news Get the strength of the union around you anti-casualisation CONGRESS SPECIAL CONGRESS SPECIAL

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1 ISSUE 10 / Spring 2013 anti-casuaisation news THE NEWSLETTER OF UCU S ANTI-CASUALISATION COMMITTEE CONGRESS SPECIAL CONGRESS SPECIAL Get the strength of the union around you S taff on casua contracts have been going through one of the most difficut periods in a areas of post-16 education. Cuts in staffing, changes in contracts, redundancies and excess workoads have forced many staff out of teaching. Casuaisation of ecturers is a growing phenomenon. The poicy of the UCU is to resist cuts, redundancies, unreasonabe workoads and the excesses of casuaisation. We are opposed to zero-hours contracts and expoitation of our members. We wi continue to fight for fractionaisation and job security for a our members. UCU has made massive inroads in unionising staff on casua contracts, but this gain has been aongside the oss of many ong-term members. UCU is therefore caing on a UCU members, regardess of contract status, to join in the campaign to increase union membership and density. The union s strength is in its membership. The greater our number, the stronger we are. We need your support! Anti-Casuaisation News is a usefu resource for current and potentia members. It is written by members working in the casuaised sector to inform and support feow coeagues. We know that many of our coeagues are isoated and do not have as much access to information ike fu-time and permanent staff. It can be difficut to connect with some coeagues on casua contracts, so the newsetter can be a usefu information and organising too. The Day of Action, 6 March, at the University of Essex UCU members and activists want to hear what you have to say about oca concerns and events, as information sharing can be empowering through ideas, support and good practice in organising at the workpace. We are aso interested on your views on how UCU can take the anti-casuaisation campaign forward beyond our successfu Day of Action. UCU is achieving success for our members every day, whie the government is determined to privatise and marketise education. UCU beieves that we paid and resourced teachers, ecturers, researchers and academic-reated staff are the key to success for our students, communities and economy. UCU needs your active support too. Pease hep us to buid the strength of our union and to promote soidarity and improvements in education by contributing to our newsetter, recruiting new members and engaging in UCU activities. Jim Thakoordin, Bedfordshire ACE Co-editor of Anti-Casuaisation News

2 ASUALI -I C ANTI-CASUALISATION Many thousands of staff in both higher and further education are hourypaid or on fixed-term or zero-hour contracts. In the UK, ony the hospitaity sector is more casuaised than the sectors UCU represents. March OF N D AY 6 TION SA ANT PAGE 02 AC T IO On 6 March the UCU Anti-casuaisation Day of Action put the spotight on the over-use of casuaised contracts in FE and HE. UCU members on a contract types stood together to combat the bight on our working conditions and pay. The voices of casuaised staff were raised: we made a fuss and we supported each other, generating a reay good eve of pubicity and responses! News reached the United States, New Zeaand and Canada and campaign connections were forged with New Zeaand's Tertiary Education Union, Adjunct Nation in the US, and The Canadian Association of University Teachers. Activities in branches and oca associations varied according to context, with many activists dispaying incredibe creative fair in their methods of engagement incuding activists offering carrots to raise awareness of the carrot and stick pressures exacerbated by the precarious nature of casuaised empoyment, inviting staff to ocate their position on the iceberg of casuaisation, and more. Specific activities incuded: street stas and demonstrations (incuding a very arge iceberg prop!) meetings for staff on casuaised contracts drop-in surgeries for casuaised staff recruitment and awareness-raising stas soidarity-buiding with students socia media campaigns (oca and nationa). Foow eafet distribution: targeted mai drops and ad hoc distributions on campus presentation of the UCU charter for treatment of casuaised staff to management obtaining figures for casuaised staff; genera sharing of information and best practice for deaing with attacks on contracts and conditions focused meetings to identify improvements and representation at branch eve coage for the casuaised: peope showing support for the cause inking campaign concerns with those of permanent, saaried staff, eg on workoad petitions such as the one at the University of Edinburgh sign if you haven t aready! We aso received many messages and tweets of support from within the UK, incuding from senior academics researching industria reations and empoyment, thinktanks, journaists, and a researcher from the Home Office. We received expressions of soidarity from casuaised and non-casuaised staff. The think tank Resoution Foundation which has previousy appeared on Newsnight wants to hear from peope on zero hours contracts and ACC has been in correspondence with their Director of Poicy. The Anti-Casuaisation Committee has received increasing numbers of ANTI-CASUALISATION NEWS / ISSUE 10 / SPRING 2013 / CONGRESS SPECIAL

