As colleagues may know, UCU is currently holding its annual Congrees in Bournemouth. Today's Congress business was called off due to strike action being taken by UCU employees represented by Unite. The matters that have given rise to the strike action include the following (from a press release issued by Unite):
- The failure to follow the UCU Procedure for Organisational Change;
- Breaches of the Unite-UCU Recognition Agreement
- The disproportionate use of formal procedures that can lead to dismissal against black employees;
- The refusal to agree a hybrid working policy; and
- The failure to agree a Gender Identity policy.
The RHUL UCU Branch Committee notes with dismay some similarities between the employment practices of UCU's senior leaders and those of the university employers group UCEA and senior leaders of its member universities. Indeed, UCU branches throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, including this one, have found themselves in dispute and/or on strike over matters related to the Unite dispute with our national union. Such failures on the part of UCU as an employer undermines the effectiveness of our own campaigns against similar practices, and betrays the fundamental principal of solidarity between workers and across unions.
The Branch Committee has approved a £100 solidarity payment to the strike fund supporting Unite workers striking against UCU. This amount is in line with our Branch Constitution.
The Branch Committee urges the UCU General Secretary to take steps to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible so that our union can direct its efforts as fully and as well as possible to its primary objectives. The work of our union cannot be undertaken well without the invaluable work of its employees.
Posted on behalf of the RHUL UCU Branch Committee.
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