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Trade dispute between UCU and the University of Surrey concerning the failure to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies for members of staff within the UCU bargaining group as a result of the current operational review. The ballot closed at noon on Thursday 30 April 2015. The response to the question you were balloted on is as follows: Are you prepared to take industrial action consisting of strike action? Number of ballot papers returned: 117 Number voting YES: 72 (62.6%) Number voting NO: 43 (37.4%) Number of papers found to be invalid: 2 Are you prepared to take industrial action consisting of action short of strike action? Number of ballot papers returned: 117 Number voting YES: 82 (71.9%) Number voting NO: 32 (28.1%) Number of papers found to be invalid: 3 Turnout: 40.1% You can view the scrutineers’ report here: www.ucu.org.uk/?mediaid=7242 |
Category Archives: News
Support from the University of Chichester UCU
The University of Chichester UCU branch notes:
1. that the University of Surrey has announced plans to dismiss 100 members of staff on grounds of redundancy; and
2. that the University of Surrey UCU branch is working to resist job cuts and is balloting for industrial action.
The branch:
1. supports our colleagues at the University of Surrey; and
2. instructs its committee to send a message of support to University of Surrey UCU as soon as possible.
We hereby send you greetings of support and solidarity, and trust that you will pass these on to colleagues.
Save the Surrey 100 – campaign meeting
Campaign Meeting
Thursday 30th April
1-2pm in TB10
Open meeting – all staff and students welcome. You do not need to be a member of a union to attend.
BBC Radio Surrey debate
Adam Lincoln, regional UCU representative debates Paul Stephenson about the current dispute over redundancies at Surrey from 5.30pm on BBC Radio Surrey Drive programme on 17th April. Click on the link above to listen to the programme.
FAQs during ballot period
I haven’t received my ballot paper:
Please contact Euclid Pires at [email protected] in the regional office, preferably by email, providing the correct mailing address at which the ballot paper should have arrived and your membership number (if known). If the ballot opened less than a week ago, you may be asked to wait a few more days to see if it arrives. If a ballot paper has already been sent to you but does not arrive, UCU can ask the scrutineer to issue a duplicate ballot paper, which will come with a duplicate declaration form on which you will be asked to declare that you have received only one ballot paper.
I’ve just joined UCU, can I be sent a ballot paper?
You can contact Euclid Pires at [email protected] in the regional office to request one. But a ballot paper cannot be sent to you until your membership has been confirmed by UCU’s membership department at head office.
I received a ballot paper, but I’m no longer at the institution being balloted:
Please contact [email protected] in the regional office, who will make sure our records are updated. Please destroy the ballot paper.
I received a ballot paper and I shouldn’t have done/I haven’t received a ballot paper but I should have done – is the ballot now invalid?
No. Although UCU does its best to keep membership data up to date at all times, it is data which by its nature changes daily and it is unrealistic to expect 100 per cent accuracy at all times. The statutory requirements that apply to industrial action make allowances for minor errors of a scale unlikely to affect the outcome of the ballot.
I didn’t receive a ballot paper, can I take part in the action?
If you were entitled to vote, but didn’t receive a ballot paper through an error or lost post, you can still take part in the action.
I joined the union after the ballot had closed, or after the call to take industrial action had been made, can I take part in action?
Yes. If there is a call to take industrial action, you can take part in that industrial action as soon as your membership has been confirmed by the membership department at UCU’s national head office. Please wait for this confirmation before you take part in action.
Why is ERS’s address on my ballot return envelope slightly different to their registered office address?
Running ballots all the time, ERS receive so much post that they have special arrangements for receiving ballot returns via a main sorting office. All their mail is ultimately delivered to the same building, and any ballot paper sent in the pre-paid envelope provided or returned to their registered office address will reach them.
Support from UCU South East Region
SE Regional Committee UCU notes the widespread dismay and anger across the sector at the short-sighted and bullying initiative lately undertaken by the University of Surrey senior management. The ‘Operational Review’ being carried out by Surrey senior management not only threatens 100 jobs, it expands and intensifies the type of micro-management which is anathema to both job-satisfaction or to academic excellence. The loss of those posts (75 of them expected to be academic) will not only weaken the fabric of support for students and their disciplines, it will also result in a real increase of teaching and teaching-related work for staff who remain at the University.
In place of fear and fury, Sir Christopher Snowden, the obscenely overpaid VC of Surrey, needs to work in partnership with academic, administrative and student-support staff. The processes of trust and reciprocity which should stand at the heart of relationships between staff and students, and between staff and the University, stand in grave danger of being eroded at the University of Surrey. UCU members in the South-East Region offer our full solidarity to our colleagues in the University of Surrey as they resist the threats to the credibility and integrity of the University of Surrey as a HE institution. We will support you in your campaign to protect Higher Education at the University of Surrey in any way we can.
Mick Dawson – SE Regional Committee Secretary
Patricia McManus – Higher Education Committee (HEC) of NEC
Operational Review – FAQs
We have received lots of really pertinent questions about the Operational Review. We will keep this post updated with frequently asked questions and answers.