3 PAGE 03 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION simiar enquiries and continues to buid the profie of our campaigns. What now? You can hep to buid the campaign to stop the bight of casuaisation in a number of ways. Get in touch with your branches and regions to see what work is being done ocay: we can support you in organising members on the ground. Tak to staff on casua contracts about the union, and encourage those in difficuty to contact their reps and branches. Casuaised staff are no ess professiona than their coeagues, but we are more ikey to be paid unfairy and to fee undervaued in our workpaces. Casuaisation harms a of us, whatever our contract type, so there is penty of scope to show your soidarity and spread the word even if you are on a permanent, saaried contract. Stand with us because we are stronger together: join us, get invoved in our campaigns for better job security and parity of conditions for a our members. Foow us on Send us your soidarity pictures for the Coage of the Casuaised! Emai us if you think you might be on a zero-hours contract get it checked! anticasuaisation@ucu.org.uk Take part in training opportunities for casuaised staff at oca and nationa eve: eg contact your region about support for putting on houry paid workshops Vicky Bake, ACC Chair and Mahmoona Shah, ACC Loca action KINGS COLLEGE LONDON We hed organising meetings in the run up to the Day of Action and arranged for stas and activities at different campuses, with a unchtime meet-up for everyone interested in the campaign. We brought carrots danging on sticks to show the way the eusive promise of a permanent contract is used to keep many of us running on a treadmi of poor pay and conditions. We aso brought a camera and message board so that a staff coud have a picture taken showing their support, enabing us to make a coage of soidarity at the end of the day. The student union heped pubicise our campaign and as did reps who got posters up around the coege. Most importanty, in the run up to the day, and on the day itsef, we met a ot of peope who want to get invoved. Rob Jackson, KCL UCU and Anti-Casuaisation Committee OXFORD UCU Oxford UCU ran stas in two different sites across the university. These aimed to raise the profie of the union and heighten awareness of the difficuties experienced by staff on casua contracts. It was a recruitment opportunity, as we as a day of action. In the Physics department cafe, Oxford UCU committee members, branch president and the regiona officer spoke to a arge number of postgraduate and postdoctora researchers, many of whom face futures on a succession of fixedterm contracts. In the foyer of the Socia Sciences buiding, members asked university staff and students to expain using a white board why they fet they needed a trade union. At both sites, the most vauabe part of the day was the chance to tak to members face-toface and find out what is concerning them right now. Athough the word anti-casuaisation does not yet carry great currency at Oxford, staff are worried by the increasing use of fixed-term contracts. In future we might seek to adjust our anguage and sogans but the message wi remain the same. We hope to run a series of foow-up events, creating a support or discussion network for FTC staff. UCU must continue to articuate ceary what it can do for empoyees on these types of contracts. Ronnie Kershaw UCU Nationa Organiser SPRING 2013 / ISSUE 10 / ANTI-CASUALISATION NEWS / CONGRESS SPECIAL

4 PAGE 04 BRANCH ROUND UP BRANCH ROUND UP BRANCH ROUND UP Southampton University UCU: pushing hard against casuaisation on 6 March and beyond Our Anti-Casuaisation Day of Action was fied with activity we set up two information stands, put together a charter for the treatment of casuaised staff, and got members to sign a petition to show their support for better treatment and better job security. Later in the afternoon we brought together our oca UCU activists for a stimuating discussion with Dr Jenny Rohn, one of the founders of the Science is Vita campaign. She spoke with us about the dangers facing the research career path, which soon branched off into a wide-ranging diaogue about job insecurity, the predominant funding cuture in academia and our prospects for the future. The Day of Action was a big event for us, since during the past two years we have committed significant time and resources to fighting for better conditions for the university s academic staff on fixed-term contracts. We have this as a standing item on our Joint Negotiating Committee with university management; we bring forward new issues and points for discussion with our members at genera meetings; and we have monthy direct discussions with our Human Resources (HR) department. Of course we woud strugge in these campaigns without support from our members, so we have put together seminars for eary-career academics to support their career deveopment and to show our commitment to their working environment. We hed a researchers workshop which heped our members to understand their empoyment rights. We foowed this up ast year with a career deveopment workshop that incuded individua sessions. Participation in these events was exceent perhaps because our seminars offered the kind of straightforward and practica