Motions and Policy

Proposer: Talat Ahmed

Seconder: Grant Buttars

Call a Special Higher Education Sector Conference

UCU Edinburgh resolves:

• to request, in line with rule 16.11, a Special Higher Education Sector conference to be held at the earliest opportunity, to discuss the future of the Four Fights/JNCHES disputes, and including a potential TPS dispute and resisting redundancies.

Proposer: Cecile Menard

Seconder: Jonny Dennis

This branch resolves to submit the following motion to the UCU UK HESC 2024:

Title: Recognition and Support for Long-Term Casualised Researchers (LTCR) in UCU

UCU notes that:

1. Long-term casualised researchers (research staff with over 8 years of employment on casual

contracts) face distinct challenges.

2. Data suggest LTCRs often belong to intersectionally underrepresented groups.

3. Ambiguous promotion guidelines limit their career advancement.

4. Funding eligibility criteria further marginalise them in academia.

UCU believes that:

1. Recognising LTCRs as a distinct subsection of research staff is essential for addressing their

unique challenges.

2. LTCRs deserve job security, fair career progression opportunities, and equitable access to

opportunities.

3. Data on LTCRs is necessary for effective policy-making.

UCU resolves to:

1. Formally recognise and support LTCRs.

2. Obtain comprehensive data on LTCRs.

3. Lobby for more “truly” open-ended contracts.

4. Advocate for transparent promotion opportunities for LTCRs.

5. Lobby for inclusive funding criteria.

6. Address discrimination faced by LTCRs.

7. Engage with branch-level efforts to establish best practices for supporting LTCRs.

Proposer: Stergios Magkriotis

Seconder: Pietro Stefanini

Ending University of Edinburgh’s complicity in the ongoing genocide and building coalitions with the Palestinian educational sector

UCU Edinburgh notes:

1. Whereas since October 2023, through its relentless genocidal campaign against Gaza and attacks all over Palestine, Israel has accelerated its violations of Palestinian human rights, including intensified attacks on Palestinian universities, students and staff.

2. Whereas the systematic assault on the educational sector in Palestine, and its complete destruction in Gaza, is part of a historic and ongoing project of ethnic cleansing, settler-colonial dispossession and violent fragmentation.

3. Whereas Israel’s attack on the Palestinian educational systems contributes to the deracination of knowledge systems via a system of displacement and dispossession targeting the cultural, spiritual and intellectual life of the Palestinian people.

4. Whereas Israel’s consistent targeted extirpation of communities, institutions and spaces for scholarship demonstrates the intent to dehumanise and incapacitate the Palestinian people, alongside their right to safe learning spaces, preventing them from living, thriving, studying, and excluding them from free and equal participation in the international academic community.

5. Whereas British universities are complicit in the obstruction of Palestinians’ access to education through investment in companies implicated in Israel’s occupation, genocide, settler-colonialism, and apartheid.

6. Whereas Palestinian Higher Education institutions have issued a Unified Call for Justice and Freedom calling on their international counterparts to take action in their support and defence.

7. Whereas the International Court of Justice (ICJ), citing Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, noted that “An entire generation of children is traumatised and will take years to heal. Thousands have been killed, maimed, and orphaned. Hundreds of thousands are deprived of education. Their future is in jeopardy, with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences.”

8. Whereas the ICJ ruled that “Israel must, in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention.”

This branch believes that:

■ Education is a fundamental human right, enshrined in international law and a crucial pillar for a people denied their inalienable right to self-determination, in the preservation of their identity, heritage, and civic life.

■ An active stance by British academics against the attacks on the Palestinian people is urgently needed, given Britain’s historical complicity in their ongoing genocide and dispossession.

This branch resolves:

■ To step up the pressure to end the war on Gaza and join the international movement calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire by establishing a committee and/or a student-staff assembly to undertake work towards:

■ Ending University of Edinburgh’s involvement in the arms trade and complicit institutions– To convene a working group to consolidate and bring together existing efforts with a democratic mandate to end University of Edinburgh’s investments, contracts or cooperation agreements with weapons companies supplying Israel and profiting from its system of military occupation, apartheid and settler colonialism. To also support the call for the USS and other pension funds to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.

