New UNISON Senate House Branch Website

We now have a new and improved website which you can find using the following link:

https://senatehouse.unison.site/

As a result this website will no longer be updated so please use the new one for all the information you need about your UNISON Senate House branch.

HE pay offer consultation

Our branch, along with other Higher Education branches around the country, is being consulted on the current pay offer for 2018/19. Today you will have received an email with full details of the offer and your e-ballot paper. If you have not received an email please check and update your information on My UNISON. The consultation runs from 9 July to 27 July 2018.

UNISON has been calling for an increase of 7.5%, and a real living wage for all higher education staff.

Following an offer that came in mid April and was for an increase of 1.7% or £325 a year, higher education employers have now made a new pay offer of a 2% or £425 pay rise, whichever is greater, on all pay points for the 2018/19 pay round. 
The final offer follows the latest meeting between the higher education unions – UNISON, Unite, the GMB and academic unions UCU and EIS – and the University and Colleges Employer’s Association.
UNISON National Secretary Jon Richards said the offer “does not meet our claim in full, but we welcome the improvements on the employers’ initial offer”. 




The Higher Education Service Group Executive Committee (HESGE) met on Thursday 24 May to discuss the offer and, following a detailed discussion, agreed to consult members with a recommendation that they vote yes to reject the pay offer. This is in line with a decision taken at UNISON’s 2018 Higher Education Conference to recommend the rejection of any offer that did not meet the claim agreed by all unions.

The HESGE were clear that the offer falls well short of our aims. Recent years have seen a series of below inflation pay rises that are making it increasingly difficult for HE support staff to make ends meet, and the HESGE calls on the employers to improve their offer.

If a significant majority of UNISON members vote yes to reject, then the HESGE committee will request a full industrial action ballot and seek to co-ordinate with other unions, which could lead to escalating industrial action to make the employers improve their offer.
If you aren't already a member, join UNISON today to have your say on HE pay.

Facilities Management Review special meeting 10 July

Do you want to learn more about the Facilities Management Review?

Do you have any unanswered questions about the statements senior management have made about bringing back in-house outsourced workers?

If yes, come along to a special meeting being held in Chancellors Hall on Tuesday 10 July from 10.30 – 11.00am.

This meeting will replace a short presentation about the FM Review scheduled at the ASM.

Open letter to the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Operations): bringing outsourced workers back in-house

Dear Pro-Vice Chancellor (Operations),

As the recognised unions at the University of London, although heartened by management’s reiterated position to remove all use of zero hour contracts, we would like to express our disappointment with the most recent statement issued by the University of London regarding the ongoing project to bring our valued colleagues back ‘in-house’.

We reaffirm our belief that all who call the University of London their regular place of work, should be directly employed and, therefore, entitled to the same protection and benefits available to them as UoL employees.

We believe this latest statement did little to address the concerns raised following both the email sent on 25 May 2018 and SharePoint update on 06 June 2018 and again fails to address the very real concerns of members of staff over who, when and how our colleagues will be brought back in house. We remind you that in a previous statement from management, we were told that “in practical terms, these initiatives will be progressed over the next 12-18 months with some services being brought in house in 2018/19”.

We request that Senior Management address the following issues;