advice that the university s deveopment events don t aways provide! Interestingy, and perhaps surprisingy, the university s Professiona Deveopment Unit (PDU) has been very Science researchers: one of the groups often disadvantaged by empoyment on fixed-term contracts hepfu and cooperative on these occasions. We have run severa events for researchers in cooperation with HR and the PDU, and in the future we wi continue to cooperate to hep our fixed-term staff buid an academic career. Despite these encouraging signs of progress, we sti face substantia roadbocks in the batte against casuaisation. At a research-intensive university ike Southampton, about 1000 of our staff at any given time are fixed-term contract researchers and ecturers. Many of these are empoyed via externa funding from UK Research Councis or other sources a of which provide timeimited research funding. Thus, even if our branch is abe to convince our institution to provide better job security, we re sti fighting a predominant research cuture in which time-imited funding is provided to eite research eaders on permanent contracts and funding opportunities for fixed-term contract researchers is argey absent. That entrenches a cuture of short-termism and expoitation of fixed-term contract academics that spits our community against itsef. For this reason, UCU s Knowedge Economy campaign may be of great benefit for casuaised staff in HE. A push for more sensibe science and education funding coud provide great ong-term benefits particuary if we re abe to push back against this funding cuture that so disadvantages many of our coeagues. The batte against casuaisation wi inevitaby be a ong and difficut one. Higher education is quite firmy entrenched in this short-termist cuture, to the point where many of us have troube imagining an aternative. But if we can get our coeagues taking about their strugges and taking action, demonstrate to our empoyers the benefits of job security and stabiity, and push for rea change in science and education funding norms, we can a buid a more humane and more sustainabe future for our sector. Dr Eric Siverman, President and Dr Joe Viana, Fixed-Term Contract Rep Southampton University UCU ANTI-CASUALISATION NEWS / ISSUE 10 / SPRING 2013 / CONGRESS SPECIAL

5 PAGE 05 BRANCH ROUND UP BRANCH ROUND UP BRANCH ROUND UP LANCASTER UCU: RESEARCHERS BE SEEN AND BE HEARD! Lancaster UCU has been busy over the ast few months estabishing a professiona researchers' networking group at Lancaster University. The purpose of the group is to: provide a forum for the discussion of matters of interest or concern to staff on research contracts (open-ended/permanent/fixed term) create momentum for positive improvements to be made at Lancaster raise the visibiity of researchers at Lancaster enabe researchers to network informay and support each other. A researchers (whether UCU members or not) are invited to attend the networking sessions which are being hed twice a term. A researchers newsetter has been aunched recenty: Over the summer, the networking group undertook an onine survey of a researchers at Lancaster to find out about their professiona careers, aspirations, experiences and views about what coud and shoud be improved. A ot coud be done and done we but it needs to be thought through the purpose and position of researchers, what they can contribute and how they are integrated into the system rather than thrown in and out of 'jobs'. Neary 40% of researchers responded to the survey. The majority (76.8%) were on fixed-term contracts and neary 80% of respondents had had two or more fixed-term contracts over their career. Men have a 30% chance of obtaining a permanent contract after 3.2 years at the institution whie women ony have a 4.1% chance. Over 36% had been empoyed as researchers for six or more years since receiving their highest quaification and over a third did not consider themseves to be in the eary stages of their career. Over 70% of researchers had never been promoted at the university, and ack of sustainabe funding, recognition, access to resources and career support were cited as key issues. being a researcher does not necessariy mean that a person is eary career or inexperienced There were some oca initiatives and exampes of good practice at the university but respondents said that there was much that coud and shoud be improved by ooking at best practice esewhere. The resuts of the survey are now pubic and have been odged with the NW Vitae Hub and various committees at the university with a cear message that action needs to be taken to impement the Research Concordat and improve poicies and practices which affect our researchers. The fu report is avaiabe from: For further information on the researchers networking group pease see: Louise Banton, Lancaster University OTHER NEWS: ANNUAL MEETING FOR STAFF ON CASUAL CONTRACTS On 15 February the Anti-Casuaisation Committee hed its annua meeting for staff on casua contracts. It was we attended with neary 60 present and a good cross section of teaching and research staff from FE, HE and ACE. The focus was on buiding for the Day of Action and participants shared ideas for using the materias produced in oca activities. There was no externa speaker athough the head of higher education, Michae MacNei, spoke about the forthcoming changes to coective redundancy consutation and the HE sector s roe in obbying for detrimenta changes. There were three afternoon workshops; on recruitment, becoming a caseworker and behavioura management. The meeting aso debated 12 motions, a which were passed and which wi hep to inform the ACC of their motions to Congress and sector conferences and their priorities for the forthcoming year. SPRING 2013 / ISSUE 10 / ANTI-CASUALISATION NEWS / CONGRESS SPECIAL

