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UCU NEC FE
NEWSLETTER – NEC report 4/12/07 |
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Hi, here
is our report of the second national executive meeting of this year’s
NEC. It was a very useful and
interesting NEC; one which started to map out the future direction of the
union. Before we
give a brief account of the issues that were debated and discussed could
we remind you of the very important pay rally that is taking place this
Thursday at 6.30pm at Friends meeting House on Euston Road (it will
be starting at 6.30pm so please try and get there a little before then)
jointly organised with the NUT.
You should also have stickers, leaflets and posters to help build
the campaign. If they have
not arrived get in contact with the national office immediately. Finally can you make sure that all
your members have signed the online Xmas card petition; click on http://www.ucu.org.uk/abetterdeal
Report
on national survey and membership report. There
have been two important surveys; one conducted by Professor Jeremy
Waddington into what the membership of UCU think. Professor Waddington
reported back to the NEC his findings which were very useful as they
identify key areas of concerns of the membership. Not surprisingly pay and
conditions were the main priority followed by bullying and
harassment. What was
surprising though was that compared to other unions, bullying and
harassment although a serious concern for them,
was not as high up on the list as in F/HE. More evidence, if needed, that
with incorporation a nasty macho management culture has
followed. The
survey also asked members what they thought of the union. The survey’s findings reinforced
the need for strong branch organisation with active officers who were
available to give guidance and support on a range of issues.
The full report will be on the
UCU website by the end of the week. The
second report was on membership density. Whilst the report is a sobering
one it is extremely helpful at providing very detailed information on
where we need to go and what we need to do to build the union. As the
report states, “the shifts in employment patterns within both further and
higher education in recent decades such as the feminisation and
casualisation of the workforce are clearly not fully reflected in our
current union membership.” Any future proposals for
any reorganisation and/or restructuring will come back to the
NEC for approval. In light
of this report it perhaps would be a good idea for branches to take stock
their actual union membership in relation to full time and part time
staff, gender and ethnicity etc, so that we can target the weak areas in
colleges. We should start by
using the pay campaign to recruit new members. There will also a national
recruitment week at the beginning of the new year. The next
regional meeting at the beginning of January will have this as the main
item on the agenda. Make sure your branch sends a delegate to be a part of
this discussion. National headquarters
proposals The NEC
approved a proposal from Strategy & Finance Committee to seek to
re-locate the union’s HQ to a suitable single location in central
NEC
members were given sight of the legal advice to the union that had led to
the cancellation of the proposed speaking tour that would
have debated a possible boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The
NEC overwhelmingly passed a motion to
implement in full Motion 30 that was passed at the UCU congress calling
for a tour of Palestinians’ to be organised to discuss how
the union can raise effective solidarity. The tour will go ahead
in the New Year. The NEC also voted on the two lay members to
be part of a delegation of UCU members to travel to A second
motion was passed which remitted the legal advice the union had received
to the union’s own legal council for comment. The General Secretary
also indicated that members could access the legal advice through
contacting her Head Office if they wish to. UNITE
against Fascism Recent
events at Karen
Reissmann A guest
speaker was invited to address the NEC from the reinstate Karen Reissmann
campaign. Karen is the mental
health nurse who has been sacked for whistle blowing. There are 150 mental
health workers who are on all out indefinite strike in New UCU
booklets There are
several very good booklets available at the moment:
To order
copies for your branch contact jwhite@ucu.org.uk
Teaching
resources With the
emphasis of many curriculum areas on preparing young people for the world
of work, you might be interested in looking at the TUC’s young people and
trade union education website. It has some very useful resources and
ideas for group work which could be integrated into most courses:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/organisation/index.cfm?mins=507&minors=505 Also there are
some excellent videos on a range of subjects (“Vulnerable workers”,
“winning equal pay”) which also could be used for developing teaching
resources or showing to staff as a part of your branch’s recruitment plan.
They can be contacted at congresstv@hblmedia.com and
Their website is at: http://www.congresstv.tv/ |
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