1. Use of language
   We note that the statement issued did not include one instance of words or terms such as ‘worker’, ‘people’, ‘in-house’ or ‘bringing people in house’. This is unsettling given that some of these terms have been used within the previous communication and given that this issue is primarily about how people are employed. When communicating regarding this issue, these phrases should be used to avoid confusion and to provide clarity over who and what is being discussed.
2. TimetableWe also note that we have yet to receive a timetable of who will be brought in house and when. The only recent reference made to a timeframe related to a possible customer service model and student residential life programme being presented to the Board of Trustees in the autumn. We request that a more detailed timetable be provided, to demonstrate the current stage of planning. Whilst we appreciate that such plans may be in a draft form, it is important that colleagues have sight of provisional plans as these also provide reassurance that the University remains committed to this issue. This should include reference to our cleaning colleagues as they were not directly addressed within the most recent statement.
3. Implementation groupIt has been suggested by senior management that an ‘in-housing implementation group’ is established. We request that the unions have full consultation on the Terms of Reference for and membership of this group.
4. Security reviewThat the unions also have full consultation on the upcoming security review including agreeing the Terms of Reference, which security and technology experts are selected, and input into the methodology used for the review. Union involvement in this process is paramount, particularly now it has been communicated to staff. This is a health and safety issue and there will be many questions. Additionally, particularly in light of recent media coverage, reference should be made to the recent expenditure of University funds on enhanced security and what this has achieved over the last few weeks.
5. Zero hours contractsClarification over which service providers are currently reviewing their zero hours contracts. We are aware Aramark are reviewing their zero-hours contracts but the statement suggests that all contracted out service providers are doing this and perhaps the University itself ‘across our estate’.
6. Residential Student Life programmeThe link between the Residential Student Life programme and the FM review is unclear. This needs to be unpacked and explained. If the University remains committed to seeking outcomes that are mutually agreeable to employer and employees, then clear, transparent and suitably detailed information must be offered as a key part in achieving this.

We look forward to receiving a response that addresses each of these issues in turn.

Sincerely,

UNISON & UCU Senate House branches

Facilities Management Review - Joint statement from UNISON and UCU

As you will be aware the recognised trade unions at the University of London, UNISON and UCU, have taken part in the ongoing Facilities Management Review, and have consistently worked hard to persuade the University to end outsourcing and bring all outsourced workers back in-house.

Both UCU and UNISON are very encouraged to hear the Board of Trustees have agreed with the joint recommendation, reached through discussions between management and Union representatives, to bring outsourced workers in-house. This will happen in a phased basis, starting in 18/19, this phased approach was agreed in order to minimise the impact on the financial health of the University and create sustainable services for many years to come. We will continue to work together to expedite the process as much as practically possible and to ensure a positive outcome for both outsourced workers and University staff.

Once brought in-house, our outsourced workforce will benefit significantly through direct employment by the University with greater stability, job security, career development and progression, better terms and conditions, workforce policies, and fairer working practices. 

We will of course keep members updated with our progress.

TUC national demonstration: Step up for public services

The TUC has called a national demonstration on Saturday 12 May in London. This is going to be a key moment in the fight for public services.

We’ll show decision-makers we’re scared for the public services we love – and the public are on our side. We won’t take the cuts and pay freezes lying down.

This march is set to be a big one. UNISON, the TUC and other trade unions are putting considerable support behind it. You’ll join thousands of like-minded people under the banner, Step up for Public Services. Though our branch won't have a presence lots of its members will be there so march alongside your colleagues.

It’s a march with a serious message but it’ll have a fun, family-friendly feel. Dig out your UNISON colours and let’s turn the streets purple. Plus there will be activities to keep your energy bubbling throughout the day.

The demonstration will form part of the TUC Great Jobs Agenda campaign, which sets out the key demands of the movement for how we win a new deal for working people.

Find out more, including a video with useful tips for attendees, on UNISON's website. 

UCU Strike - Update

Our colleagues at UCU have just announced that they have rejected the proposals made by Universities UK’s (UUK) to amend the changes to the USS Pension Scheme and the strike remains on.

UNISON Senate House Branch supports UCU’s fight against these changes, which will leave the scheme’s members significantly worse off in retirement. We are pleased to report that we have submitted the results of our consultative ballot to the National Officer and our national Service Group Executive will be considering the results and our next steps on Monday. The results of our ballot are overwhelmingly to reject the UUK proposals.

As previously advised, although non-UCU members are not protected by Industrial Action legislation, the University have confirmed that they will not discipline non-UCU members who choose not to cross the picket line, although you would lose a day’s pay. We are proud to support our sister union and of our members who have chosen to do so by not crossing the picket line.

