SUE BLACKWELL'S UCU and Trade Union Links

AUT picket lines on 24th-25th February 2004 (photos: Dave Radcliffe)

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Build a new left in UCU

Interesting Legal rulings

• Aberdeen Fixed-Term staff Tribunal ruling

  Full tribunal ruling in PDF format

• College rapped for spying on staff

  Mrs Copland was employed as the personal assistant to the principal of a higher education college in Wales, but was also required to work closely with the deputy principal (DP). At some time during her employment, the DP started to monitor her telephone, e-mail and internet usage ...

  Read more about the case here on the Thompsons Law Review, 31st May 2007.

• ACAS report on dispute resolutions

  Press report
  Summary report

• University language centre privatisation breaches equality requirements

  "UCU today called on the university funding body HEFCE to immediately investigate a breach of its own guidance to universities on how to implement new statutory equality duties."

  Read the UCU press release here

• Unions and the BNP

  The ECHR has upheld the right of unions to exclude BNP members from their membership.

  In ASLEF v UK, the ECHR held that:

  • Art 11 does not impose an obligation on a union to admit those who do not share their values (para 39); and,
  • the right of ASLEF to choose its members outweighed the BNP member's right to freedom of expression (para. 50).

  Read the details here:
  ASLEF v UK

  ... and if you need convincing why this is a good thing, read the Searchlight article about "Solidarity - the union for British workers";
  BNP Union unmasked

• The need For a Trade Union Freedom Bill

  At last - a campaign to undo some of the laws passed under Maggie Thatcher's regime! Ask your MP to support this. See the TUC website:

  The need For a Trade Union Freedom Bill

• Tribunal victory for Hourly-Paid academics

  A part-time lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University who worked more hours than her full time colleagues for less pay has been awarded with £25,000 compensation and a permanent contract in a case supported by NATFHE. More on the NATFHE website:

  NATFHE victory for hourly-paid

Academic Freedom, Censorship etc.

• Sheffield University vs. Academic freedom: the case of Aubrey Blumsohn

  • Rent-a-Researcher: Did a British university sell out to Procter & Gamble?In "Slate", 22nd December 2005.
  • Here is Aubrey Blumsohn's own blog.
  • "Authorship, Ghost Science, Access to Data and Control of the Pharmaceutical Scientific Literature: Who stands behind the Word?" Article by Aubrey Blumsohn in the AAAS's Professional Ethics Report, Summer 2006.

• The Terrorism Bill and academic freedom

  The Government's Terrorism Bill has clear implications for academic freedom. It will impact upon many members' ability to teach and research certain subjects, to disseminate primary and secondary source material in a number of areas and to train students in the use of noxious substances.

  Read AUT's Parliamentary Briefing on the Terrorism Bill

Around the UK

• London Metropolitan University

• Keele University

  Solid strike at Keele with weekend protests plannedon the UCU site, 18th Feb 2008
  Keele academics set to strikeGuardian, 18th Feb 1008.

International

• Click here for stuff about academic boycott of Israel etc.

• Support Zimbabwean trade unionists!

  
  Stop Trade Union Repression in Zimbabwe
  "Dignity.period!" - campaign for sanitary towels for Zimbabwean women. (ACTSA site)

Miscellaneous

• Post-mortem of the 2006 pay dispute

  "The Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the National Association for Teachers in Further and Higher Education (Natfhe) merged to form a single union, the University and College Union (UCU), in June 2006. This paper examines the way that the merger process distracted from the coordination of the strategy and tactics adopted for the 2006 pay claim and dispute. "

  Full article: "Driven to Distraction"
  By Bob Carter on the TUC-sponsored "Union Ideas" site, 26th January 2007

• Promoting good campus relations: dealing with hate crimes and intolerance

  Guidance from AUT

  This refers to the recent guidance issued by the Equality Challenge Unit, Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principles. It updates and replaces earlier 1997 guidance on 'Extremism and intolerance on campus' and attempts to highlight the rights of staff and students to work and study in a Higher Education Institution without fear of intimidation, harassment or threatening behaviour.
  You can read the full document here - it is very interesting and full of good sense.

