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NEWS

UCU local news digest 24.5.10

Ballot over adverse changes to the USS pension scheme

UCU members are currently threatened with serious adverse changes to the USS pension scheme. Because these proposals will amount to a significant change in terms and conditions of employment, UCU is conducting an online ballot of members at http://www.ucu.org.uk/ussballot and is encouraging UCU members to reject the employers' proposals.

Every member of staff who pays into the USS pension scheme will be affected by the proposals, if implemented. The effect will be to establish a "two-tier" pension scheme in which new employees will no longer be able to enjoy the benefits of a final salary scheme. UCU also maintains that the employers' refusal to share any future cost increases will threaten the stability of USS, increasing the likelihood of future reductions in benefits to existing members.

UCU has tabled alternative proposals based on the best available financial advice, and is looking to its members to support these proposals. UCU believes that these proposals are affordable and will ensure the long-term stability of the scheme, allowing its benefits to be enjoyed fairly by all present and future members. For more details of the proposed changes, and UCU's alternative proposals, please visit http://www.ucu.org.uk/usschanges.

The outcome of these negotiations will significantly affect the long-term well-being of all participants in USS. UCU members are therefore urged to look in detail at the proposals and to vote in the ballot at http://www.ucu.org.uk/ussballot. You will need your UCU membership number to log in. If you don't have your membership number please email akhan@ucu.org.uk and head office will send it directly to you.

The ballot closes on 30th May.

 

UCU local news digest, 23.3.10

Pensionflex ballot results

UCU members at Bradford University have voted in favour of the introduction of the Pensionflex scheme on 1st April 2010. Pensionflex is a scheme for staff who pay their pension contributions to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The scheme enables most staff to make savings on their National Insurance contributions, resulting in increased take-home pay, and also creates financial savings for the University. The savings achieved for staff will depend on basic salary; staff on salaries ranging from £27,000-£43,500 will benefit most from the scheme (staff on higher salaries make smaller gains owing to the thresholds at which National Insurance contributions are calculated). However, there may be changes to individuals’ entitlements to other benefits and all staff are urged to consult www.bradford.ac.uk/pensionflex  for further details of how you may be affected.

Because the introduction of Pensionflex constitutes a change to the terms and conditions of employment at Bradford, the UCU Local Association has the right to be involved in negotiations. An electronic ballot of members was recently held and the results were as follows:

  • In favour of introduction: 117 (82.4% of votes cast)
  • Against introduction: 25 (17.6% of votes cast)

Some concern has been raised about the automatic opt-in to Pensionflex for USS contributors, as there are some categories of staff who may be disadvantaged under the new arrangements. The University has agreed that the opt-in will ONLY be automatic for staff who will gain financially from being enrolled in Pensionflex. Other staff who wish to opt out may do so by contacting pensionflex@bradford.ac.uk before 1st April for an opt-out form. Staff enrolled in the scheme will also have the right to opt out if their salaries or personal circumstances change significantly. The UCU LA have negotiated a higher threshold for opt-in to ensure that no members close to the boundary become disadvantaged due to small changes in their earnings at a later date.

UCU also raised concerns about the transparency of the savings made by the University through Pensionflex. However the University has provided an undertaking that the savings it makes will be returned to the Schools where staff who are enrolled are based.

A number of staff have voiced misgivings about the ethics of operating a scheme which effectively reduces National Insurance payments to the Treasury at a time of economic hardship and potential cuts to services and benefits. Nationally, UCU has chosen not to take a political stance on this issue but instead to leave it to members' discretion whether or not they wish to participate. Similar schemes are now up and running in most UK universities and have been approved by a majority of UCU members in those institutions.

 

UCU local news digest, 15.2.10

Managing Staff Reductions in the School of Social & International Studies (SSIS)

On 5th February it was announced that a Managing Staff Reductions process would begin in the School of Social & International Studies. The process is being driven by a forecast of predicted large financial deficits over the period 2010-2014. A strategy document has been circulated to staff in the School which outlines how management aims to address long-term deficits by a programme of academic restructuring. However SSIS management asserts that because short-term savings are also needed it will be using the Managing Staff Reductions process to achieve these.

One-to-one meetings with the Dean of SSIS have been arranged for academic staff in the School over the course of the next few weeks. Staff are entitled to be accompanied at these meetings and UCU recommends that members should contact the Personal Cases Co-ordinator, Chris Kelly (c.j.kelly@Bradford.ac.uk) to arrange for accompaniment by a UCU personal case worker.

In parallel with the academic review, an external consultant has also been engaged to complete the administrative review within the School. One-to-one meetings with members of administrative staff will begin once the recommendations of the review are published.

Union representatives have been involved in extensive discussion with School management over the process. SSIS management has committed to regular meetings with union officers over the next few months as well as to consult the unions over future developments such as a new workload model across the School. UCU welcomes the positive engagement of management but is seeking clarification over a number of issues of importance to members. These include:

  • Questions over the evidence behind the financial projections for 2010-14, which appear to be based on a "worst case" scenario and have not been modified in the light of the proposed restructuring;
  • The impact of imminent retirements (many at senior level) on the forecast deficits;
  • Clarification as to the reasons for a predicted dramatic jump in deficits between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.