Regardless of whether or not you are refusing to cross the picket line, or are in USS, SAUL or another scheme, the UNISON Senate House Branch are calling on all members to show solidarity and support to our UCU colleagues. This Wednesday 14 March and Thursday 15 March, we ask you to come down to the UCU picket line on Malet Street either before work or during your break (i.e non-working hours to prevent deduction of pay), anytime from 8.30am to 10.30am to support your colleagues and showing them that they are not alone! Join us on the UCU picket line on the Malet Street entrance to Senate House to show solidarity.

UCU Strike – Open Letter from UNISON Senate House Branch to University of London Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Adrian Smith

Dear Vice Chancellor and esteemed colleagues,

We are writing this letter on behalf of the UNISON branch committee at Senate House, University of London to support the UCU Senate House Branch in seeking a public expression of the University’s position on the current UUK and UCU dispute about the USS pension scheme.

We note the Vice-Chancellor's recent announcement on SharePoint welcoming the talks between UCU and UUK. However, we feel this statement doesn’t address the points UCU raised in their open letter to you on 1 March 2018.

We would like to support UCU in requesting that the University circulate a further message to all staff declaring the following points:

1. That September 2017’s valuation is revisited and that independent and external opinion is sought, including from the academic community. This is to ensure that UCU and UUK can negotiate on the basis of an agreed foundation of evidence, including financial assumptions.
2. That the planned USS member consultation (due to commence 19 March 2018) is suspended while a valuation on which both parties agree is established.
3. That the outcome to this dispute retains defined benefit as the predominant model for USS pensions.

As UCU have entered a further nine days of strike action commencing yesterday, Monday 5 March 2018, we request an urgent response to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Franco Henwood

Branch Chair, UNISON Senate House Branch

Ruth Buckingham

Branch Secretary, UNISON Senate House Branch

Solidarity with UCU Senate House Branch

Dear member,

As you know, our colleagues at UCU Senate House are striking against Universities UK’s (UUK) proposed changes to the USS pension scheme.

UNISON Senate House Branch supports UCU’s fight against these changes, which will leave the scheme’s members significantly worse off in retirement.

A consultative ballot is currently underway among all UNISON Higher Education Members on USS; UNISON is urging USS members to vote to reject the current proposals and move to an Industrial Action Ballot and join their UCU colleagues on strike.

Even if you are not in the USS pension scheme, you should care about the outcome of this strike. If UCU loses their fight, then this is bad news. The ending of USS as a defined-benefit scheme may have implications for the longer-term survival of other defined-benefit schemes like SAUL.

What can you do?

As we have stated, the university have confirmed that any UNISON member who refuses to work on a UCU strike day will lose a day’s pay but will not suffer any other penalty (e.g. a disciplinary). No UNISON member is obliged to cross a picket line.

And/or, you can also do the following;

1. Write to the UoL Vice-Chancellor, Adrian Smith adrian.smith@london.ac.uk   and state your opposition to both the changes and your support for UCU. Urge him to join VCs at Newcastle, Essex and other universities who have urged UUK to consider. Ask him to engage with UCU’s constructive proposals.You can find a template text here.

2. Write to your MP. Many MPs have already come out in support. UCU have a handy template which you can find here:

3. Donate to UCU’s finding fund. Our colleagues are going out of pocket to defend their (your) rights. Chip in what you can, here

We will keep members posted as to the outcome of the consultative ballot and what steps UNISON is going to take.

As ever, any queries or questions, then please direct them to unison@london.ac.uk

UNISON Senate House and Edexcel Branch and Senate House UCU FM Services Review: Submission to the Board of Trustees

As the recognised Trade Unions representing all staff at the University of London, both UNISON and UCU branch committees have consistently argued that the University should end outsourcing and bring all outsourced workers back in-house. Our members in both the outsourced companies and the University strongly support our position. We assert that the outsourced workforce would benefit significantly through direct employment by the University, through greater stability and job security, career development and progression, better terms and conditions and workforce policies as well as fairer working practises.

UNISON and UCU pressed the University on the 21st June 2017 to reconsider and reassess all outsourced contracts and welcomed the FM Services review. UNISON’s successful campaigns and decisions made at SOAS and LSE to bring services In-House demonstrate that the tide is turning across the Higher Education sector and that the University of London is in a unique position to lead the way. The recent collapse of Carrillion raises serious questions regarding the risks of awarding of contracts to private companies and potential consequences of doing so.

UNISON and UCU urge the Board of Trustees to take steps to bring all outsourced workers back in house in a timely manner, whilst also acknowledging that some limited specialist services may remain outsourced and are willing to work with the University to determine the scope of this.

In addition to our assertions that the outsourced workforce would benefit greatly from being directly employed by the University, we ask the Board of Trustees to take into account the following when considering the recommendations of the steering group:

• An In-House provision offers greater flexibility and an ability to adapt to new circumstances without major cost revisions. The University would be able to respond to changing needs, priorities, emergencies and opportunities without lengthy delays or having to pay a premium.

• Through an in-house provision, the University will have greater control over the quality and efficiency of services delivered. It would also ensure greater co-ordination and integration with other departments within the University, such as the Halls of Residences, Marketing, Conference and Events Teams as well as Student Central. This would allow for greater innovation and potentially a more lucrative commercial offering.

• Delivering services in-house will ensure fair work practices, oversight of the implementation of Living Wage payment for the lowest paid staff and fair pay awards and grading, as well as secure forms of employment.

• The review has uncovered key issues regarding monitoring of contracts, service delivery and KPIs and a lack of governance structure within the University. In order to rectify this, the University will need to invest additional resource. However, even with additional inspection, monitoring and use of contractual procedures, this is no substitute for having direct control over quality and delivery.

• An assessment of risks and costs should include a consideration of the cost of contractor failure (as demonstrated by the recent Carillion insolvency) as well as the costs of procurement, for example legal fees, consultant’s fees, staff time spent on negotiation and mobilisation that would be avoided through an in-house solution.

• Changing contractor every three to five years is therefore costly as well as disruptive both to the outsourced workers and the University.

UNISON and UCU continue to engage in the FM Review Steering Group in good faith, and will continue to be involved in discussions and negotiations so long as an In-House service remains on the table in order to ensure a fair, consistent and detailed analysis is undertaken before any decision is made.

Franco Henwood, UNISON Chair
Tim Hall, UCU Chair

UNISON and UCU Senate House Branches, 29 Jan 2018

Outsourced Staff - Update

Members will recall that on Weds 21 June 2017 we put our concerns re outsourced staff to management, signalling our intention to begin negotiations to bring staff back in-house. 

The University agreed to review conditions of outsourced staff shortly thereafter.

Since then, UNISON and UCU have been fully involved in the review. After six months of negotiations, we have managed to narrow down the range of options from seven to two, to be presented to the University’s Board of Trustees:

1.      in-sourcing of the 5 contracts included in the review, or

2.       a mixed provision with some coming in house and some remaining outsourced.

(Maintaining the status quo was one option but both unions were emphatic that this was not acceptable; this option is off the table).

In both cases some work will continue to be outsourced such as specialist maintenance of lifts or specialist compliance inspections.

UNISON will, however, continue to work to ensure all of our members and all outsourced workers are brought in house.

UNISON and UCU will continue to be involved in discussions if these options are taken forward to ensure fair, consistent and detailed analysis are undertaken before any decision is made.

UNISON and UCU  argued that the views of both outsourced and directly employed staff should be considered as part of this review.

As a result, all staff employed by the University will be able to participate in a survey on the current Facilities contractors and the future of these services . If you have any questions or concerns, please get in contact with us.

Cordant Staff Xmas Pay

Prior to Christmas it was brought to the attention of UNISON and UCU that the December payroll for Cordant workers was scheduled to take place after Christmas. Following pro-active engagement and lobbying by the recognised Unions Cordant agreed to run the December payroll before Christmas. As a result all Cordant staff were paid before Christmas in line with other staff working at the UoL.

17th October Pay Lobby and Rally - Letter to UNISON Branch Secretary

Dear Branch Secretary,

Apologies, I am aware that you will have been bombarded with emails from the national office, the national service group and the region on the TUC Pay Lobby and Rally  on 17^th October.

However, it is a huge opportunity to put pressure on the Government to change their position and take seriously the issue of public sector pay. Although this year’s pay round for Higher Education has been concluded, next year’s pay claim will be submitted early in the new year- this is also an opportunity to show UCEA that University Support Staff deserve a pay rise!

If you live in a constituency with a Tory MP, please consider lobbying your MP or reaching out to your reps and members and asking them to get involved. Support is available from us if you, your reps or members aren’t sure how to do this.

Even if you or your reps live in a constituency with a Labour MP (or another party), please consider joining the lobby anyway! It’s useful to have allies and to give MPs first hand accounts of the effect of below inflation pay rises.

If you can’t attend the lobby but still want to be part of the Pay campaign, there will be a Rally in the evening 6.30 to 8.30pm in Parliament Square. If you, your reps or members would like to attend, want more information or to meet up with some friendly faces, please get in contact with me or another organiser. Even if you can’t stay for long- show your face and wave a UNISON flag!

Or if you are feeling creative, follow in City University Branch’s footsteps and make your own placards!

If it’s all in hand and your branch has plans in place, please let me, Vicky or Colin know if you haven’t done so already so we can feed this back and get an idea of numbers.

Hopefully see you next week!

Thanks,

Jo Galloway

UNISON Regional Organiser

Secretary to Regional Higher Education Committee

Outsourced Workers at the University of London

UCU and UNISON have consistently raised concerns around outsourcing since the Facilities Management contracts were tendered. Following the successful campaigns by UNISON and UCU at LSE and SOAS the Senate House branches of these unions have increased their efforts and have been involved in discussions with University of London management regarding the feasibility of returning the outsourced workers to University employment. This process has required a great deal of discretion and the University has been persuaded to continue to engage in these discussions despite some unhelpful interventions over the summer like the serious breaches of health and safety which occurred on the 27^th September.

We have been encouraged by these discussions and the University will be making a more substantive announcement about a review of the Facilities Management contracts in which all options will be considered in the next few days.

If you work at the University of London and are affected by this or you know someone who is, we would like to hear from you. Please contact UNISON or UCU branch representatives, or email unison@london.ac.uk or ucu@london.ac.uk.

UNISON & UCU Joint Statement on Outsourced Workers

UNISON and UCU Senate House Branches want to repeat our stated position that the University of London should seek to end outsourcing and bring existing outsourced staff back in-house.

We ask the University to look at the examples set by LSE and SOAS following discussion with UNISON at those institutions, which resulted in positive outcomes for outsourced staff at both these Universities.

We call upon support from our members to make this happen.

Meeting to discuss University of London International Academy (UoLIA) QSG Review – 12:30 pm Thursday 17th August 2017 (Venue TBC)

As you may be aware, the University of London has decided to review the Quality Standards and Governance Department in the University of London International Programmes.

UCU and UNISON have been involved in discussion with Mr. Craig O’ Callaghan and Dr. Mary Stiasny and we are aware of the proposed reviews for Marketing, Executive Office and Global Engagement departments in UoLIA.

The review has been requested by the University’s Member Institutions to find out whether they are getting value for money.  Our understanding is that this is not a cost-reduction exercise and there is no suggestion of staff redundancies.

UCU and UNISON will work hard to ensure that these reviews are transparent and fully involve the staff in these departments and ensure that they have the opportunity to submit evidence.

We will not accept the validity of any review which fails to respect these core principles. Above all else, we will oppose vigorously any compulsory redundancies (if these are proposed at any stage).

We would like to hear from you.  Please come along to the meeting ( venue to be confirmed) or if you have any concerns that you want to discuss before the meeting, please contact UNISON ruth.buckingham@london.ac.uk and UCU kumar.singaravelou@london.ac.uk  

UNISON/UCU Senate House.

Joint statement from Unison and UCU Senate House branches

 

We note with concern the ongoing dispute between Cordant and its security staff.  As always, Unison and UCU's long held position is to strongly oppose the outsourcing of workers in all circumstances.  We are formally approaching the University to re-visit the issue of outsourcing with the aim of returning all staff in house.

Still just a bit of banter? UNISON survey on sexual harassment

UNISON are launching an initiative on sexual harassment to complement a survey already undertaken by UCU a few months ago.

In light of the recent TUC report “still just a bit of banter?”  it would appear that we still have some way to go on this issue.

In order for us to be effective in our efforts we need to know more about how this issue affects you.

If you could find the time to complete the following survey we would be very grateful. It will only take 10 minutes to complete and will be open until Thursday 22 June.

It will give us an insight into what is happening right now for you our members and it will inform the action that we need to take on this issue.

Please don’t suffer in silence. Your Union is here for you.

Information and Consultation (ICE) Negotiations Concluded

On 18 May negotiating representatives met to discuss information and consultation arrangements at the University.

At this meeting the two IWGB representatives indicated that they were no longer willing to negotiate, which has therefore meant that the negotiations have collapsed. This is despite us offering a means of ensuring fair and proportionate representation for staff at levels 1-6 in every department across the whole organisation. Nonetheless the IWGB claimed that they wanted to see the implementation of the standard provisions as produced exactly within the regulations, although they were unable to articulate what aspects of the deal on the table for negotiation deviated from the standard provisions.

In refusing to continue to negotiate, the IWGB representatives have left us in the position of allowing the employer to exploit the standard provisions which are set out in the regulations as, in many instances, aspects of the regulations are underdeveloped and provide considerable scope for interpretation. Indeed, their insistence on spending much of the opportunities for negotiation in arguing with the University over the issue of recognition (which is not covered by the negotiations and is a matter for the University to decide) has prohibited discussions on real and meaningful improvements for staff, which could have been achieved had they focussed on the issues at hand. We are therefore disappointed to report that the whole exercise has been a missed opportunity in many regards.

It now remains to seen how the University interprets the regulations, which will now be imposed given that negotiations have failed.

General Election 2017 - Register to Vote

General Election 2017 - Register to vote

The snap general election which has been called for the 8 June has huge implications for all UNISON members. In order to make sure your voice if heard we are strongly encouraging all members to register to vote. You can register to vote online here. 

The outcome of the General Election is likely to have a huge impact on the future of the services in which we all work and we would encourage all members to keep abreast of developments on the union's website here. You can also read the UNISON response to the Labour Party manifesto here.

Relating to this, and following a request from the branch, the University of London has undertaken to advertise the means to register to vote to both its students and those resident in University Halls.

Higher Education Pay Claim
UNISON, in collaboration with UCU, UNITE, GMB and EIS, has been negotiating with UCEA over the 2017-18 Higher Education pay claim. The employers have now made their final offer, which amounts to a pay increase of 1.7% to all pay spine points, with higher increases for those on the lowest pay. The Higher Education Service Group has issued a statement to the effect that the offer is the best that can be achieved through negotiation.

The branch is disappointed that, once again, the employers have made an offer which is below the current level of inflation. This means that, once again, the real terms value of our pay will be reduced for yet another year. Members will be consulted on the offer from 19 May - 30 June 2017 so watch this space.

Health Education England - CSR Consultation
Those University employees deployed to Health Education England who are currently affected by the consultation to cut staffing costs by 30% should contact us should they have any concerns. Much of the negotiation regarding the proposals is taking place at a national level, with the national UNISON Health team heavily involved but we will be submitting a local response to the consultation, so we would welcome your views.

We would encourage all affected members to keep abreast of development via HEE Connect.

Other news
In other news, the branch is undertaking a joint review of the University of London Change Management Policy with the employer. This is due to serious concerns we have in relation to last year's Student Central restructure and we are therefore looking to ensure much greater protection for staff and greater transparency from the University when undertaking restructures.

This year we will also be looking to engage the University around Brexit in requesting that they provide enhanced level of support to staff from the EEA in securing the right to remain in the country and in employment of the University.