• Schools against Deportations

  "We are teachers, headteachers, lecturers, teaching assistants, students, young people, trade-unionists, mentors and others working in the education system who are concerned about the damaging impact which the threat of deportation or actual deportation can have on children and young people studying in schools and colleges."

  Sign the Declaration here

• End Tuition Fees - Restore the Grant

  • DFES summary of Government proposals

  • summary of the main elements on the BBC news site

  • Full text of the HE Bill on the Parliament website

  • Guardian Education's index of articles on tuition fees

UCU Advice for Negotiators

UCU analysis of university finances, staff numbers and pay in your institution as well as all the key reference documents for negotiations.

LA/7567 Accessing information held by the employer and the Freedom of Information Act

LA/7566 Negotiating a minimum hourly rate of pay in pre-92 universities

AUT Guidelines for Personal Cases

My present UCU responsibilities

Local:

• I have been elected BUCU Vice-President for the year 2007-2008.
• I am BUCU Media Liaison Officer
• I am one of BUCU's Casework Officers.
• I occasionally attend JNCC negotiations with the University.

National:

• I have been elected to the UCU Executive for a two-year term and am serving on its Legal Panel.

I am particularly concerned about the following issues:

• Harrassment and bullying at work.
• Work-related stress: as a stress survivor myself, I am appalled at the way academic workloads continue to increase, with scant regard to the effects on individual members of staff.
• The effects of the RAE on academic staff morale and job security.

The following resources are available to UCU members

• The College and University Support Network, which is endorsed by UCU, provides confidential counselling and other forms of support. Their number is 0800 329952.
• A free, confidential counselling service is available to all University staff. I can personally recommend it! You can call the Staff Counselling service on 0121-678-2790; or make an appointment direct by ringing the Uffculme Clinic on 0121-449-9459. The clinic is situated on Queensbridge Road, Moseley, opposite Queensbridge School.
• Occupational Health web page on stress.
• The Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB) now provide a service for staff on campus. CAB will provide their usual high quality and strictly confidential advisory service for staff on Tuesdays and Fridays between 11.00 and 2.00 in the Health Centre (room 130 first floor). CAB have requested that it be by appointment only and appointments can be made on ext 45117, the occupational health number.

Casework

Dates for your Diary:

For further information about local and national meetings, please contact Marilyn Luck on extension 46895 or M.D.Luck@bham.ac.uk

Trade and Student Union Sites:

• UCU
  • UCU National website

  • Developing Activists Network ("DAN") - a new web resource centre

  • UCU at the University of Birmingham

• MSF at the University of Birmingham

• UNISON at the University of Birmingham

• National Union of Students
  - currently campaigning against top-up fees.

• Birmingham University Guild of Students (BUGS)

  B.U. Guild Council

• Redbrick (Birmingham University Student Newspaper)

• General Federation of Trade Unions (covers specialist unions)

• Trades Union Congress (TUC)
  This includes an excellent "know your rights" page covering everything from racial discrimination to parental leave. Also:
  "Connected Rep" - TUC guide for union reps

  ---

  The Union Makes us Strong: TUC History Online

• Birmingham TUC

• International Labour Organization

  LabourNet UK
  An extremely useful source of news about Trade Unions in the UK, with the facility to submit your own news.

  I am no longer linking to the Labourstart site because of their wholly biased coverage of the Academic Boycott of Israel campaign and their failure to show Palestinian trade unions any solidarity on this issue.

• "Unhealthy Places of Learning" - Stress Report by the NTEU
  (our sister union in Australia where, it seems, they have much the same problems as us)

Bullying and harassment at Work:

• House of Lords confirms employers' liability for employees' harassment
  This is the now famous "Majrowski ruling" which confirmed that the Protection from Harassment Act applies to the workplace. At last a legal weapon that trade unionists can use against bullying bosses.

• University staff urged to assist bullying survey Guardian 3rd Nov 2006.
  (This apparently refers to bullying by students rather than managers!)
• "Bullied academics" blog - click on the icon below:

  
  

• Bullied City worker wins £800,000 (BBC, 1st August 2006)
• Majrowski -v- Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals

  The House of Lords has confirmed the earlier Court of Appeal ruling that the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 applies to workplace bullying and that an employer will be vicariously liable for harassment committed by an employee (subject to normal vicarious liability rules).

