Colleagues
- Pay Claim 2016 – ballot for industrial action
- Congress 2016 – representatives needed
- UCU subscriptions – Change to Direct Debit
- National recruitment week #3
- Your membership record – are your details up to date?
- Get involved with your local branch
Pay Claim 2016 – ballot for industrial action: Further to Sally Hunt’s recent email we would like to remind members that, following an unacceptable response to the Unions’ pay claim, UCU will be balloting members for industrial action. Ballot papers will be sent out on 14 April and the ballot will run until 4 May. If you have not received your ballot paper by 21 April please contact the UCU office. It is really important that we get a good turnout for this ballot so PLEASE USE YOUR VOTE. Further details of the pay claim can be found here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/he2016
Congress 2016 – representatives needed: UCU Congress is the national decision-making body of the union. This year it is being held from Wednesday 1 June to Friday 3 June at the ACC Liverpool. As a branch we are entitled to send three delegates along to Congress and it is important that we fill our quota. We are currently seeking members who would be interested in attending to represent the views of the branch. All expenses are paid by UCU and, as a formal delegate, you are entitled to paid time off to attend. Could you please let me know by 22 April if you would like to attend; if you need any further information please give me a call to discuss.
UCU subscription – change to Direct Debit: Do you currently pay your UCU subscription via salary deduction?? In an attempt to weaken trade unions and leave staff without effective representation the new Trade Union Bill proposes to cease such arrangements within the public sector. We are therefore asking you to change your payment method to direct debit as soon as possible. There are some quick and easy steps to follow – please contact the UCU office for further information.
National recruitment week #3: Following two very successful national recruitment weeks which have resulted in an increase in our local membership, UCU will be running a third event w/c 16 May. We are keen to engage with as many departments/disciplines/professional services as possible so if you would like us to hold a recruitment stand in your building/department please get in touch so that we can plan this. We would also ask for offers of help during this week to make the event as visible and successful as possible to enable us to engage with members and non-members alike. If you would like to get involved or have any ideas please get in touch.
Your membership record: As always, may I ask that you spend a few minutes reviewing your membership record to ensure that your information is up to date. This is particularly important in relation to your subscription band should you need legal support from the union, as this may affect your eligibility. You can access your record here: https://members.ucu.org.uk/
Get involved to build your local branch: And finally, we are constantly seeking active members to help build the branch. There are several ways you can do this from becoming a local officer or departmental representative to representing members or just putting up leaflets. In particular we are seeking representatives in several departments at the moment (including Physics and Astronomy, Engineering, Ocean & Earth Science, Law, Business, Education) – could you help? Every little helps so do please consider volunteering a small amount of your time. Thank you.