Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #FourFights
Most recents (15)
UCU HE members voted to:
*REJECT interim proposals from in ACAS talks for #FourFights
*NOTE UUK/UCU joint statement on collaboration toward USS benefit restoration
*A Marking & Assessment Boycott (MAB) begins 20 April in all branches involved in 4F dispute
ucu.org.uk/12873
*REJECT interim proposals from in ACAS talks for #FourFights
*NOTE UUK/UCU joint statement on collaboration toward USS benefit restoration
*A Marking & Assessment Boycott (MAB) begins 20 April in all branches involved in 4F dispute
ucu.org.uk/12873
❓What next?
Special HE Sector Conference (sHESC) this Wed 19 April. This is a democratic *policy-making* space, so will direct next steps in pursuit of each #ucuRISING dispute.
[See motions: ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu2…]
How do we get what we need? What would progress look like?
Special HE Sector Conference (sHESC) this Wed 19 April. This is a democratic *policy-making* space, so will direct next steps in pursuit of each #ucuRISING dispute.
[See motions: ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu2…]
How do we get what we need? What would progress look like?
Some thoughts on #FourFights (where a pay 'award' has been imposed), not intended to be comprehensive ⬇️
(On #USS several processes are already in motion - @cupofassam and others have highlighted potential bumps in the road we'll need to be vigilant over - more on this soon)
(On #USS several processes are already in motion - @cupofassam and others have highlighted potential bumps in the road we'll need to be vigilant over - more on this soon)
Hello all, Cathy here (Co-Comms & Media Officer) with live updates from the @stonewalluk Workplace Conference in London!
Really pleased to be representing @UoEStaffPride today. Looking forward to bringing my learning back to Edinburgh to share w/ my colleagues. #BeingLGBTQatWork
Really pleased to be representing @UoEStaffPride today. Looking forward to bringing my learning back to Edinburgh to share w/ my colleagues. #BeingLGBTQatWork
As some of you know, I’m a @ucuedinburgh/@ucutheunion member & have been on strike this week. I’m not striking today so that I can represent @UoEStaffPride & share my experience of current issues facing equality, diversity & inclusion efforts in the #highereducation sector. #EDI
As explained in this letter from @UoEBAME, @UoEREN, @dsn_edi, @UoEStaffPride, Womxn of Colour Collective & @ucuedinburgh, Edinburgh Uni senior mgmt cannot claim commitment to #EDI without working to resolve ongoing #FourFights & Pension Cuts disputes: tinyurl.com/44uymwdn
1/6 I just received an email from my emplyer which started "As you may be aware, the University Mental Health day is on 3 March and it is widely known that physical activity can provide us with benefits to both our physical and mental health.". This is my reply:
2/6 Dear colleague,
It is widely known that secure employment, fair pay, equality at work, and decent pensions can provide us with benefits to our physical and mental health. It is further known that receiving email from my employer telling me to go for a walk or a bike ride ...
It is widely known that secure employment, fair pay, equality at work, and decent pensions can provide us with benefits to our physical and mental health. It is further known that receiving email from my employer telling me to go for a walk or a bike ride ...
3/6 just a week after they voted to cut my pension by 35%, sends my cortisol levels and blood pressure through the roof, with detrimental effects on both my physical and mental health.
I don’t appreciate it. I was angry already and this has made me angrier. I feel tempted to ...
I don’t appreciate it. I was angry already and this has made me angrier. I feel tempted to ...
