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UCU
AEUS & Strike action
25/11/2019 to 04/12/2019
What is a strike?
When an employee withdraws their labour to get an employer to do something.
When employees do not do their work, they do not get paid.
In this strike there will be tens of thousands of UCU staff striking across the country in 57 institutions.
UK History
History
Challenging authority:
Magna Carta: Runnymede 1215
Chartism 19th century - voting reform
1834 Tolpuddle Martyrs
Trade Unions:
Legalised 1871 to the advantage of both employers and employees
1904 - origins of UCU University and College Union
Achievements of Trade Unions
Achievements
- Communication with employers
- Equal pay
- Equal opportunities / tackling discrimination (e.g. disabled people, parents)
- Paid annual leave
- Maximum number of working hours
- Minimum wage
- Paid parental leave
- The 2-day weekend
Current Issues in Higher Education
- 4 fights
- Pension changes
Current Issues in HE
4 Fights
- Falling pay
- Gender & ethnic pay gap
- Precarious employment practices
- Unsafe workloads
Pensions
- USS - the pension
- UUK - the universities
- UCU - the union
- Increase in contributions
(how much tutors pay will go up)
- Defined benefit scheme to non-defined (how much tutors get will go down)
How will you be affected?
Check email
Your tutor may email you in the morning to tell you they will not come to a timetabled session. No other tutor will cover the class. If another tutor's initials are also written on the timetable, you must attend the session.
Check email
Absence
You will not be marked as absent if your tutor does not come to the session.
Use this time instead to work on your assessments or other relevant independent learning.
Feedback & Assessment
Feedback & Assessment
Depending on who is on strike, there may be...
- no mock assessments (but you should assume there will be)
- no final assessment for Reading or Writing (but you should assume there will be)
- no feedback from your mock writing assessment
- a delay in tutors getting feedback or comments to you about your final assessments
Picket lines
Union members are allowed to stand outside the university on strike days to show they support the strike.
They may want to talk to you and give you information.
You can talk to them or walk past them.
Harry
Harry will be on strike for 8 days.
For any issues which your tutor cannot help with, the SES team should be contacted:
langc@leeds.ac.uk
15 Blenheim Terrace
What should I do?
Check your email and come to classes.
Please read about the strikes from both UUK/University of Leeds and UCU points of view and decide what you think about it (see Strike on Minerva).
Remember, tutors who go on strike care very much about your education, but also about future students' education and the working conditions.
If you want to support the UCU strike:
- email vice-chancellor@leeds.ac.uk and tell him your opinion
- tell staff on picket lines that you support them
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