Swansea UCU GM, 27 November 2024: financial sustainability and local initiatives

The following is a summary of the branch GM held on the 27th of November, including a motion passed by members.

Swansea UCU GM 27 November 2024

Agenda

  • PGR working group
  • Fixed term staff charter
  • curriculum transformation feedback
  • Financial sustainability programme
  • Motions  

Opening Remarks

Estelle Hart (EH) opens meetings with an overview of agenda. Thanks are minuted to Georgia Bevan who is organising Swansea UCU Palestine Solidarity events, with a workplace day of action on 28th November

Workplace Day of Action – Thursday 28th November

Join us for a day of action on Singleton in support of Palestinians

12pm – Meet in front of Fulton House for solidarity photo

4pm – Meet at campus entrance for banner drop on the bridge

Curriculum Transformation

Thanks are minuted to Patrick Cockburn who is leading on the UCU response to Curriculum Transformation. PC was unable to attend and sent in the following observations:

  1. Only some areas of the university are going through the review this year.
  2. So far this process has been framed as ‘co-created’ with staff and students. This is not the case so far, as our survey data of UCU members shows.
  3. We should try to ensure that the processes from this point forward do involve genuine co-creation and input from staff is taken seriously and fed back up the management chain.
  4. We should insist that curriculum review requirements are reconsidered wherever they generate extra workload that is not accounted for, or where they threaten the viability of programmes.
  5. But we should work with the review process, which could keep workload under control and improve programme quality if done well.
  6. We should insist that we are not simply there to implement plans that have not been co-created.
  7. Talk to your local UCU rep about any concerns you have about how the curriculum review process will affect your area of work. Our response requires coordination and voicing concerns at a local level within units/departments.

Feedback is a powerful tool so all members are urged to fill in curriculum feedback using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/bVBcqDd56Y

Fixed term staff charter

EH thanks Peter Weck for his work on the Fixed Term staff charter and invites him to speak.

PW explains that the Charter lays out core changes fixed term staff want to see in their conditions. They need signatures to support this charter and pressure management into listening. Once a majority of fixed term staff have signed, more for fixed term staff will be held to determine tactics and next steps.

Please sign the Postdoc/fixed term charter available at this link: https://swanseaucu.org/fixedterm/

You can also download posters to print off and support your colleagues on Fixed Term Contracts – https://swanseaucu.org/fixedterm/

PGR working group

EH praised the development and work of the PGR working group and encouraged people to join. The following link is to a poll to join discussions on PGR issues: https://www.systemli.org/poll/#/poll/dwhvi3HaEB/participation?encryptionKey=5Lhl8LPnfhXNOy1SzlbS3yzk1ZQ7dfrOMIWi3N5D

Service Redesign & Financial Sustainability

EH: As a union, we have taken the line that we should focus on avoiding compulsory redundancy. This falls in line with HQ messaging that compulsory redundancies are a red line for UCU. Therefore, we must discuss the likelihood of balloting and taking industrial action. We need to focus on how we can work together to resist compulsory redundancy and to reach out to other universities. We need to fight now to protect our conditions because the university is nowhere without staff. Time to organise. The union is every single one of us.

EH gives an overview of what has been negotiated so far, and next steps. 

Negotiations and feedback to date have resulted in:

  • Implementation of the pay award
  • Cancellation of major capital projects – Fulton House, £50m
  • Ensured that all professional services staff whose roles are deemed at risk during redesign will be able to access VES even if their redesign period finishes after July
  • Ensured academics whose roles are identified at risk post January 5th will be able to access VES up to July 31st
  • Lobbied for more transparency and more regular updates from SLT and other senior managers – e.g. Additional webinars, local briefings on cuts
  • Engaging independent advice through UCU to look further at university accounts
  • Agreed a suite of additional redundancy avoidance methods: Vacancy management; Redeployment
  • Reviewed and contributed to policy on all parts of the restructure process: pooling; metrics used in selection; no application for current roles
  • There will be new negotiations on any policies related to academic restructure, including selection criteria/metrics.

Ongoing

  • Fortnightly JCNCs
  • Weekly meetings during formal consultation
  • Local meetings e.g. departmental, school level
  • Member queries
  • University Council lobbying
  • Lobbying – national, MEDR, WG
  • University feedback – have your say, meetings

All members can

  • Continue to engage with the university and union: give specific examples of issues; feedback
  • Organising: building density, talk to colleagues, sign up for branch organising activities:  https://forms.office.com/e/D32KwZzRUL

PW also spoke on Branch Organising and Membership density:

We need leverage which comes from membership – need to be well organised and prepared to take action. We need to do work together. We need to be prepared to take industrial action and to take steps to make that a credible threat and successful. We need active members and reps in every department

Link to document discussing organising tactics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ho56Jh3vdMUWNIli0d_QJEW8RxZ-LQCLiajIvMLKG2w/edit?usp=sharing

PW also discusses mapping density – figuring out who is in our department, who should we be talking to, who are the key people.

Motions

This branch notes the ongoing financial sustainability and redesign programme at Swansea University, which has seen over 200 members of staff leave via a voluntary exit scheme, with increased saving targets issued in September 2024.

This branch believes that UK HE is facing a sector-wide financial crisis which must be resolved by government, not borne by staff who are the backbone of universities.

This branch resolves, after 5 January 2025, to seek confirmation that there will be no compulsory redundancies. If the university cannot make this guarantee, the branch will declare a formal dispute with the university.

Proposer: Teresa Phipps

Seconder: Sian Neilson

The motion is proposed by TP and seconded by SN. Discussion around next steps and the January deadline for academic VES. Debate around the term ‘compulsory redundancy’ as a specific legal term and a discussion around the data underpinning the numbers given to departments to cut.

Move to vote:

Motion passes overwhelmingly with 2 votes against and 4 abstentions

Action

EH ask for more detail on the work done to compile the departmental cut

General discussion

  • Impact of the increase on NI employer contributions – likely to be cancelled out by possible tuition fee rise in Wales (in line with England)
  • Criteria to be used for any potential pooling criteria for academics if saving targets are not met. EH assured that these criteria have not yet been decided and will be subject to union negotiation, as has been the case with PS redesign. Ensuring fairness and recognition of protected characteristics.  Members urged to share any messaging shared within schools/faculties
  • Vote of No confidence in Senior management suggested as a tactic

Social for UCU Members

Wednesday 4th December, 4 – 7pm, Pub on the Pond