Industrial Relations for Dummies
Posted: January 17, 2012 Filed under: food for thought, lessons Leave a comment »
Well! Would you look at that!
A university web site with a guide to the recognised trades unions and contact details for the branch officers and everything…
Hold on a mo – whose site is it?
None but our partner institution, the University of Essex.
No, don’t thank us! We specialise in education, even for those who find their lessons hard going.
Workload Survey
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: survey Leave a comment »Please take the Writtle UCU workload survey!
We all know anecdotally that the situation is dire; your responses
will help us to back up what everybody knows with hard facts…
Member or not*, fill it in!
We will publish the results here for all to see…
*But if not then go and join using the easy link at top right…
STOP PRESS:
Letter to Governors:
“This UCU branch expresses its grave concern at spiralling and out of control workloads
at Writtle and the consequent effect on both staff welfare and student experience.”
Passed unanimously at the UCU Branch meeting 17/01/12
Meeting Tomorrow
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: news Leave a comment »In Design 2 G08 12:30.
On the agenda:
Branch Building
Mad workloads
Cuts in Equine
Links with Essex UCU Branch
Pensions
Ratification of new branch officers
More Grim News
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: for discussion, news Leave a comment »We got hold of this account by Pennie W. of the latest cuts –er–sorry–um– ‘restructuring’…
At last Monday’s ICC meeting (9 Jan) we received the news that management have intentions to restructure the two Equine Units (Main Yard / CWC and the Stud / Daws Farm) used to service a large amount of FE and HE teaching and research activity. The proposal on the table at the moment includes the addition of a seperate overall manager for both units (this work is currently done by 4 middle managers within the SSEAS (HE) and the Faculty of Animal Management (FE) whose roles appear to be unaffected). The proposal also suggests a reduced and shared practical Equine staff resource between the two yards which are a mile apart geographically.
The two Assistant Yard Manager roles are to be deleted in the new structure, with the current post holders having been put “at risk” of redundancy. The two current managers are currently only employed on a “casual basis” and so have not yet even received any “consultation” about this, along with the many teaching staff whom this affects. These are the very people needed to care for the horses 24 / 7 including Christmans and New Year (animal welfare). Their routine work includes carrying out foalings and work with stallions and youngstock (which cannot be done alone – Health and Safety), supervising and assessing students, and maintaining the satisfaction of students and external clients as the staff on the “shop floor”.
We are now in a 30 day consultation period and awaiting the opportunity to be consulted on how unworkable this proposal is. The other aspect is that the timing of this restructure could not be worse – a number of students (BSc and MSc) are planning to use the two units for their dissertation work and we are just about to enter the foaling season, when two members of competent staff are required on the Stud yard at all times, including being on call to foal down mares, often in the middle of the night and then work on the yard with students the following day!
For Discussion
Posted: January 15, 2012 Filed under: for discussion Leave a comment »We understand that this proposed letter to our UCU colleagues at Essex University will be discussed and voted on at the Branch Meeting on Tues 17th Jan 2012
Dear Colleagues
This letter is being sent on behalf of the UCU branch at Writtle College.
As you might know we are a partner college of the University of Essex.
What you might not know is that Writtle refuses to recognise unions, including the UCU, promoting instead its own “company union” body, the ICC, which includes non union members and which is essentially a cover to steamroller through management decisions with a fig leaf of entirely spurious ‘consultation’.
We are writing to you to request your support in our campaign for recognition of the UCU .
We understand that the partnership agreement with Essex is due for renewal soon and therefore we ask you to take all possible steps to impress upon the leadership of University of Essex that this should not go ahead whilst Writtle College remains in the 19th Century in its attitude to organised labour.
We ask this for two reasons – firstly as an act of solidarity with your fellow members at Writtle but secondly because this kind of gung-ho union-busting attitude is like a cancer. If Writtle gets away with it for long enough then a twinkle could well appear in the eyes of Essex management…
Yours in solidarity
Stop press: passed; message sent 18th Jan
Preparing for Change
Posted: January 15, 2012 Filed under: food for thought Leave a comment »
Sheila always looked on the bright side. The subject of the course was “preparing for change” and they all knew about the impending layoffs (December 2007).
by Dave Miller.