■ Building solidarity and academic links with Palestinian universities and academics–Explore collaborative initiatives such as twinnings, exchanges, joint projects, scholarship programmes, academic fellowships and partnerships that contribute positively to the Palestinian educational sector.

This branch believes:

• There is substantial evidence (BDM results, national survey, our own branch votes) that members want to a vote on the offer(s) on the table.

• Being a member led union that purports to have democratic values necessitates giving members the opportunity to vote on the offer(s).

• Recent communications and decisions (whether it is a compound question in a national survey or denying members a vote because it needs to be framed in particular ways) control the debate rather than enabling consultation and participation from members.

• Members have lived this dispute and this strike for the last three years and have enough lived experience and access to information to make a decision for themselves.

This branch resolves:

• To write to UCU HQ and HEC calling on them to put the offer(s) on a single page of A4 without commentary and to give members separate votes on whether to reject or accept the offers in relation to the separate USS and four fights disputes.

• To relay our motion to branches across the country and call on other branches to do the same.

Item description

UCU Edinburgh notes:

• The 67% majority vote of 36,000 UCU members across the UK in favour of putting the proposals negotiated in both disputes to a vote of members

• The majority support of the 16 March 2023 Branch Delegate Meeting in favour of putting these proposals to a vote of members

• The strong support of this branch in favour of putting these proposals to a vote of members

• The consternation felt by many UCU members at the 17 March decision of the Higher Education Committee not to send these proposals to members

• That there has been no explanation to members of the reasons behind this decision and the process by which members will be consulted in future about these proposals

• That, particularly in the midst of a crucial reballot for industrial action, union processes must not only be, but be perceived to be, democratic

UCU Edinburgh believes:

• That regular consultations with the membership at large should be a vital part of UCU’s structures as a democratic trade union

UCU Edinburgh resolves:

• To call on the Higher Education Committee to, as an urgent matter, decide on a clear timeline and process about when and under what conditions members will be consulted about the outcome of the current negotiations

• To call on the HEC to collaborate with UCU staff and officers to communicate this timeline and process to members

Motion M4 (Congress[HESC]) 

Proposed by: Sophia Woodman 

Seconded by: Helen Eborall 

This branch resolves to send the following motion to the HE Conference: 

Conference notes that student recruitment patterns: 

· mean some universities hoard undergraduate students, while others struggle to recruit. 

· have been used by management to implement department closures and redundancies. 

· translate to poor learning conditions for students, unsustainable workloads for staff at universities that over-recruit and expansion of casualisation. 

Conference believes: 

· the removal of university caps on student numbers by the Tories in 2014 in their pursuit of marketising the sector has been detrimental to higher education and had a negative impact on university staff and students. 

· the UK and devolved governments must reintroduce a managed system of student distribution across the sector based on fairness and equality. 

Conference resolves to: 

· commission research on models of student distribution which can create recruitment balance in HE. 

· develop a campaign for the reintroduction of student distribution this coming year, including branch resources, intense lobbying efforts, and media. Item description

This branch notes the unofficial Branch Delgates' meeting (online) being hosted by UCU London Region at 4.00-6.00 pm on 23 Feb and believes this will be a useful forum for gathering thoughts and opinion to feed into Higher Education Committee on 24 Feb. We agree to send up to 2 delegates, to be decided at this EGM.Description text goes here

The branch notes:

• Excellent turnout on pickets and at rallies for the three days' strike action in November.

• The Cost of Living crisis and the need to keep as many members as possible on board in the next phase of action.

• The necessity of winning a strong reballot for action, without interruption, until after graduation.

• The need to use our mandate effectively while keeping members on board and financial resources stable.

The branch believes that our next phase of industrial action should involve:

• Escalating action from February, building up to a marking and assessment boycott from mid-April continuing until graduation, including a reballot.

• Building the membership and working with other unions and student groups which will provide density, publicity and strength. • A fundraising drive starting ASAP to keep our local and national fighting funds strong for these phases of action.

