The Friday email: 25 October 2024

UCU's lobby of Parliament: FE, prisons and adult education

A huge thanks to everyone that joined our lobby of Parliament on Wednesday this week. Further, prison and adult education members came from across England to press MPs to support our campaigns. Politicians were matched with constituents in a packed committee room where they also heard briefings from the general secretary and UCU officers. This was a fantastic event aimed at boosting political awareness of the issues facing FE, adult and prison education staff ahead of the forthcoming Budget. Congratulations to our excellent and articulate members and reps who took part and met with their MPs this week. 

• See coverage of the lobby on our social media channels
• Watch this Q&A in the House of Commons yesterday following our lobbying
• Watch Jo Grady on last night's BBC Newsnight on Twitter or iPlayer (from 20:00 onwards)
• sign and share our petition for a New Deal for FE
• watch and share our Unlocking Futures prison education video
• find out more about our adult and community education (ACE) campaign.

UCU members at North East colleges win pay award worth up to 16.5%

Staff at Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training Group, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy, and Redcar and Cleveland College have overwhelmingly voted to accept a pay award worth up to 16.5% and end their dispute with employer Education Training Collective (ETC). ETC UCU members won two industrial action ballots and took part in thirteen days of strikes over the past seventeen months.

Reclaim Higher Education updates

Please support the following branches where UCU members are continuing to defend jobs and education:

• Cardiff University: Cardiff University has cut graduate tutor opportunities for the vast majority of PGRs within the School of Social Sciences. Many PGRs financially depend on this teaching work, which is also required for career development. Worryingly the only justification has been a vague reference to performance management. Cardiff UCU members fear this decision could be replicated in other schools and HE institutions, and they are concerned about the detrimental impact to staff workloads and job security for any casualised workers brought in for cover. Please sign the petition and share with your colleagues
• Open University: OU has begun a collective consultation on proposals to fire and rehire a group of OU associate lecturers if they do not 'agree' to have their working hours and pay reduced. Please support OU associate lecturers by signing this petition.

Building to win: UCU needs you

UCU is launching the 'Building to win', a local bargaining initiative to build power in every single branch. This means building capacity for local bargaining, and giving branches the training and tools they need to engage in that bargaining. UCU will be hosting a number of meetings on this initiative:

• Monday 28 October: briefing at the Mechanics Institute, Manchester
• Tuesday 29 October: briefing at the Renfield Centre, Glasgow
• Friday 1 November: briefing at Aston University, Birmingham
• Thursday 7 November: briefing at UCU head office, London.

We will also introduce our new and improved in-house system, 'Organising and Bargaining Information System (OBIS)'. It brings together a number of data sets to help branches and regions develop effective organising and bargaining. Click here for the full update from general secretary Jo Grady.

Nominations for UCU NEC, officer and trustee positions

Nominations are now open for the UK-wide positions of UCU vice president (becoming president in 2027-28), honorary treasurer, trustees, and for more than 20 positions on UCU's national executive committee (NEC). Nominations are also sought for officer and committee member positions on UCU Scotland's executive. Full details including role descriptions and nomination forms can be found here. The deadline for completed nominations is Monday 11 November at 17:00. Elections take place in the new year.

Adult and community education meeting

UCU is organising an online meeting of our members working in adult and community education (ACE) on Wednesday 6 November (16:00-17:15), where we are updating members on work we have been doing and campaigning for a minimum tutor wage in ACE. It is also an opportunity for ACE member to tell us what is happening in the workplace. To register for the event please email David Bussell.

Teachers' Pensions Scheme: McCloud Remedy webinar

Quilter Financial Advisers have agreed to provide a bespoke webinar for UCU members on the Teachers' Pensions Schemes (TPS), with particular emphasis on the impact of the McCloud Remedy (Transitional Protection Remedy). If you are eligible for the remedy, whether still in service or already retired, then the webinar will be particularly relevant to you. The webinar will take place on Thursday 7 November 12:30-13:30 and you can click here for registration and more information.

UCU: proud to celebrate Black History Month

The contributions Black people from the Caribbean and Africa have made to the United Kingdom are often ignored or erased. A month cannot do real justice in recognising the many contributions and sacrifices those brave and determined Black people who came before us made. As a union of educators we have a duty and responsibility to recognise, honour and salute those who dedicated their lives to fighting for racial equity and justice. For more information about Black History Month, please visit UCU's dedicated webpage as well as BHM's official website.

Equality groups conference 2024

UCU's annual equality conference is an opportunity to discuss and agree strategies to progress equality issues at work. The 2024 conference will be held from 28 to 30 November at Conference Aston in a hybrid format.

The conference will hold five separate half-day conferences for Black, disabled, LGBT+, migrant and women members, with a joint plenary session for all equality strands. For more information and registration, please use this link which will take you to the main equality groups conference page. There are still spaces left and the registration deadline is 28 October at 18:00.

Climate and ecological emergency meeting

UCU's annual meeting on climate and ecological emergency will take place on Zoom on Thursday 14 November (11:00-16:00) and you can find full details including registration here. Registration deadline is Thursday 7 November at 17:00.

eVisa and immigration status

The UK government is replacing physical documents with an online system for immigration status, also known as an eVisa. If you currently have a biometric residence permit (BRP) for a visa or ILR, an EEA or EUSS biometric residence card (BRC), or an endorsement stamp or visa sticker in your passport, you need to replace this physical document by the end of December 2024 with an eVisa. An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status and the conditions of your permission to enter or stay in the UK. You will no longer be able to use your physical documents to return to the UK or prove your immigration status within the UK from 1 January 2025 onwards. You will need to create a UKVI account to be able to access your eVisa. Click here for more information on how to do this.

Speaking tour: Campus Voices for Palestine - solidarity against scholasticide

As part of its work to support Palestinian educators, UCU is supporting a national speaking tour (28 October-6 November) which will provide opportunities for members to hear first-hand from Birzeit University's Right to Education campaign, as well as Palestinian academics and campaigners about how Palestinian higher education institutions are resisting erasure through the collective work of the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza and their respective efforts to continue teaching and learning, despite the physical destruction of university campuses by relentless Israeli military attacks.

This speaking tour is organised by University and College Workers for Palestine and BRICUP with support from UCU. Click here for the full list of tour dates and more information.

Stop the far right: national demonstration in London

A national demonstration will be held on Saturday 26 October, supported by trade unions including TUC, Unite, Unison, Unite, RMT, UCU and many others, to oppose the far right. Meet at 11:30 in Piccadilly (Regent Street St James's), London SW1Y 4QF. Click here for more details.

Agnes Flues and the Wollaton Hall parkrun

To honour the wonderful memory of their friend and former president Agnes Flues, University of Nottingham UCU members will be taking part in the Wollaton Hall parkrun on Saturday 9 November (09:00). Agnes was a regular at this parkrun. UCU members from all branches are warmly invited to come along; please wear your UCU colours if you have them. Another way to offer support is to sponsor those who are taking part so that we can raise money for the local branch and continue doing the work that Agnes did so inspirationally. For further information please contact Lisa Rüll or Tony Padilla.