Reading the news coverage of the @ucu #FourFights strike, I get the impression that many people don’t know what University lecturers do (and why would they?), so here’s a thread on it. I’m a psychologist, so let’s start with the work of the average psychology lecturer. 🧵👇1/18
We prepare lecture slides, videos, interactive online tools, formal & informal assessments, workshops, and practicals. Proper prep can take hours, even days, for a single class. 💻📚 The hours spent in the classroom/ lecture theatre are the tip of the proverbial iceberg. 2/18
The above requires planning, subject knowledge, teaching skills, and clear communication. It also means regular public speaking 🧑🏫. Students often tell me they’re terrified of giving talks. They may be surprised to know that many lecturers also find it stressful. 3/18
Since universities’ refusal to maintain staff pensions at USS universities, I’ve seen a lot of angry posts from academics saying that their good will is all used up. This is bad news for everyone: here’s why. #UCUstrikes #OneOfUsAllOfUs #USSmess #FourFights (1/9)
The intended and obvious victims are university managers, who rely on ‘good will’ aka ‘going above and beyond’ aka ‘vocation’ to have the workforce, from PhD student teaching a single seminar group to esteemed professor, working evenings and weekends, year in, year out. (2/9)
I’ve known professors working on books on Christmas Day. Senior staff who only get to emails at weekends. Staff on 1-year contracts spending every Saturday reading books they need to teach next week. Teaching-only staff on sick leave writing lectures for their return. (3/9)
I have been in HE on short term contracts for 10 years. During that time I have learnt how #precarity in academia is used to advance the careers of highly ambitious senior academics. Here are few insights #UCUstrikes 1/
Some highly ambitious academics pick the brightest and the best post-docs and researchers & then offload their responsibilities on to them. While these researchers remain precariously employed, more responsibility and pressure can be offloaded #FourFights 2/
Precariously employed researchers have no ‘workload management models’, no ‘study leave’, no ‘promotion rounds’, no permanent offices. They are dependent on the patronage and good will of senior and permanently employed academics. #FourFights 3/
🪧 #UCUstrike Thread 🪧
Wondering why staff across 68 universities are on strike?
@ucu #OneOfUsAllOfUs #FourFights #DigitalPicketLine #DigitalPicket
/1
Wondering why staff across 68 universities are on strike?
@ucu #OneOfUsAllOfUs #FourFights #DigitalPicketLine #DigitalPicket
/1
1. Fair Pay (including fair pensions):
Staff pay has dropped by over 17% in real-terms since 2009
ucu.org.uk/article/10342/…
/3
Staff pay has dropped by over 17% in real-terms since 2009
ucu.org.uk/article/10342/…
/3
.@UCU, @UCUAnti_Cas seminar on protecting staff on casualised contracts live now. Hosted by Jane Thompson. This is very much our kind of event!
fundthefuture.org.uk/event/protecti…
fundthefuture.org.uk/event/protecti…
Starting with @ChristinaUCU introducing @zenscara, who says that the experience of being on a casualised contract never leaves you. #COVID19 has shown how vital it is to fight for secure work. Everyone can support precarious members via 10 steps campaign [tweeted yesterday]
.@zenscara: employers could have made more use of furlough for casualised staff, showing 2nd class status. Need more communication between branches and between branches and union centre, as part of #FundTheFuture campaign
•Russell Group "must show leadership" on casualisation to avoid reputational damage
•Casual contracts affect students’ learning & health of staff
•Russell Group at odds with its own negotiators over how to deal with problems & resolve #UCUStrikes
ucu.org.uk/article/10676/…
•Casual contracts affect students’ learning & health of staff
•Russell Group at odds with its own negotiators over how to deal with problems & resolve #UCUStrikes
ucu.org.uk/article/10676/…
Jo Grady said: 'This shows how divided universities are when it comes to dealing with the issues at the heart of the strikes. It looks like it is fear of reputational damage, rather than concern for staff or students, that has prompted universities to act on casualisation.
