A GENERAL MEETING will be held on Monday January 9th 2023 at 1pm focussing on UCU Rising Next Steps. Details and a link have been sent to members by email.

A GENERAL MEETING was held on 23 November 2022 covering the
strike action, President’s Update, and strike fund

An EGM was held on Wednesday 26th October 2022 – at this member forum we listened to veiws on potential action and next steps after the positive vote for the UCU Rising campaign

An EGM was held on Wednesday 12th October 2022, focusing on the UCU Rising campaign.

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wednesday 14th September 2022, where discussed the nationwide ballot, and the need for a Recognition agreement

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wednesday 8th June 2022. Priorities for the branch were discussed, and motions submitted were discussed and voted on.

The 2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING was held on 25th May 2022

The President’s Report for 2020-21 was presented followed by the Treasurer’s Report for the year to 30 Aug 2021 follwed by election of the 2022-23 Committee: all nominees were declared duly elected since the number of nominations did not exceed the number of positions available. Thanks were offered to outgoing President Sue Jordan and other outgoing committee members. The minutes are available here

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wednesday 30 March 2022

to discuss the special sector Conferences on pensions and pay taking place in April, and motions submitted to the branch secretary. The minutes are available here

An EGM was held on Wed 16 March 2022

.. where members discussed plans for the  impending strike days and further action, as well as the  UUK response, legal action on USS and the local strike fund. We also discussed submissions of motions to the upcoming National Conferences and sending delegates. Later in the meeting we welcomed ​UCU General Secretary, Jo Grady​, who said she found Swansea’s response inspirational. She spoke about why the ​union’s Higher Education Committee believe it is imperative we fight on given the actions of UUK.  More details are available in the Meeting notes​

An EGM was held on Tuesday 1 March 2022

..and was well attended: the meeting covered the large turnout on the pickets, the good news in the legal challenge regarding USS, and the upcoming events. Members discussed the experience of the strike and how to keep building on the momentum and the solidarity in the branch see meeting notes

An EGM was held on Wed 16 Feb 2022…

..as agreed at the 9 Feb EGM, and was well attended by 165 members.  Committee thanked members for the huge picket turnout and discussed plans for the next days. Further discussions included hope for a joint union-management statement on pensions and the local strike fund. The meeting notes can be found here

An EGM was held on Wednesday 9 February…

…after Swansea UCU had written to the Vice Chancellor about UCU’s proposals for USS. This was attended by 230 members, including UCU Wales Regional Officials, and the arrangements for the upcoming industrial action were discussed, including Action on Strike Days​, Action Short of a Strike, Strike Pay, and E-Picketing/Teachouts.  The UCU position on ​members attending the Open Day on Saturday 19 February was ​voted on and agreed and information​ on this and on the other matters discussed was then detailed in a​n email message to members. The meeting notes are here.

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wednesday 19th January…

… to discuss the  ballot results on pensions and pay. The Swansea ​ballot turnout exceeded the statutory 50% with a majority of around 90% for industrial action.  The meeting report details the discussion around action. We also agreed to write to the Vice Chancellor

An EGM was held on Wednesday 10 November at 1.00 pm

…after the recent ballot, where we fell 2% short of the 50% turnout threshold. Members were supportive of a reballot and discussed a motion to be taken to the special meeting of UCU branch delegates scheduled on Friday 12 November. The meeting report includes the result of the recent poll re ballot papers

A SPECIAL MEETING was held on Monday 25 October

..hosting UCU General Secretary, Jo Grady​, in a zoom session exclusively for Swansea UCU members, as part of the campaign to ensure a 50%+ vote in the ballots. We heard ​about the problems with the pension scheme from Howard Moss, ​our pensions rep, and welcomed ​the General Secretary, who spoke effectively about the campaigns ​on pay and pensions  and  took time to answer members’ questions – if you were unable to attend​, the recording is here

A MEETING was held on Friday 22 October

.. where  fixed term researchers on the UCU committee invited​ staff on fixed term contracts  to discuss the concerns and questions they had regarding the USS pension scheme dispute and the ​current industrial action ballot​.  The notes ​from the meeting are available here

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wed 6 October

..to discuss the union’s decision to ballot members on industrial action over pensions and pay. Details are available in the Draft Minutes. A brief introduction to the current situation was followed by a video showing a short presentation on the nature of the crowd-funded legal action being taken by a group of UCU members against the USS available here. The following discussion with questions from members provided a forum to discuss actions needed to ensure a 50% turnout for the upcoming ballot, and to illustrate as clearly as possible the facts of the issue and the loss in pensions that members would incur if the current UUK proposals for cuts go ahead.  Thanks to all members who attended. 

An EGM on ​Pensions, Pay and Campaigns was held on Wed Jun 30

….to discuss the outcome of the recent survey of members on these issues, and provide a further update on developments. Details are available in the Meeting Notes; the survey results are available here

The 2021 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING was held on 26 May 2021

The President’s report was followed by election of the 2021-22 Committee and then, in the General Meeting that followed, a discussion with questions from members covered current issues including USS pensions and the recent pension survey, student feedback and PDRs, and Faculty reorganisation and PSR roles. The minutes are available here

An EMERGENCY GENERAL MEETING was held on Tuesday 4 May

..to discuss the USS pensions crisis (see: Message on USS pensions ), and was attended by around 150 people. A short presentation by the branch pensions officer outlining the main points of the crisis and pointing towards potential solutions (recording here), was followed by a session of questions and discussion. UCU pensions expert, Professor Mike Otsuka from LSE, was present and assisted in answering members’ queries and proposing ways in which the union might press its arguments that the drastic contribution increases/benefit reductions demanded by USS and partly shared by the Universities’ body, UUK, are unnecessary. In response to general agreement that the local branch should send out its own survey to complement the less than helpful one sent out by UUK for Universities to circulate, such a survey has been sent out to members. The outcome will be shared with the University in order to help inform its own response to UUK on pensions. If you have not seen the survey, it can be accessed here.

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wed 31 March

This well attended meeting provided a forum to discuss three topics: the University’s employment situation, pensions and pay. With the redundancy risk averted, lively discussion centred on dissatisfaction with the University’s insensitive handling of the issue and how to avoid a similar situation arising in the future. On pensions, concern was expressed about the ongoing uncertainty of the situation. The committee is engaging with management on both issues and will also be involved in consulting members on the ongoing dispute over the 20/21 0% pay offer. Thanks to all members who attended. 

A GENERAL MEETING was held on Wed 25 November

With exceptional attendance figures, there was a robust discussion mainly over the current issues with Finances and Redundancy Risk (under AOB) which has caused great concern recently. Questions from members were addressed and answers are detailed in the Minutes. We are currently evolving a strategy to support and mitigate negative effects, involving ourselves in community conversations to find a positive way forward. We are all stronger standing together, and we are working actively on issues raised. Thank you to all members who attended.