This branch notes:

• The success of #ucuRISING in bringing UCEA to the negotiating table;

• That 87% of branch delegates voted for ‘escalating action covering the… lifetime of the ballot mandate’ on 31 October 2022; • The successes achieved by other unions through limited 2022 action;

• The Fighting Fund’s likely capacity;

• The cost-of-living crisis;

• That 67% of branch delegates agreed that UCU’s priority should be to ‘call strike action that continues to deliver maximum unity and support from all members’.

This branch resolves to call on the HEC to:

• To investigate the successes of other unions in pay disputes in 2022 and how those were achieved.

• To call for discontinuous escalating action over 2023, in line with BDM outcomes, including (de)-centralised disruptive non-strike activity.

• To develop a further escalation plan in light of reballoting.

• To reserve a national all-out strike as an escalation for the summer assessment period, when all employers experience a significant pressure point.

The branch notes the new initiative “Trade Unions In Communities” and recognises the boost it

can bring to our movement. TUIC currently consists of union branches from a wide range of Trade

Unions including UNISON, Unite, RMT, CWU, with expected affiliation from other unions such as

PCS, FBU, EIS and more.

We note the support given to this initiative by the STUC and Edinburgh and Midlothian

TUCs.

The aim of the group is to bring together Trade Unions, within the Edinburgh & Lothians

area, to work with established community groups in promoting Trade Union membership

and opposing the massive attacks on living standards.

The group aim to use the Craigmillar Hub as a showcase with the long-term aim of rolling

the project out across Scotland.

UCUE resolves:

- Contact TUIC to advise of our support for this initiative

- Affiliate to the group with a yearly donation of £150.

- Work with the group to lend whatever support we can, including sending a delegate to their monthly meetings

- Encourage our members to volunteer in the staffing of the new Hub at Craigmillar

This branch notes:

1. Impartial, evidence-based advice offered by HEI careers services is valuable for students and wider society.

2. HEI careers services promoting roles in oil, gas and mining industries is likely contributing to the global climate crisis, and leading students into careers which will decline as we rapidly decarbonise our economies.

3. Congress 2017 passed a motion resolving to “work with members affected by a move to a low carbon economy, other trade unions, and environmentalists” to campaign for a Just Transition.

This branch resolves:

1. To actively work with People & Planet to publicly support the student-led Fossil Free Careers campaign, calling on university careers services to align their operations with sustainability considerations, particularly by declining to promote oil, gas and mining companies.

2. To produce a website statement about this motion and UCU support for this campaign and amplify the calls to action of it.

To be sent to HE Officers

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To be submitted as a late motion to HE Sector Conference at Congress 2022

HESC notes:

• The current open-ended marking and assessment boycott

• Delays in enacting decisions taken at previous (S)HESCs.

• Start date of current boycott reduces the number of members able to take disruptive action.

• Liverpool delayed marking by combining boycott with 'go slow'.

HESC believes:

• Branches are best placed to determine when to deploy different types of action.

• Taking action that members feel is not sufficiently disruptive saps morale, makes mobilisation harder and weakens our hand.

• Giving branches ownership of the action will help those members being asked to take this action to hold the line.

HESC resolves that a branch can, via a vote at a quorate branch meeting and in consultation with HE officers:

• Pause local boycott and switch to go slow to target and maximise impact.

• Resume a paused boycott.

• Reduce the number of days of any supporting strike action if employer reduces or forgoes deductions for ASOS.

Motion to be submitted to HE Sector Conference at Congress 2022

Conference notes:

1. Guidance on holding branch delegate meetings (BDMs) https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10885/Branch-delegate-meetings/pdf/ucu_branch-delegate-meetings.pdf 

2. That BDMs have not been called routinely during the course of the USS and Four - Fights disputes prior to meetings of Higher Education Committee (HEC)

3. That votes have not always been held at BDMs

Conference believes:

a. That BDMs are essential to internal democracy, allowing members views to be expressed through their delegates

b. That BDMs greatly enhance HEC’s ability to take key decisions that reflect and align with members’ views

Conference resolves:

i. To take a much more robust approach to the use of BDMs

ii. To call a BDM before any HEC discussing UK-level disputes 

iii. To circulate questions to branches sufficiently in advance

iv. To instruct HEC to take a strong steer from BDMs

to follow

To be sent to Congress 2022

Congress

Notes:

The current membership subscription bands,

The report on subscription rates at Congress 2021 (UCU/1073),

The principle stated therein for ‘alleviating subscriptions for those on the lowest salary levels’,

That academic staff often avail free membership as students before upgrading to standard membership,

The absence of an analogous route for academic-related professional services staff.