'Our message to all university vice-chancellors is simple: speak out. Make it clear to the people negotiating on your behalf that you want them to do more to deal with the key issues in these disputes.' #UCUStrikesBack #UCUStrike #FourFights
Today is Work Your Proper Hours Day – the day when the average person would start to get paid if they did all their unpaid overtime hours at the start of the year.
tuc.org.uk/news/workers-u…
1/5
tuc.org.uk/news/workers-u…
1/5
Teachers and education professionals put in the most unpaid overtime of any profession except for chief executives – working a whopping 11.9 hours each week for free.
tuc.org.uk/news/workers-u…
2/5
tuc.org.uk/news/workers-u…
2/5
UCU’s own research has shown that staff in both further and higher education work more than 50 hours per week on average:
ucu.org.uk/media/8196/Exe…
3/5
ucu.org.uk/media/8196/Exe…
3/5
It’s day 2 in the #ucustrike #fourfights Trump Card factory. After our mucking around yesterday went 🍌, we’re reworking the cards already made to clarify that no *comparative* institutional BAME pay gap data seems to be available, and publishing plenty more. Watch this thread 👇
OK, here we go. Here's the slightly revised printout for cards 1-8 for @BirminghamUCU @sussexucu @ExeterUCU London Business School (no UCU?) @UCUBath @SouthamptonUCU @ImperialUCU [right logo this time!] & @OxfordUCU
@BirminghamUCU @sussexucu @ExeterUCU @UCUBath @SouthamptonUCU @ImperialUCU @OxfordUCU And here's the slightly revised printout for cards 9-16 for @KCL_UCU @uelucu @LSE_UCU @CambridgeUCU @NewcastleUniUCU @UM_UCU @CardiffUCU & @UCL_UCU The pack will grow today, 8 cards at a time. If your branch is playing the game next week, let us know & we'll include your card 😘
UCU GS @DrJoGrady has emailed members about negotiations in the #FourFights dispute. Here is the text of the email and a short summary thread #UCUstrike #UCUstrikesback
ucu.org.uk/article/10661/…
ucu.org.uk/article/10661/…
UCU negotiators are meeting the employer representative UCEA today for further talks - but we need to see significantly more movement than employers have promised so far.
UCU negotiators have set out clear, reasonable targets for UCEA to improve the offer they made in January:
🔘Each institution needs time-bound, public action plans/agreements on workload, equality and job security
🔘Action plans should be implemented in collaboration with unions
🔘Each institution needs time-bound, public action plans/agreements on workload, equality and job security
🔘Action plans should be implemented in collaboration with unions
Fantastic placards and big picket energy for @DrJoGrady’s visit @UCULeedsTrinity this morning #UCUstrike #FourFights
Want to 'inspire' more 'futures' @LeedsTrinity? Give your staff humane workloads and secure jobs #FourFights #UCUstrike
UCU has written to UCEA today in relation to the pay and equalities dispute, outlining our disappointment at the employers’ letter of 5 December which stated they are unwilling to reopen negotiations on pay.
ucu.org.uk/media/10648/he…
#UCUstrikes #UCUasos #fourfights
ucu.org.uk/media/10648/he…
#UCUstrikes #UCUasos #fourfights
Today’s letter reaffirms UCU’s position that all four elements of the dispute – pay, casualisation, workload and equality pay gaps – need to be meaningfully addressed for the dispute to be resolved.
#UCUstrikes #UCUasos #fourfights
#UCUstrikes #UCUasos #fourfights
We have confirmed that we are willing to meet UCEA again on 17 December for further negotiations. We encourage employers to provide UCEA with a mandate to make an offer that substantively engages with each element of our claim.
#UCUstrikes #UCUasos #fourfights
#UCUstrikes #UCUasos #fourfights
Yesterday 4 JNCHES (#FourFights) negotiators and @UCU's Head of HE met UCEA. That UCEA met us is down to the strength of our ballot results + absolutely massive strike action currently underway. We need to *hold the line* and *grow* this action: it's *effective* /1 #UCUstrike
We spent ~2.5 hours with UCEA articulating all four grounds of dispute very fully, making clear how interconnected they are, and why it is so vital we turn this increasingly toxic sector (which *should* be so different, so open and inspiring to work within) around. #UCUstrike /2
*Right now* UCEA are consulting university leaders on what might be offered to solve the dispute. A written response is promised early next week. Hold the line! *GROW* the line: know that physical and digital/virtual picket lines *do* collectively strengthen our hand #UCUstrike/3
