Day of Action – 6 February 2014

On Thursday 6 February 2014, Southampton UCU, UNISON and Unite members joined colleagues across the UK in taking strike action for fair pay in UK higher education.  EIS in Scotland also participated in this joint industrial action.

Southampton University staff braved the monsoon-like weather to stand on picket lines throughout Highfield and Avenue campuses and disseminate flyers informing students and passersby about the current pay dispute.  Members also solicited signatures on a petition which is drawing attention to the issue of skyrocketing senior management pay in universities and the growing wage inequality in the sector generally.

At 11AM members gathered outside Building 37, the home of University management.  Malcolm Ace (Chief Operating Officer), Professor Adam Wheeler (Provost), and Janice Donaldson (Director of HR) come out to talk with strikers about the pay issue and listen to their concerns.  Afterward there was a brief rally before strikers were urged to make their way home, dry out and warm up!

Thanks to all who came out to join us despite the weather.  UCU will be taking further strike action for two hours on Monday from 9-11AM; please come and show your support.

Strikers outside B37

Strikers outside B37

Gathering to hear some speakers

Gathering to hear some speakers

Malcolm Ace (Chief Operating Officer) comes out to speak with strikers

Malcolm Ace (Chief Operating Officer) comes out to speak with strikers

Spirits were high despite the downpour!

Spirits were high despite the downpour!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvGwTw1XxqI

——-

Eric Silverman

Southampton UCU President

 

Two-hour strike on 23 January

Southampton UCU members participated in the first of three two-hour strikes in support of fair pay in higher education.  We saw strong turnout and media interest, with stories appearing in the Daily Echo, BBC South Today, and the Morning Star, along with local websites like portswood.info and others.

Members picketed Building 37, the home of University senior management, to express our discontent at the increasing wage gap between top earners at the University and academic staff.  Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam spoke to strikers about the pay issue, and members challenged him very robustly on issues ranging from zero-hours contracts and the living wage campaign, to the broader national issue of the 2013 pay claim.

The next two-hour strike will take place from 2-4PM on 28 January, with another to follow on 10 February.  A day of joint union strike action on 6 February will incorporate all three on-campus trade unions (UCU, UNISON and Unite).

Some pictures of the events yesterday:

Southampton UCU gathering in the Piazza

Southampton UCU gathering in the Piazza

Preparing to move to Building 37

Preparing to move to Building 37

 

Picketing Building 37

Picketing Building 37

Coverage on BBC South Today

Coverage on BBC South Today

 

Members debating the issues with Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam

Members debating the issues with Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam

——-

Eric Silverma

Southampton UCU President

Information for Thursday’s action

Dear members,

A reminder that we are taking industrial action on Thursday 23 January between 11am and 1pm in support of the campaign for Fair Pay in HE.  ALL MEMBERS should withdraw their labour between these hours.

We will be gathering at the UCU office at 47 University Road promptly at 11AM.  Please join us to show your support for the campaign.  We have placards, flyers and other materials for distribution on the day.  

As this is a new form of action for us, UCU has prepared a useful FAQ on the website.  The document summarises various useful points about this type of action, so please have a read: http://fairpay.web.ucu.org.uk/your-questions-answered/taking-2-hour-strike-action/

We’ve also produced a series of posters and information sheets and would ask that you print these out and display in your department/academic unit.

*Poster 1 http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/k/8/ucu_hepay_a4stacksposter.pdf
*Poster 2 http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/l/6/ucu_hepay_a4bulgeposter.pdf
*Leaflet 1: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/2/t/ucu_hepay_stacksflyer.pdf
*Leaflet 2: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/m/g/ucu_hepay_bulgeflyer.pdf

On Thursday please do the following:

  • Set up an out of office message during the 2 hour strike.  Something like this  – “I am currently taking industrial action in support ofUCU’s campaign for Fair Pay in HE and not able to deal with your email.  I will be back at my desk after the action concludes.”
  • Print out the  “On strike desk poster” (sent to you by email) and pin on your door/computer/workstation which states that you are currently on strike.
  • Come along to the picket lines.

 Throughout the upcoming period of action please do the following:

  •  Talk to students and colleagues about the action and explain why you are taking part.
  •  If you have ideas for future actions or would like to get more involved, tell us!
  • Please distribute our new joint trade union newsletter, Southampton Solidarity (sent to you via email), to your students and colleagues

Further points of clarification:

  • Members at Avenue, NOCS and other University sites, please come join us at Highfield!  This action should be a good opportunity for us to convene in one place, discuss issues facing staff at the University and plan for our next action.
  • Contrary to what you may have heard elsewhere, remember that you are NOT under any obligation to tell your line manager about your decision to participate in the strike action prior to the action itself.  You must respond truthfully if and only if you are asked afterward.

——-

Eric Silverman
Southampton UCU President

The Vice-Chancellor’s Pay Rise

The University quietly announced yesterday that Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam has accepted a £17,000 pay rise, taking his salary up to £294,000. He has also had £39,000 paid into his pension pot by the University.

Following the strike action, the Vice-Chancellor told us that there was no chance of any movement on the 1% pay offer, as the University is not in a sustainable financial position.  As we can see from this 6% pay rise, and the jump from 64 people on £100k+ in 2011 to 299 people in 2012, there is certainly money around — but apparently only for those on the top of the scale.

Meanwhile, staff are expected to cope with yet another real-terms pay cut, 140 staff at the university earn less than the living wage, and 198 of our lecturers are on zero-hours contracts. For our many colleagues who earn less than £17,000 in an entire year, seeing the Vice-Chancellor accepting this pay rise is simply insulting.

