballot

We're still waiting the result of a legal view of the framework agreement but with sorting out issues like the new union name no wonder we haven't heard anything.

Unison's ballot closes today and the strong rumour is that they have voted overwhelmingly to accept.

We will be holding an e-mail ballot as soon as possible however some members will be getting a postal vote if they do not have access or will be away.

The ballot form will be remarkably similar to this:

NEGOTIATED PAY DEAL – BALLOT PAPER ENCLOSED

I am writing to you to explain the main points of the deal that we have reached with Management with regard to HERA and the National Framework Agreement and explain to you why AMICUS is recommending the deal. Amicus, the other support staff union involved in negotiations, are also recommending the deal to their members.

This agreement is the product of more than two years of partnership working and discussion. It has required all parties to compromise. This means that not all of the points which the unions would have wanted in the final agreement are actually incorporated. However, we genuinely believe that the deal is the best that we can negotiate in the circumstances and that we have gone as far as we can to address the various issues arising through collective bargaining.

The main points of the deal are as follows:

JOB EVALUATION AND EQUAL PAY (HERA)

• A job evaluation study, using the HERA process, was undertaken so there is now a single wage structure within the university. In this way, we hope to address equal pay concerns on a broader level than we would be able to if we concentrated on litigation alone.

• Under the new single structure, people’s jobs have been evaluated. Those people whose jobs were found to have been undervalued have been “green-circled” and placed on their new, higher, rate. People being “green-circled” will be aligned to the new single wage structure from the 1^st August 2006 and receive the back pay in their salary in either May or June.

• Those who are matched to a job which is lower than their provisional match have been “red-circled” and have their current salary preserved for up to 4 years. They will, therefore, not receive any more incremental rises (if they were not already at the top of the grade) but will receive nationally negotiated pay increases. It is hoped that within the 4 years these staff will receive advice and assistance to maintain their salary by increasing the responsibilities of the post and a new Role Profile agreed and scored. However, this may not be possible in all cases.

• We are not pretending that this agreement necessarily delivers equal pay, which is the employer’s responsibility to ensure. However, we consider that implementing this system makes it much more likely that we can tackle any equal pay issues.

• Those employees who are “green-circled” may, after being evaluated and placed into the new structure, have an equal pay claim, including a claim for up to six years’ back-pay. This might include a claim for the period in which a pay rise over 10% was implemented. This will not always be the case, and depends on a number of legal factors, some of which are highly complex, such as whether you can show an appropriate comparator of the opposite gender, and how long you can establish that an equal pay claim should run for. An equal pay claim can be brought at any time while in a stable employment relationship or up to six months’ afterwards. Changing employment status, e.g. from temporary to permanent, or getting a promotion, may well start time running so you should seek advice promptly from your AMICUS representative if in doubt.

• AMICUS will be investigating equal pay claims once the job evaluation process is complete. If you consider that you potentially have such a claim once the process has been carried out, you should approach your local representative for further advice.

• On the issue of pay protection, it is of course never ideal when members have to suffer potential pay cuts. However, we do not believe that full equalisation up is a realistic goal in light of the University’s resources. Too long a period of pay protection is likely to entrench pay differences between men and women and we want to make sure that we avoid this if possible. On the other hand, we recognise that if a job has been historically overvalued, this is not the fault of the person in the job, who has adjusted their life to a certain level of income and so a decent period of pay protection was warranted.

• Our aim is to implement a system which supports equal pay, within our overall framework of doing the best that we can for all members and minimising where possible the undermining of previously negotiated terms and conditions.

THE NATIONAL FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

The whole purpose of the Framework Agreement is to bring all staff groups into a single framework for pay and conditions of service and thereby eliminate inequitable practices. The Framework is not just about new pay rates. It is also about changing a number of working practices which could undermine the Framework’s objectives.

It is, therefore, proposed that the following conditions be harmonised for all staff :

• To implement the new grading structure and grade boundaries.

• All staff will be assimilated to the new grading structure on the 1^st August 2006 and their annual incremental date (unless they are at the top of the grade) will be 1^st August. The first incremental date will be on the 1^st August 2007.

• Any new appointee to Grade F or above should normally have a degree (n.b. that Grade F equates to the current PO(A) grade).

• Market supplements will continue, using the agreed revised Market Pay Policy.

• Overtime rates - part-time support staff on Grades A to E would receive a flat rate for up to 35 hours and time and a half for hours in excess of 35 (where time off in lieu is managerially not possible). Additional hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, regardless of how many have been worked that week, will be treated as overtime and paid at time and half on Saturday, double time on Sunday and double time and a day off in lieu on Bank Holidays. A common denominator of 1/260^th should be used for the calculation of an hourly rate. This denominator would be used for calculating overtime as well as e.g. deductions for unpaid leave or deductions for industrial action.

• Once all roles have been assigned to the new pay grading structure with effect from 1.8.06, we will implement a review procedure. If a manager or staff member believes that the staff member’s responsibilities and competencies have increased sufficiently to warrant the up-grading of his or her role, he or she may apply to a panel at any time during the year, on an ad hoc basis. HERA will be used to determine the appropriate Grade, subject to UEL’S budget as determined by our Board of Governors. An application for the regrading of a role will only be considered once during a 12 month period.

• All support staff have 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years continuous service at UEL. All staff has the same leave year from 1^st September 2007. i.e. from 31^st August – 1^st September.

• All staff would be paid on the last Thursday of each month with the exception of December, when it is paid on the 3^rd Thursday of the month.

• All staff has the same sick pay scheme. (N.B support staff on the protracted sickness scheme will be protected, pending case law on issues of age discrimination.)

• All staff on Grade F and above is required to give a minimum of three months notice in writing. Staff on other grades will continue to be required to give one month’s notice. All staff on probation will be required to give

For some staff, the above is a great improvement on their current terms and conditions.

For support staff, however, there are two points which are a major change in our conditions, i.e. the change of pay date (from the middle to the end of the month) and the change of the date on which the incremental rise is paid. For anyone whose grade under the HERA process has been equated to their current grade, and who is not at the top of the grade, they will not receive an incremental rise in April 2007; they will have to wait until August 2007.

We have, however, negotiated a payment of £500 for support staff and two additional day’s holiday (applicable after 5 years service). This payment is for the acceptance of the package as a whole. This payment will be paid on the 15 May, and the new pay date (i.e. the last Thursday in the month) will apply from June.

This payment is to all staff who will not receive £500 through the HERA process. Therefore, if you have been “green-circled” and your back pay amounts to more than £500, you will not receive this additional payment.

WHY AMICUS IS RECOMMENDING THE DEAL

One collective agreement can’t change everything that is unfair about our pay and conditions. However, we consider that in the circumstances, we have been able to strike a deal which is to the advantage of the majority of our members and starts to address equal pay issues. On this basis, we recommend it to you.

Yours sincerely

AMICUS NEGOTIATING TEAM

Unite

Members might not know but the new "improved" union now has a proposed name - Unite

Clearly this has the advantage of being alphabetically behind all the other education unions

However this hasn't gone down at all well with members of the T&G


See

Guardian Story