6 PAGE 06 CASUALISATION THE CREEP THAT PUTS CAREERS AT RISK There is an increasing tendency within higher and further education institutions in the UK to ook to casua empoyees to meet teaching and other commitments in posts which were formery fied by permanent staff. This trend is casuaisation and UCU is opposed to it, in the interests of the staff directy affected, but aso their fu time, permanent coeagues. There may be some sectors where casua empoyment is the norm because of the demands of a fastchanging business environment. Often a task may be carried out by any competent person, and a change of staff does not necessariy mean a change in the essentia nature of what is being deivered. None of these factors appy in higher or further education. The rea need of an education institution is for stabiity, with propery managed change if required. In terms of their expertise, staff bring something unique and take it with them, no matter how effective they have been. Staff turnover can mean an irrepaceabe oss of capabiity in the institution and asting damage to its reputation. Some damage is aready sustained during the redundancy process by staff devoting arge amounts of time and energy on what to do next chasing up renewa or extension, or appying for jobs esewhere. Surey the institution woud benefit if that time and energy were used on its behaf by empoyees who fee vaued and can afford to be oya. It may appear that casua empoyment is preferabe from a management perspective, and there are some situations where this is true, for exampe introducing a new way of working which requires expertise outside the norma remit of fu-time staff. There are others where finance is the main driver and not the ong term interest of the institution. Casuaisation is not ony a probem for those directy affected by it at present. It aso sends out the wrong message to the next generation and diminishes the appea of a career in an academic context. It creates a hierarchy among staff and undermines soidarity. Casuaisation is an ongoing process and it is safe to predict that it wi encroach upon areas it has not yet reached. It is in the best interests of permanent staff to show soidarity and support their casuaised coeagues. At the University of Aberdeen, casua contracts used incude houry-paid, zero-hours, fixed-term (asting ess than nine months) and open contracts with expected competion dates. There are unique probems arising from the specific contractua reationship with the empoyer. The most pressing concern, but not the ony probem, is contract renewa. Because of their reative insecurity, staff on casua contracts may fee that their performance must be better than that of coeagues. Staff on casua contracts ca upon Aberdeen UCU for caseworker support more than any other group. In some situations, there may be a difference in the way staff on casua contracts are treated by management; there may be a ack of recognition of the contribution which is being made. Furthermore, opportunities for career deveopment are severey imited. This incudes both ack of access to forma mechanisms for progression, and excusion from informa networks. These imitations can make it incrediby hard for those at an eary stage in their careers to deveop fuy-fedged professiona identities. Finding onesef at risk of redundancy is often not inked to one s performance at a or seen as part of a transparent, wecommunicated process either. If you are on a casuaised contract and want to make a difference in your workpace or need support pease contact your oca UCU branch. Aan Fenwick and Anja Finger Aberdeen University TEMPLATE PRESENTATIONS Two new tempate presentations are now avaiabe. Both cover empoyment rights, an introduction to UCU and how to tacke issues coectivey. One presentation is for hourypaid staff and the other for researchers on fixed-term contracts. Aso incuded are guides on how they can be used. The presentations can be ocaised to suit the situation facing staff on casuaised contracts at your institution. Have a ook at them here: ANTI-CASUALISATION NEWS / ISSUE 10 / SPRING 2013 / CONGRESS SPECIAL