- What legal support is available to me as a member of UCU?
Many will be extremely anxious about the proposal to cut up to 100 posts at the University. This is an unprecedented attack on the Surrey workforce and will be resisted by your union collectively.
Understandably, you may believe there is a legal remedy to your post being put at risk. Unfortunately it is highly unlikely there is such a remedy. UK law is clear that if the following criteria are met redundancies are lawful.
(a) the fact that his employer has ceased or intends to cease
(i) to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or
(ii) to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or
(b) the fact that the requirements of that business
(i) for employees to carry out work of a particular kind, or
(ii) for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where the employee was employed by the employer, have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish.”
The focus is not on whether there is less work, but whether the employer can demonstrate a need for fewer employees to carry out the work.
You will no doubt have more legal questions. For this reason UCU in association with Thompsons Solicitors will be holding a presentation and Q & A on Wednesday 15th April at noon in Teaching Block 18. This will be followed by a limited number of very brief one to one sessions. If you wish to have a one to one please contact Euclid Pires at [email protected] who will assign you a time slot.
- Is the enhanced voluntary severance package on offer at Surrey really generous?
Here are some examples of voluntary severance offers in similar institutions.
Aberystwyth: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/hr/employment-information/vs/ One month for each year (max 12 months) and full, unreduced pension for older members of staff.
Cardiff: offer 12 months severance regardless: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/humrs/staffinfo/voluntarysev/
Dundee: 15 months http://www.dundee.ac.uk/media/dundeewebsite/hr/documents/policiesandprocedures/voluntaryseverance/Voluntary%20Severance%20-%20Academic%202015.docx
Queen Mary offer to top up pensions: http://www.hr.qmul.ac.uk/procedures/exit/eppvs/index.html
Manchester: up to 14 months full salary http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=9651
Our management will no doubt argue that there is a fixed budget for voluntary severance payments but it’s worth noting that, in spite of much talk of of financial pressures due to the general economic climate the university budget is in surplus; our Vice Chancelor is the 10th highest paid in the land and we are investing huge sums in new buildings.
University of Surrey has the highest number of non-academics on salaries of over £100,000 a year but scores of redundancies amongst academics are being made to save staff costs
According to the Times Higher,
The ratio of highly paid administrators/managers at Surrey is 6 or 7 times as high as at Imperial! Imperial College London said that 28 of its non-academic staff earned at least £100,000 a year, compared with 291 academics, but it declined to list any of their salary bands. At the University of Leeds, 16 professional staff earned more than £100,000.
The University of Surrey had the highest number of non-academic staff on £100,000 or more a year (17), including the chief financial officer (£160,000 to £170,000) and the vice-president of marketing and communications (£120,000 to £130,000). Only 26 academics earned more than £100,000, Surrey said.
UCU Legal services
Many will be extremely anxious about the proposal to cut up to 100 posts at the University. This is an unprecedented attack on the Surrey workforce and will be resisted by your union collectively.
Understandably, you may believe there is a legal remedy to your post being put at risk. Unfortunately it is highly unlikely there is such a remedy. UK law is clear that if the following criteria are met redundancies are lawful.
(a) the fact that his employer has ceased or intends to cease
(i) to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed by him, or
(ii) to carry on that business in the place where the employee was so employed, or
(b) the fact that the requirements of that business
(i) for employees to carry out work of a particular kind, or
(ii) for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where the employee was employed by the employer, have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish.”
The focus is not on whether there is less work, but whether the employer can demonstrate a need for fewer employees to carry out the work.
You will no doubt have more legal questions. For this reason UCU in association with Thompsons Solicitors will be holding a presentation and Q & A on Wednesday 15th April at noon in Teaching Block 18. This will be followed by a limited number of very brief one to one sessions. If you wish to have a one to one please contact Euclid Pires at [email protected] who will assign you a time slot.
Surrey management threatens 100 redundancies
The Vice Chancellor has launched an Operational Review threatening 100 job losses across the university. The proposals include the restructuring of both academic and administrative departments, with many colleagues forced to compete with each other for jobs in the new structure.
It is important that we support each other and work together to protect our livelihoods and working conditions. There are a number of things that we can do collectively as a union, in addition to providing support for members at risk of redundancy.
Our branch will need to decide together what action we plan to take in response to these proposals.
Come to our branch meeting on Wednesday 25th March, 12-1pm, 19 AC 03, to discuss and vote on our strategy.
Information about the Operational Review can be found on SurreyNet. The consultation period for the proposals ends on 8th May, but we will need to act much faster than this to make our voices heard.
We are much stronger if we act together. Even if your job is not currently at risk, please get involved now to support your colleagues and protect our university from further cuts. After recent announcements in relation to teaching allocation, it is clear that job losses will mean much higher teaching workloads for staff that remain at Surrey.
In addition to the branch meeting next week, there are also meetings taking place in departments particularly threatened by the proposals. Contact your departmental or faculty representative to get involved.