Emergency General Meeting – 2nd May 2024 (to be reconvened)

The Southampton UCU branch held an Emergency General Meeting on 2nd May 2024, to give members the opportunity to submit motions to UCU’s Special HE Sector Conference, motion amendments to UCU Congress, and to discuss the motions that have been announced for Congress. We also considered the University’s proposed new Family Leave Policy, and passed a number of motions (see below). Branch voted to suspend the meeting, to be reconvened on 10 May 2024, to allow members more time to debate and vote on a motion concerning Gaza.

Family Leave Policy

Branch unanimously voted to instruct the Executive Committee’s JJNC negotiators to ratify the University’s Family Leave Policy. The votes cast were as follows:

For: 46

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Motion: Probation Justice for Staff on Fixed-Term Contracts

Branch notes:

  • the President’s verbal report on the issue of errors in the probation lengths assigned to many staff on Fixed-Term Contracts (FTCs);
  • that excessive probation periods for FTC staff can result in detriment, including increased job insecurity, difficulties with securing housing or loans, and limited or no access to the University’s redeployment register;
  • that while the University appears to be willing to address this issue for staff whose employment began on or after 1 August 2023, it has so far declined to commit to address this issue for staff who started before that date.

Branch believes:

  • that excessive probation periods for FTC staff are unacceptable and incompatible with the values of the University community;
  • that, while the University would be right to correct errors in probation length for FTC staff who started on or after 1 August 2023, it would be wrong to deny access to more favourable probation lengths to FTC staff who started before 1 August 2023, and whose probation periods extend well into 2025 in some cases.

Branch resolves:

  • to instruct the Executive Committee and Regional Official to include this matter in our ‘Modernising the Governance’ local dispute.

 

For: 44

Against: 0

Abstentions: 1

Motion: Congress Motion HE27

Branch resolves to guide its Congress Delegates to be supportive of motion HE27.

[NB: HE27 is a motion to be presented at the 2024 UCU Congress regarding staff-student relationship. Planned 2024 UCU Congress motions can be found at https://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu2122.html.]

 

For: 26

Against: 5

Abstentions: 9

Proposal to Suspend the Meeting

Branch resolved to suspend the Emergency General Meeting and to reconvene as soon as possible, to enable sufficient time for members to debate and vote on a motion about Gaza. The votes cast were as follows:

 

For: 32

Against: 2

Abstentions: 2