Believes that:

Discounted subscriptions for the first year of membership will:

Further alleviate the membership costs for staff on lower salary levels,

Mitigate the disparity in Notes (5) by providing ARPS staff a discounted membership route,

Incentivise staff who are not members of the Union to join.

Such a discount will not reduce subscriptions income from existing members.

Resolves to:

Implement discounted national and local subscription rates for the first year of membership for those who join UCU on bands F(0) and below.

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UCU Edinburgh notes:

Discriminatory comments and behaviour against trans people are rife in the UK due to misconceptions around gender identity and the impact of improved trans rights.

According to Stonewall Scotland, 1 in 8 trans employees have been physically attacked at work, and 51 percent of trans people have hidden their identity at work for fear of discrimination; and according to Trans.edu, 86 percent of trans students and staff in Scottish HE face barriers including discrimination, harassment and violence (see e.g. www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/trans_stats.pdf and www.trans.ac.uk).

UCU Congress 2018 motion 31 committed UCU to support trans rights and trans equality in the workplace and oppose any moves to delay or abandon the consultation over changes to the GRA.

UCU Edinburgh motion passed at Scotland Congress 2019 stated: ‘It is the right of all workers, no matter their gender identity, to be safe and respected at work’.

Based on national (UK) estimates, there will be between 155 and 362 staff at the University of Edinburgh who are transgender.

UCU unequivocally supports academic freedom of speech, and we have fought for the rights of our members who are targeted by their employer or the government for their research or trade union activities.

UCU’s existing policy and commitment to academic freedom (https://www.ucu.org.uk/academicfreedom).

UCU Edinburgh believes:

All of our members have the right to exist and be recognised as the gender they themselves identify as.

All our members have the right to hold personal opinions.

Our members do not have a right to be free from criticism for these opinions, nor to be guaranteed a platform by the union to express them.

We should not support members in weaponising their speech to question the existence of trans and non-binary colleagues.

UCU Edinburgh resolves to:

Work with the student union LGBT+ liberation officers and the Staff Pride Network on creating a trans inclusive university.

Create a LGBT+ sub-committee within the branch.

Employ good practice, such as that created by STUC and UCU, to provide guidance for members on gender identity and trans inclusion in the workplace.

Host a workshop on gender identity and trans rights (e.g. by Scottish Trans Alliance or Trans.Edu) for interested UCU members, to counteract lack of information around trans and non-binary equality.

Call on the University of Edinburgh (UoE) to ensure that all events held in the name of UoE and on UoE premises are in line with the Dignity and Respect Policy and that the UoE neither host nor facilitate meetings which contain content which is transphobic, biphobic, homophobic or otherwise detrimental to the safety and wellbeing of LGBT+ staff.

This branch notes:

the decision by the majority of UCU’s Higher Education Committee to ballot UCU members on the proposal from UUK;

that a majority of UCU branches meeting on 25 and 26 March wanted to ‘Revise and Resubmit’ this proposal and many took a clear position of ‘No Detriment;

employers such as Liverpool University and the Open University are already announcing redundancies

We believe that:

accepting the proposal as it stands will demobilise our highly-successful campaign of strike action at a point when we are making serious gains;

seeking further clarification and assurances on the ambiguities presented by the proposal does not necessarily imply taking a ‘No Detriment’ position;

we need to maintain maximum momentum to defend Defined Benefit pensions, pay and jobs.

We therefore resolve:

that the branch will campaign to urge a ‘No’ vote in the ballot;

to call for an emergency Higher Education Sector Conference to debate strategy around the USS dispute.