• Bullying and Harassment at Work: Guidance for Employees -on the ACAS site.
• When a boss turns into a bully (The Guardian, 29th March 2005)
  Report of a ground-breaking legal ruling which indicates that the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which was intended to protect people from stalkers, can be used to prosecute employers for workplace bullying.
• The University of Birmingham Harassment Guidelines (Latest Edition!)

• Bully OnLine, the UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line

• Campaign Against Workplace Bullying (US Site)

• TUC bullying at work study

• I'm told that there is a Yahoo! group called workbully-support which is extremely helpful and supportive.

Disability Discrimination Law

• AUT Guidance: Disability Equality Duty
  A useful summary of the changes coming into effect on 5 December 2006.
• Disability Discrimination Law: update for LAs
  A leaflet from AUT summarising rights for members with a "disability" under the meaning of the Act. In .PDF format.
• Another useful piece of legislation is Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. This is concerned with situations which endanger the health or safety of employees.
• The Disability Rights Commission - a great source of information on how the Act can be applied.
• Disability Rights Commission "Using your Rights" website
• Out in the lead Interview with Peter Beresford in the Guardian, 5th January 2005.
  "Peter Beresford understands the nitty-gritty of mental health issues. As he tells Alison Benjamin, having been a service user himself has provided insights that help him set the pace for change in academia."
• Disability West Midlands are out of Administration and are now free to fund-raise and move forward again. They can be contacted on info@dwm.org.uk or by phone on 0121 414 1616.

Discrimination - general

• Equal Opportunities Commission
  This is their website for legal advisers and union reps. A veritable goldmine.

Stress:

• Guidance for trade unions supporting people with mental health problems
  On the Disability Rights Commission website.
• NATFHE Branch Resources : Tackling Stress Toolkit
  A host of links to useful resources.
• Sue's list of the Top Ten Causes of Stress in British Universities

  Lords' ruling means employers need to look for signs of stress In Personnel Today, 1st May 2004.

• "Cracks in the ivory towers" (The Guardian, 16th November 2004)
  An excellent article which makes frequent reference to the AUT's report on stress. Sue gets quoted in it.

• "Working to the Limit" - the AUT's report on stress in Higher Education. (PDF format)

• Work-Related Stress - on the Health and Safety Executive website.

• "Employers will have to protect their staff from stress - or risk legal action, a watchdog has warned. The Health and Safety Executive has launched a six-point code which firms must abide by. They must support their employees and ensure they do not feel overly pressured in their roles. "

  Read the full article here on the BBC website (16th June 2003).

• Occupational Stress in Higher Education
  The HEFCE Stress survey conducted by the University of Plymouth.

Health and Safety:

• UCU Health and Safety Advice Line
  (for branch officers and safety reps only - sorry!) 0161 636 7558.
• Bham Uni H&S Unit's Guidance on Home Working
• BU Health and Safety Unit general home page

Other Interesting Sites:

• The storm breaking upon the university
  Interesting new blog discussing issues like privatisation and academic freedom in HE.
• ACAS - individuals at work
• Birmingham University Bicycle Users' Group (BUBUG)

• Council for Academic Freedom and Academic Standards (CAFAS)

  CAFAS have strong links with AUT, NATFHE and school teachers' unions, and represent "whistle-blowers" at industrial tribunals amongst other valuable services to HE staff. Their newsletter is a real eye-opener.

• Network for Education and Academic Rights
  NEAR is a membership-based, non-governmental organisation which facilitates international collaboration between organisations active in issues of academic freedom and educational rights, and committed to promoting an understanding of, and respect for, the values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  NEAR receives reports of academic rights violations from its member-organisations and credible media sources which are posted as alerts on the NEAR website. Membership is open to independent, non-governmental organisations that have interests that promote academic freedom and/or human rights in education.

• Socialist Teachers' Alliance

• Fair Pensions

  Formerly "Ethics for USS": a campaign for ethical investment of USS and other UK pension funds.

• Campaign for Freedom of Information

• Office of the Data protection Commissioner

This site is owned and maintained by Sue Blackwell.
Last updated: 13th June 2008