PGMDE Integration – Consultation on proposed structure

Members working for Health Education England (HEE) on University of London contracts will be aware that staff working in the PGMDE function (commonly referred to as ‘Operations’) are being consulted on proposals that, if introduced, would lead to a 41% reduction in the number of posts. The branch is incredibly disappointed that the proposal is very much a worst-case scenario in terms of proposed reductions

Clearly this is having a devastating effect on members employed in this department and we want to encourage staff to contact us with any comments they have on the consultation documentation (unison@london.ac.uk). We will also be available to support members for any individual concerns or needs that they might have, including representation for individual consultation meetings.

The branch is actively organising around a robust response to these measures and will be regularly updating affected members. We remain resolutely opposed to compulsory redundancies.

Annual Leave Claim – Member consultation on employers offer

Members are now being sent invitations to respond to the consultation online. The consultation will run for one week until 28 June 2016.

The branch has now concluded negotiations with the University in relation to our claim, which was for an uplift in annual leave for staff on CTS terms (grades 1 – 6) in order to bring this in line with the allowance afforded to staff on AMP terms (grades 7+).

The University’s initial offer was to increase annual leave by two days, subject to service. The branch rejected this offer on the grounds of equality. Higher grades do not have to have earn additional leave based on service, therefore neither should 1-6s.

Following further negotiations, the University conceded an immediate uplift (subject to agreement being reached prior to the end of July) from 25 days to 27 days for staff employed on grades 1-6 irrespective of service length.

Included in this agreement is a clause accommodating a change in the way that annual leave is calculated. Should members agree to this offer, leave will be calculated on pro-rated basis according to each day worked (with leave allowances being rounded up to the nearest half-day). Full details of the offer can be found here.

The University have informed us that they are not willing to offer the full uplift to 30 days due to financial considerations.

We are disappointed that the University has not been able to meet our claim in full but the Branch remains committed to the longer-term goal of equality in annual leave provision across all grades. We wil revisit this matter with the University in the future.

At this present time, we  believe that this offer is the best that can be secured by negotiation. We believe that only a period of sustained industrial action would potentially lead to an improvement in the offer.

Given the above, the branch is not making a recommendation to either accept or reject the offer. We ask all members to respond to the consultation.

Student Central – Proposed Restructure

As affected members and staff will be aware, the University is proposing a significant restructure at Student Central. If implemented this would involve a significant reduction in staff in addition to the outsourcing of Student Central’s front-of-house and bar/catering operations.

The branch was profoundly disappointed that it was only notified of these changes one hour before these were communicated to staff. We do not believe that the University followed best practice in this regard.

Following this announcement the branch submitted a response to the University challenging the proposed timetable. We subsequently submitted an additional response challenging many aspects of the proposed changes. We are still awaiting for the University to respond to the points we have raised.

The branch views the current proposals as short sighted and counter-productive to the stated aim of achieving a balanced budget, and the branch remains opposed to the outsourcing of services.