7 PAGE 07 HE empoyers attack rights of the weakest and most vunerabe in society Last year, the government ran a consutation on changes to the ega requirements on empoyers in coective redundancy situations ie where 20 or more posts are threatened in a 90-day period. The foowing quote from the response to the consutation eaves itte doubt about what empoyers in some HE institutions have been up to: Empoyers generay considered that egisation was necessary to excude fixed-term appointees (FTAs) from the egisation. In particuar, empoyers in the Higher Education sector fet that an exemption woud remove the current requirement for them to engage in near constant consutation over the end of fixed-term contracts. In response, the government has now amended the egisation so that this ega duty to consut with the recognised trade union wi not appy if the staff are on fixedterm contracts and are being made redundant at the end of their contract. This wi affect the rights of many empoyees in HE and FE, but aso in industries ike tourism and construction, which empoy some of the poorest and most vunerabe workers in society. In practice, the proposed egisative changes are ikey to emove the few empoyment rights that remain to these empoyees, because such rights ony become enforceabe when the situation comes to the attention of a trade union. If they get away with it, the proposed changes wi put us we on track to seeing arge numbers of peope being hired and fired at wi, but then that is the idea, isn t it? If anyone had any doubt about the socia orientation of the Con-Dem government, the proposed changes to empoyment aw shoud end any such doubts. Foowing a Freedom of Information request, UCU have discovered that the Universities and Coeges Empoyers Association (UCEA) and 14 individua higher education institutions (HEIs) responded to the consutation a but one supporting the reduction in coective redundancy rights for fixed-term contract staff. A 14 branches have been advised of their empoyer s response and the UCEA response was circuated in UCUHE/ This was with an attack on basic empoyment rights being carried out in the name of management in our industry and UCEA and HE managements invoved shoud be ashamed of themseves for the part they have payed. Universities and coeges coud not function without their FTC staff and UCU thinks that it is reprehensibe that our empoyers obbied for a specific change in aw to treat the dismissa of these staff as ess important. Another worrying aspect is that the exemption from coective consutation wi make the use of fixed-term contracts more attractive to empoyers, and that we wi see more of them, with consequent increasing socia instabiity, and more peope being unabe to get mortgages. We cannot et this happen and a branches/las are encouraged to seek the foowing from their empoyers: a commitment they wi consut with UCU (and other recognised unions) on a coective redundancies of FTC staff with a view to avoiding such dismissas a commitment that FTCs wi ony be used where there is an objective justification for doing so, and wi not be used beyond a four-year period. Lesey Kane, Open University GETTING RESULTS FOR HOURLY-PAID LECTURERS The Higher Education Committee s Houry-Paid Ratification pane have recenty approved two new poices negotiated at Manchester and Birkbeck that deiver improvements for hundreds of houry-paid ecturers (HPLs). Both agreements ensure that pay is determined through job anaysis/evauation, that pay and other terms and conditions are inked to that of permanent saaried staff, that pay is provided for preparation, marking etc, that HPLs be provided with adequate contracts and have access to incrementa pay progression. They aso make cear that zero-hours contracts are not to be used. Both of these poicies took a ong time to negotiate and required a ot of hard work from the branches invoved. They are aso not perfect negotiated agreements rarey, if ever, are. However, the progress in these branches is testament to the fact that with a committed branch and the invovement of HPL members themseves, improvements can be gained. SPRING 2013 / ISSUE 10 / ANTI-CASUALISATION NEWS / CONGRESS SPECIAL

8 ANTI-CASUALISATION COMMITTEE Foowing the eections at the annua meeting the new ACC for 2013/14 are: Name Institution FE/HE Vicky Bake Durham University HE Jean Crocker Teesside University HE Terry Duffy Gyndwr University HE Lesey Kane Open University HE Rob Jackson King s Coege London HE Lee Wiiamson St Andrews University HE Bi North City Coege Brighton FE & Hove Regine Piing Westminster-Kingsway FE Coege & NEC Pat Roche Backpoo & Fyde Coege FE Winston Scotand City and Isington Coege FE Mahmoona Shah Bradford Coege FE Jim Thakoordin Bedfordshire ACE FE Joe Guza Cambridge University NEC Buid the Union recruitment Thank you to a reps who have heped in our Buid the Union campaign. Since September over 100 branches have participated and we have recruited an additiona 1,000 members. Recruitment is of course vita to the heath of the union and it s reay important that reps make a new staff Join the union aware of UCU and encourage them to join as soon as they start their new job, aong with coeagues who are not members. Reps are asked to encourage non-members to join by forwarding their unique ink incuded in the Friday Campaigns emai which incudes the chance to be entered into a monthy hamper draw. Our recruitment eafets and posters are avaiabe for downoad: or if you woud ike hard copies sent, pease emai mwheton@ucu.org.uk FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: UCUAntiCasuaisation Search for us FURTHER INFORMATION: If you woud ike to get in touch with the Committee pease contact the Chair, Vicky Bake: vickysucu@gmai.com. To contribute to future issues of this newsetter pease emai artices to Jim Thakoordin: dthakoordin@sky.com For more information about UCU s work on anti-casuaisation visit If you have a probem or query pease contact your oca branch or association in the first instance. Contact detais can be found at For more information about the Anti-Casuaisation Committee go to: