Events

Coming soon . . .

University of Bradford Branch of Unison: Annual General Meeting

So much has been happening around the University that the AGM will now be held in September. Watch this space for further details of where and when.

Sorry for delay, but we will make it a good one!

Higher Education Day of Dissent

(See pictures below.)

Message from UNISON Chair, Linda Broadley:

Dear All,

Below is an update from around the country on yesterday’s National Further and Higher Education Day of Dissent.

In particular I would like to thank Glenn for organising our own Day of Dissent here at Bradford University and also to thank all members who joined us on Great Horton Road to hand out leaflets and wave their banners in the air.

Passers-by showed a lot of interest in our reasons for dissenting and passing motorists expressed their support quite noisily with lots of horn tooting!! All in all an excellent event that was well supported.

Linda

Further Education and Higher Education Day of Dissent - Thank You

Just a quick email to say a big thank you to all who took part in yesterday’s protests. We know that this was a very busy time for members and we really appreciate the hard work put into organising these events.

Over 100 protests took place across the country which generated some really good local media coverage. Please see below an example of just some of the stories that have already come in to us. Today we have the budget in which we are expecting the announcement of big cuts in public service funding. Cuts that will hurt our communities and risk a double dip recession. UNISON will be at the front of the campaign opposing these cuts and yesterday our members in FE and HE made it clear that we will campaign relentlessly to save our public services.

Thanks again.

Jon Richards

Senior National Officer

EGM Report

The following is a message and report from Last week's Extraordinary General Meeting by our Chair, Linda Broadley: -

First of all a huge thank you to all those who came to our EGM on Wednesday. I hope you agree that we had a lively, informative and interesting debate. 55 attended which means we were able to present and agree the proposals that will enable us to represent your views to the University.

For those who were unable to attend here is a brief report of the meeting.

We had a lively debate around centralised admissions and what brought us to the decision to suspend our involvement in the Trade Union and University Group (TUUG) meeting on 12 March. We also discussed the wider issue of consultation and negotiation with the University where we feel we now have significant difficulties.

There was an interesting discussion on overall decision making processes and procedures – who makes decisions, on what basis, why, assessment of impact. Someone mentioned that the decision making processes made individuals feel ‘powerless and baffled’. Decisions appear to be made with little or no evidence. This discussion concluded with an agreement that we (Unison) need to push for decisions to be looked at ‘globally and not locally’ so that we can consider and try to understand the wider impact of what may appear to be, at first sight, minor decisions. An example that was given was the recent decision to pass down to Schools from central admissions a lot of the work connected to the UK Boarder Agency requirements. No discussion took place with relevant staff yet the decision has had a significant impact on the workloads of those involved in overseas admissions.

We also touched on division. If we are not careful the debate on centralised admissions could give an appearance of Schools against ‘the centre’. Since our meeting I have received a very powerful email from a member who feels it would be tragic if this happened. As a staff group we need to work harmoniously and collaboratively with each other regardless of what our job function is or what part of the University we work in. I think the number of members who attended Wednesday’s meeting clearly demonstrated this wish. We had an excellent group of staff from across the institution. Spread of grades, to my knowledge, was 3 – 9 with a wide variety of roles represented. The majority who attended did not have admissions as a part of their role which, I think, demonstrates a real understanding of the wider issues we need to consider.

We had three proposals we wished to present to the meeting. These were discussed and changes made before moving to a formal vote. The proposals were as follows:

‘Unison formally opposes the options laid out in the paper presented to campus unions on 12th March 2010, relating to Central Admissions and seeks reassurance from the Vice Chancellor that no decision will be made until the transitional pilot he instigated has been properly monitored and evaluated and appropriate negotiations have taken place.’
carried unanimously
‘Unison seeks reassurance from the University that they will abide by the terms of reference of the negotiating framework, allow appropriate timeframes to enable effective consultation and desist from ‘ambushing’ tactics as demonstrated at the Central Admissions Working Group. Unison, on behalf of its members, want to have effective discussions and engagement with the University and insist that decisions are not taken in isolation, and that the impact of these decisions is considered globally across the University, not locally.’
carried unanimously
‘Unison seeks a mandate from its members to enter into a formal dispute, if necessary, relating to the University’s failure to negotiate on issues effecting terms and conditions of its staff.’
carried unanimously

Linda

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