Our union’s demands are reasonable and proportionate — as outlined in the initial pay claim, we want our pay to go up in line with prices, action to address the gender pay gap, progress on disability leave and living wages on campus. Doing these things would make our universities more supportive and equitable places to work.  We suggest that if the University can afford to pay the VC twice the salary of the Prime Minister, it can afford to pay a decent wage to the staff that actually keep the university running every day.

Your support so far has been brilliant, with over 200 of us at the rally on the 3rd, and many more taking part in the strike. It’s vital that we continue to work together, and with our colleagues in UNISON and Unite to demand fair pay on campus.

If you think pay rises shouldn’t just be for Don Nutbeam, then please do the following:

Email the Southampton UCU office letting us know why you think this is unacceptable

Speak to your colleagues, inform them of this and encourage them to join the union if they haven’t already done so

Email University senior management and ask them to justify this pay increase, when they are telling staff they can’t afford fair pay on campus.

——-

Eric Silverman

Southampton UCU President

UPDATE: Statement on contracts forthcoming

Some members have been in touch regarding the recent discussions between UCU and the University on new academic contracts.  A statement on this will be issued jointly with the University shortly.

Both UCU and the University are committed to working on this constructively in the future.  Following discussions at recent formal negotiation meetings, we can confirm that the clauses mentioned in our previous email regarding fixed working hours and international working will not be included in any new contracts.

——-

Eric Silverman

Southampton UCU President

On the health of our USS pensions

Dear members,
We are aware that you may have been following the stories about USS pension on Radio 4 and Newsnight last week and on the BBC website.

Colleagues at Sheffield UCU branch have circulated the following helpful information:

The USS annual members report on which the story was based (issued two weeks ago) shows that the deficit has in fact sharply fallen over the previous year. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the fake ‘revelations’ are timed to undermine support for our strike on 31st October.

So what is the reality?

*   The scheme was officially 92% funded in March 2011, 77% funded in March 2012, 77% in March 2013, and 83% funded June 2013. This corresponds to an official deficit of £2.9bn in 2011 rocketing up to £11.5 billion by March 2013 but dropping to £7.9 billion just three months later.

*   This incredible volatility gives a clue to the underlying problem with the official figures. Pension schemes are very long term investments and should be judged on that basis whilst the law requires that they are judged on short term criteria.  The huge pension fund deficits across the country reported in the 2000’s, including the USS one, are as phoney as the huge surpluses in the 1980’s. USS is in good health based on real world criteria: its income exceeds expenditure on a long term sustainable basis.

*   Pensions are simply deferred pay. And the proportion of University sector spending which goes on staff, including pensions, has in fact been in continual decline.  It was roughly 65% when fees paid by home students were zero and has gone down to about 55% (54% in Sheffield) now fees are £9,000.  If Newsnight really wanted to locate the reason for rocketing student fees they would need to look elsewhere than staff pay and pensions.

*   Britain has one of the worst records in Europe in pensioner poverty, corresponding to our lead in inequality. There are 20,000 to 30,000 ‘excess deaths’ of elderly people in winter every year in Britain – dying of cold, hunger and diseases contingent on them.  This is the real pensions scandal.

For a cogent explanation of the USS ‘deficits’ please see a letter to the THE from this same scare-story season last year, ‘Accounting tricks and pension deficits’.

——-
Professor Catherine Pope

Southampton UCU Honorary Treasurer

Happy 65th Birthday NHS!

Today our friends from the Southampton and South-West Hampshire Trades Union Council held a birthday celebration for the NHS, which turns 65 today.  Long may it continue!  Pictures are below.  For those who want to help protect the NHS from privatisation, please get in touch with Keep Our NHS Public — they have a branch in Southampton and meet regularly to campaign on NHS-related issues.

To follow the activities of the Trades Union Council in Southampton you can check out their Facebook page.  If you wish to become a delegate to the TUC, please contact the UCU office.

20130705_125652 20130705_123757 20130705_122120 20130705_122103

——-

Eric Silverman

Southampton UCU President

Southampton UCU AGM – 27 June 2013

Attention all members:

* * * R E M I N D E R * * *

What:              Southampton UCU AGM
When:              1pm – 2.30 pm, Thursday 27 June 2013
Where:            Building 58/1009 (Murray Building) Highfield campus

Please come along and join the discussion about the University’s Academic Pay and Reward Proposals as well as finding out the results of our recent UCU Staff Survey.

More details can be found on the attached poster – please feel free to print and display within your AU / Department / Faculty.

We look forward to seeing you there.

AGM Poster 270613

UCU member survey

Colleagues,

Southampton UCU has put together a staff survey, which you can find at the link below:

isurvey.soton.ac.uk/7174

This survey is intended to gauge your experience as an employee at the University of Southampton, and is a means for you to share your views with us.  The survey covers a number of different issues and includes several open-ended comment sections so that you may address anything we may have omitted.  We will use the results to inform our future branch activities, identify priority areas for negotiation, and pinpoint any additional issues that should be raised with the University.

The survey itself will only take a few minutes for you to complete, so please have your say!  Be sure to make use of the open comment sections to address any additional issues you would like to see raised and to share your positive comments or experiences as well.

Also, if you think that your non-UCU colleagues at Southampton would wish to participate in this survey please feel free to forward this email on to them.

The survey will close on Friday 3 May.  Once the data analysis is completed we will share results with you via email and this blog, followed by a more detailed summary at our Annual General Meeting in June.