You should be receiving your ballot paper later this week.
We understand that there is a large amount of technical language involved with the current UUK offer on USS but at heart this is a very simple dispute: the offer on the table at the moment is detrimental and the only way to change the terms of the offer is if members are prepared to take action.
Due to recent changes in Trade Union legislation we need a 50% turn out at this Branch in order to take any form of action. We are at the point where every vote really does matter.
It is unusual for University managers to communicate with members about potential trade union action during a ballot, as this could be interpreted as trying to influence the vote, but if you receive any communications that you are uncertain of please get in contact.
As we regard changes to pensions as an exceptionally serious issue, members are encouraged to ring the TU office on 01483 68 2323. We will be putting aside an hour every Friday, between 10:30 – 11:30, to discuss the UUK offer with members. More technical queries will be forwarded to our National Pensions Official, and we are currently collecting FAQs for her to answer. Please email these queries to: [email protected]
Surrey UCU is committed to keeping members informed every step of the way, please do not hesitate to get in contact if you are unsure of anything.
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3 August 2017
getSURREY reports:
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/university-surrey-pays-18-members-13417537
The University of Surrey employs 18 members of staff remunerated to a total of £140,000 or more – but only one of those staff members is female, newly published data has revealed.
Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information request show the university currently pays 55 employees less than the Living Wage, 23 of whom are women.
The stats show the university employs less than five apprentices, the lowest paid on just £7,800 a year
They also reveal the highest paid member of staff is paid some 24 times more than the lowest paid staff member.
A spokesman for the university said: “The university has to compete for talent in a global market for all of its staff.
“Therefore, we have to ensure our remuneration is such that we can recruit and retain talent at all levels.
“We have worked hard in recent years to improve our performance on equality, and around 30% of our senior staff are female, in line with our sector – and we are actively looking to improve the balance still further.
“All of our staff are paid above the minimum wage, and the university makes generous pension contributions of up to 18% of salary, as well as having excellent benefits, such as 40 days paid leave a year, inclusive of public holidays.
“The University of Surrey prides itself on being one of the largest and best employers in the area, and last year our staff survey highlighted staff engagement was at its highest level for seven years.”
The complete answers to the FOI request are here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/freedom_of_information_act_2000_148?nocache=incoming-1012361#incoming-1012361
Anne Milton, Conservative Party candidate for Guildford.
2, 3, 4 and 5. The issues of home-rate tuition fees and visa-free access for EU students will be part of the Brexit negotiations. I know we all want to see EU nationals be able to stay and this is an issue I have raised and will continue to raise. There has been some discussion about alternative sources of funding other than raising tuition fees – Surrey is a good example of a University raising money through other sources.
Howard Smith, Labour Party candidate for Guildford.
Sorry, I have received this late, but many of your statements here are Labour policy and/or in our election manifesto.
So, in broad terms I am fully supportive of your aims, much of which is common sense and to be applauded .
While the Labour Party helped trigger A50 in parliament we are determined that any deal with the EU going forward should be on the very best terms including ensuring that the UK remains a welcoming place for overseas students.
The University of Surrey is a great asset to Guildford, one that should be treasured and if elected I would do everything possible to support your continuing success as much as I can.
Semi Essessi, Independent Candidate standing in Guildford:
I take most seriously your suggestions, especially since they broadly echo the local sentiment on these issues.
To directly address your points.
I agree with this sentiment, although I would also be willing to support anything that helps to improve clarity here.
I am happy to support this, however, it must be balanced against the desires of the EU itself. Any solution here would require EU cooperation – it might be out of our hands.
I will extend my existing policy on this to cover students – the same arguments apply as for workers. There is very strong local support for this.
I strongly support this idea already, although I have failed to find time to mention it. There is something inherently wrong when people who live in a place have no say in how it is run. We already do this for council elections. The same arguments apply to parliament as they do to local council.
I strongly believe that the only practical way to get rid of tuition fees, without jeopardising existing funding, is to address the budget deficit with a more modern, incremental approach. It is an optimisation problem and we have a huge mathematical toolbox for tackling such problems, which parliament and its advisers seem to be quite unaware of given their ideological and simplistic stances on this.
I find this difficult to support, and unlikely to come to fruition without motivation on the other side. It would very clearly be in our best interest – but its clearly not in the interest of the EU itself.
I am very willing to be convinced if there is a stronger case to be made for how this will benefit the EU, and I see no reason to oppose it.
I would sincerely hope in the wake of Brexit that our parliament would do this anyway, with some hope that they might go even further and strengthen the rights of UK workers even further.
Bear in mind that my positions is always open to change. I refuse to commit to policy absolutely up-front when we never know how the situation or prevailing opinion will be at the time it needs to be acted upon.