From Massive Mandate to Effective Action

Emma Battell Lowman Short cut to the support letter which I’d like you to sign. We, UCU, have won a historic mandate for Industrial Action through the #UCURising campaign and now have the power to act collectively in both the USS and the Pay and Conditions dispute. Every branch at every HE institution involved inContinue reading “From Massive Mandate to Effective Action”

Effective Industrial Action: What Does It Look Like?

This is clearly a crucial juncture for UCU members in higher education, and UCU Commons members were preparing a blog on the choices before us when the General Secretary issued a report containing very serious and substantial proposals for the future of the Four Fights dispute on Wednesday 13 April. We encourage everyone to readContinue reading “Effective Industrial Action: What Does It Look Like?”

TL;DR: Why did ‘the UCU leadership’ decide [for a short ballot | disaggregation | bundled ballots | ballot timing | …]?

by Bijan Parsia Reading time: over 10 minutes (3,200 words) For a (much) shorter Twitter thread going over the timeline please see Rhiannon Lockley’s thread. She also voted differently than I did, for the most part. Please don’t debate their decisions over on their thread, but take the description offered. This is going to beContinue reading “TL;DR: Why did ‘the UCU leadership’ decide [for a short ballot | disaggregation | bundled ballots | ballot timing | …]?”

Massaging the Figures on USS: How It’s Done

Are you a vice chancellor concerned for your employees’ quality of life in retirement? Worried that your performance doesn’t match your pay packet? No, we thought not. But you may be anxious about the UCU ballots for industrial action, including the dispute over the proposed cuts to USS pensions. Here are a few numerical sleightsContinue reading “Massaging the Figures on USS: How It’s Done”