There is also uncertainty over the position of the School's many hourly-paid teaching staff and UCU is seeking more information from management as to how this category of staff will be affected by the proposed changes.

UCU has also recommended that staff at all levels, not just programme leaders and the senior management team, should be involved in ongoing discussions to develop the SSIS strategy, perhaps through regular forums at departmental level.
 

UCU local news digest, 29.1.10

Update on the Collaborative Working project

Since autumn 2009 the University has been engaged in consultations with Bradford City Council, the Bradford & Airedale NHS Primary Care Trust and West Yorkshire Police to establish frameworks for collaborative working between these four institutions. The project follows a report produced by consultants KPMG 

The aim of the exercise is to reduce expenditure on central services through resource sharing. The KPMG report claims to have identified between £5 million and £10 million of savings across the four partner organisations, including a series of so-called "quick wins" with an estimated implementation time of 3-6 months. Bradford University has expressed an interest in a number of these collaboration "opportunities" including: shared facilities and asset management, joint procurement arrangements, sharing meeting rooms, sharing printing facilities, and sharing internal audit procedures.

Staff from all the campus Trade Unions have raised significant concerns about the impact of new working arrangements on availability of resources and, potentially, on staff jobs. Concern has been most acute in the area of facilities management which KPMG defined to include "cleaning, catering, reactive and planned maintenance, security, waste disposal and all other services traditionally delivered via a PFI model." A separate report on shared facilities management by KPMG was prepared but has been rejected by the participants who are now going to tender for another external consultant. The issue of sharing meeting rooms has also caused concern since a separate "timetabling implementation group" is currently looking at room allocations across the University but this group has not provided feedback to the collaborative working project.

After joint pressure from the combined Trade Unions in the partner institutions, it has been agreed to allow Trade Union representatives 2 seats at the regular project sponsors' meetings. One of these places has been given to Graham Pearson, chair of the Unite union at Bradford University, to represent the campus Trade Unions. Key questions which the unions have put to University management include:

  • Why is so much money being spent on hiring private consultants at a time of financial pressure and redundancies across the University, when expertise is already available in-house?
  • How does the University intend to minimise risks to staff jobs as a result of the project?

As yet the University has not committed itself to any of the proposed options for collaboration. The project sponsors will continue to meet throughout 2010 to consider the mechanics of implementing new working practices in the highlighted areas. The campus Trade Unions will be represented at these meetings and will continue to ensure that members' concerns about job losses and resource losses are heeded. The message to the University is that "collaborative working" options will not be supported if they are to the detriment of Union members.

 

UCU local news digest, 12.1.10

Update on Managing Staff Reductions in the School of Life Sciences

Further to the UCU General Meeting on 1st December and a round of SoLS "change forum" meetings that week, UCU officers have written to Prof. Jeff Lucas expressing a number of concerns about the Managing Staff Reductions process in the School. UCU feels that aspects of the SoLS vision document (dated 22nd May 2009 and recently circulated to staff in SoLS) are out of date in the light of the new financial situation, and remains extremely concerned by the lack of staff involvement in discussions about how to develop the School vision in the light of the MSR process. UCU has also objected to the narrow timescale for the MSR process, which we believe does not allow staff enough time to consider their options, and to the failure to provide information about the financial position of individual areas within the School. UCU has also refused to endorse the Voluntary Severance package offered by the University, which represents a much poorer settlement than that available to staff in Health Studies and Informatics in 2008 and may indirectly discriminate against older members of the University. However UCU recognises that the severance package is a voluntary one and that members are entitled to make their own decisions about whether it represents a good deal for them as individuals.

 

UCU local news digest, 27.11.09

Redundancies at University of Bradford

The UCU Local Association is currently engaged in negotiation with University management about a programme of cost saving which is likely to lead to staff redundancies in three areas: the School of Life Sciences (SoLS), the School of Social and International Studies (SSIS), and Corporate Services (CS). The proposed redundancies are based on financial projections which predict deficits in these areas over the next 5 years, and (in SoLS) on a "change process" involving restructuring of research strategy and teaching & learning methods initiated by the outgoing Dean, David Coates. SoLS has now formally entered a phase of Managing Staff Reductions and staff have been asked to consider options ranging from reduction of hours and unpaid leave of absence to Voluntary Severance. As yet, a detailed vision for SoLS as a result of the "change process" has not been made available to staff; terms for Voluntary Severance have not been agreed; and with the departure of Prof. Coates from the University and the recent disbandment of the University’s Overview Group it appears that there is now nobody in charge of the process. UCU believes that in this situation it is impossible for members in the School to make informed decisions about their choices and has petitioned the University to make details of the vision for SoLS from 2010 onwards and the predicted financial position available urgently – and before inviting staff to individual meetings to discuss their options.

The situation in SSIS and CS is not so far advanced as in SoLS. As yet these areas are not formally in the Managing Staff Reductions process, but it is clear from the comments of senior staff that management expect this process to begin over the next few months. UCU continues to urge the University to honour its obligation to consult meaningfully with the affected Trade Unions and is seeking urgent clarification of the situation in these areas. More details will be published here as they become available.
 

UCU campaigns update:

 

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