Starting this week you will have the chance to vote in UCU’s national ballot on workload. You have said again and again that getting workloads right matters most to you. So your branch is advising you to vote early and vote yes.
When you tell UCU you have voted – we will try not to bother you about it again! You should receive your ballot paper soon – please check your membership details with UCU so that you get it (https://my.ucu.org.uk/app/utils/login_form).
You may think: I’ve already voted, why do I have to vote again? Your branch came very close to getting over the required 50% turnout in the previous ballot, and with your continued support and involvement could get ‘over the line’ this time – it only takes two ticks on a form! More importantly, your participation in the national ballot sends a strong signal to your local senior management at Northumbria, showing just how serious your concerns are about your workloads.
You may think: students have suffered enough recently. They have, but their experiences don’t improve when you are undervalued and overworked, and the NUS have shown the vast majority of students (73%) support the campaign (https://www.nus.org.uk/articles/student-views-on-ucu-strikes-revealed-by-nus).
You may also think: I don’t want to take action, so I won’t vote. Even if this is the case, you should still vote to ensure your voice is heard, because issues with workload aren’t going away.
Why? Because national issues become local concerns. As you know, workload is at the heart of the problems with the proposed changes at the Northumbria Language Centre. Senior managers are proposing to shift colleagues there onto a different, worse workload model, slashing teaching preparation time by 50%, unilaterally, arbitrarily, without a sound method, and without negotiation. If they can do this, it poses a threat to all of our terms and conditions. There are other worrying, related local concerns. One is the announcement that all student feedback on our teaching, via MEQs, will be directly available to all managers from the VC downwards. This opens the way to feedback being used for performance management. Another is the victimisation of your Branch Secretary. Any one of these issues might lead to the need to have a local ballot in the coming year and everyone needs to anticipate this.
It is no coincidence these local attacks on you and your colleagues are all happening at the same time. 2022 will be a crucial time for all staff at Northumbria – and for your UCU branch. The university will soon appoint a new Vice-Chancellor, who will want to make their mark. As is clear from all the local issues you are now facing, since breaking agreements about Covid measures in September, senior managers have attempted to shift their management style – away from negotiation and consultation with staff and unions, and towards simply announcing and imposing far-reaching changes. How we respond to this, as a branch, will be crucial. When you support your branch to affirm a legitimate role in negotiating changes within the university, this sets an important precedent for the new VC and senior management – ensuring that you continue to have control over your future working conditions. If you and your branch are unable to do this, we will all be at risk of sweeping changes over which we have little control. It is essential that you participate in the national ballot, and any local ones, to send a clear message that your voice deserves to be heard in your university.
In addition to UCU’s General Secretary, Jo Grady, coming to speak in Newcastle, you can expect emails and other communication from UCU nationally, the branch, and from your reps during this critical period. Your UCU reps and branch officers know it for some people it can be a hassle to get lots of emails and messages about something like this clogging up your inbox. Rest assured, though, that as a branch we will endeavour to ensure that as soon as you tell us you have voted you will not be contacted about the ballot again.
- Ballot opens: Monday 6 December
- Replacement request form opens: Monday 13 December
- Replacement request form closes: Friday 7 January
- Last safe posting date: Wednesday 12 January
- Ballot closes: Friday 14 January
