Author: essex

National UCU President to attend branch GM plus open meeting on 7 Nov 2017

Essex UCU General Meeting & Open Meeting 7 Nov 2017

We will hold the General Meeting on Tuesday 7th November from 1-2pm in room NTC 1.03 within the North Teaching Centre (opposite the Tawney accommodation tower) at the Colchester campus. We are delighted that national UCU President Joanna De Groot will address this meeting. Topics on the agenda will include a USS pension update, gender pay, privatisation and casualisation.

Any motions for this General Meeting to be sent to the Secretary secretary@ucumail.essex.ac.uk to arrive by 5pm on Wednesday 1st November. An email will be sent to all members on Thursday 2nd November with details of all motions received by the deadline.
Any amendments to these motions must be sent to the Secretary by 5pm Friday 3rd November. A full agenda for the GM will be sent to all members on Monday 6th November.

Then we intend to immediately follow the GM with an Open Meeting. Joanna will stay, committee members will be present and there will be an opportunity for any university staff member to come and join us for an informal discussion about the GM business or any aspect of union activities. We’re trying to make this a more “approachable” hour following the formalities of the GM. Please pass this message along to your colleagues and do assure them that anybody can come, ask any question and just find out more about us. All welcome from 2.15pm -3.15pm (still in NTC 1.03). Tea, coffee & cake will be available within this hour.

Free membership for phd students who teach: *update 2 Oct*

** update 2 Oct 2017**

phd students who teach/GTAs can join UCU for free by phoning on 0333 207 0719 from Monday 2 October. Our online portal www.ucu.org.uk/join   will open for free membership from Thursday 5 October. We are doing it this way to make sure we pick up any issues in the first set of new applications before we go fully online.

Existing members who believe they are entitled to free membership will receive individual instructions by email this week.

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The future of the profession: GTAs get free UCU membership

From 1 October 2017 all phd students who teach can apply for free membership ie GTAs. Contact Essex UCU if you have further queries.

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/8916/Future-of-the-profession-free-membership-FAQ

 

Sally Hunt becomes TUC President

13 September 2017 

Sally Hunt has been elected as the new President of the TUC.

Sally, who is general secretary of UCU, will serve in the role for a year and preside over the TUC’s 150th Anniversary Congress in Manchester in September 2018. In addition, she will also chair the TUC’s general and executive committees.

Sally has two decades’ experience as a senior trade union official. Since June 2007 she has been general secretary of UCU, following the merger of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE).

Sally holds a number of positions outside the union and represents UCU on the TUC’s general council. Her duties include being the TUC’s spokesperson on international issues and she sits on the governing body of ACAS.

Sally was born in Germany, where her father was teaching in a British forces school, and went to school in Chippenham, Wiltshire.

She studied international relations at the University of Sussex from 1983 until 1987, where she served as vice-president of the students’ union.

Sally’s first job in the trade union movement was as a senior research officer with the financial trade union now known as Accord. Following that Sally was an assistant general secretary of the Nationwide Group Staff Union (NGSU). In 1995 she joined AUT as an assistant general secretary. She was elected general secretary of the AUT in 2002.

Commenting on her appointment Sally Hunt said: ‘It is a huge honour to become the president of TUC, especially as it prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Trade unions are a force for good and exist to support their members.

‘My background is education, which I believe offers the best route for people to control their life and fulfil their potential. As we attempt to deal with the Brexit fall-out, making sure people have a chance to learn new skills has never been more important, and I see unions leading the way in opening up those opportunities.’

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘We are delighted to have Sally at the helm as we approach the TUC’s 150th anniversary. She’s done a great job steering UCU through what have been very challenging times for further and higher education. And in helping it become the modern, nimble union it is today.

‘On a personal level, I’m very pleased to have a fellow Gooner at my side.’

Read Sally’s full speech to the TUC in the opening debate on Brexit here. 

Consultative pay ballot – have your say before 28 July

Dear University and College Union members at Essex

Please remember to cast your vote on the 1.7% final pay offer from our employers.  A link to your e-ballot was emailed to you on 4 July.   The deadline is Friday 28 July.

This vote is not a ballot for industrial action–it is a consultative ballot to help decide the way forward.  But given the new trade union legislation, it is more important than ever that as many members as possible vote.

If cannot find your ballot link, you can request a new one at:

https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/hereplacement

AGM agenda Tues 27 June 2017 1pm

see also branch meetings page

This is the Agenda for the UCU’s AGM which is  on Tues 27 June 2017 in room 2N2.4.16
on the ground floor of the SSRC building, Colchester campus. (Access the SSRC via the bridge from the NW corner of square 2. Go through the double doors, turn slightly left, passing the stairs and the lift into the open area. The door to the room will be in front of you)

Please note that nominations to the roles are now closed. Committee members can however be co-opted onto the committee.

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Essex UCU Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 27th June 2017 at 13:00

Room 2N2.4.16 (SSRC)

 

Agenda

 

  1. Welcome & apologies
  2. President’s Report
  3. Treasurer’s Report
  4. Motion 1:(proposed by the local committee)

Local subscriptions for our branch have not increased since 2012. We have been slowly decreasing our reserves but now must try to ensure we meet our forecast expenditure. Without this increase we will need to cut our branch administrator’s hours. With this in mind we propose that local subscriptions be amended as follows:

  • F0: for salaries which are £60,000 and above should increase to from £3.00 to £5.00
  • F1: for salaries which are £40,000 to £59,999 should increase from £3.00 to £4.50
  • F2: for salaries which are £30,000 to £39,999 should increase from £2.00 to £3.50
  • F3: for salaries which are £20,000 to £29,999 should increase from £2.00 to £3.25
  • F4: for salaries which are £10,000 to £19,999 should increase from £1.00 to £2.50
  • F5: for salaries which are £5,000 to £9,999 should increase from £1.00 to £1.50
  • F6: for salaries below £5,000 and Retired bands remain at nil

 

  1. Secretary’s report
  2. Congress representatives’ report
  3. Election of officers, ordinary members of the committee and congress representatives. Approval of dep rep list
  4. AOB

Nominations to committee NOW CLOSED

NOMINATIONS CLOSED ON 30 May. However committee members can still be co-opted onto the committee….

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Nominations are now open for the branch committee, Congress reps and a regional committee rep. However this nomination period closes on 30th May (Tues after the bank holiday) 2017. So get your nomination paper completed and sent in asap please!

See the following page for details/deadlines: http://essex.web.ucu.org.uk/branch-meetings/

Please get involved and consider being part of your union’s Local Association Committee. Having a committee made up of members from across our branch is essential for our democracy and efficacy and the role is rewarding in its own right.

Nominations open for branch roles 2017-18

Nominations are now open for the branch committee, Congress reps and a regional committee rep. This nomination period closes on 30th May (Tues after the bank holiday) 2017

See the following page for details/deadlines: http://essex.web.ucu.org.uk/branch-meetings/

Please get involved and consider being part of your union’s Local Association Committee. Having a committee made up of members from across our branch is essential for our democracy and efficacy and the role is rewarding in its own right.