UCU - Pensions and Pay Disputes

[platinumsage]

We don’t know what we want, and we won’t decide what we want until we decide we want it:

"If the offer currently on the table is not acceptable, the union will need feedback from branches on what kind of deal would constitute an acceptable outcome for their members, and what kind of industrial action members would be willing to undertake to get it. These questions will be a crucial part of the consultation process if the offer is rejected and the dispute continues."

https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10907/Four-fights-branch-briefing-May-20/pdf/ucu_four-fights-branch-briefing_may20.pdf

 

[redsquirrel]

On disaggregated vs aggregated ballots

First, the HEC decided to conduct the ballots for action on a ‘disaggregated’ rather than an ‘aggregated’ basis. For each UCU branch to take action under the UK’s draconian trade union laws, it would need to cross a 50% turnout threshold among its own membership, regardless of whether the rest of the union has crossed that threshold overall. In an aggregated ballot, by contrast, an overall turnout of 50% would have enabled every branch in the dispute to go on strike. The decision to disaggregate proved to be a mistake.

Sure in an ideal world we would go for an aggregated ballot and get it but that ignores the fact that the last aggregated ballot we had produced an overall result worse (although not by much) than cumulative results of the previous disaggregated ballots.

Aggregated ballots allow weaker branches/wavering members to hide. I'm convinced that one of the reason my, relatively conservative, branch got over the line this time was that we could put members on the spot - 'if we don't get 50% we as a branch look weak, our local management will come for us'.

I'm not necessarily opposed to aggregated ballots but the invoking of them as the solution is as shortsighted as strategy Rocha and Marris criticise.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

I might be missing something here, but given the looming future for the sector isn’t the debate hopelessly limited?

Less students due to the pandemic, the deepening of the existing financial crisis in universities that have already over extended themselves, increased precarious employment, job and pay cuts on non-academic staff (see Birmingham University and recent reports in the FT arguing the market should let ‘failing‘ universities in deindustrialised areas like Wolverhampton, Bolton and Sunderland fail.

Isn’t the real question how the UCU organises workers, students, the wider movement and the wider population to resist this? The tactical question on the offer should be grounded in that broader context and reality no?

 

[redsquirrel]

Isn’t the real question how the UCU organises workers, students, the wider movement and the wider population to resist this? The tactical question on the offer should be grounded in that broader context and reality no?

I think that is in the background to be fair - accept the deal and move onto the fight re redundancies etc vs reject, and show employers that we mean business

 

[SpackleFrog]

I’d be interested in the views of UCU members on this. I largely agree with the sections here on the need for the prioritisation of organising and political education over ‘mobilisation’. But there is also some sharp criticism of the HEC here and a seeming attempt to absolve the GS from the tactics around the dispute.

Given the growing crisis in higher education I must admit I’m a bit baffled by the strategic approach of the union:

That is a fucking awful article written by a worm of a human being and somebody else I don't know - they are of course mates of JG and desperate to absolve her of any blame. It's quite funny though how they're simultaneously claiming that the 22 days of strike action were a strategic failure but also that none of it is the fault of the elected leader of the union.

Tribune refused to consider publishing a reply but fortunately New Socialist did - this is written by a comrade of mine who is one of the main organisers of the CoronaContract campaign. Check this out it's dead good: We Cannot Pause in a Pandemic — Response to Rocha and Marris

 

[Smokeandsteam]

That is a fucking awful article written by a worm of a human being and somebody else I don't know - they are of course mates of JG and desperate to absolve her of any blame. It's quite funny though how they're simultaneously claiming that the 22 days of strike action were a strategic failure but also that none of it is the fault of the elected leader of the union.

Tribune refused to consider publishing a reply but fortunately New Socialist did - this is written by a comrade of mine who is one of the main organisers of the CoronaContract campaign. Check this out it's dead good: We Cannot Pause in a Pandemic — Response to Rocha and Marris

Thanks for that SpackleFrog - it’s exactly the type of counter argument I assumed the Tribune piece would generate. Not sure either article really grapples with the detail of the organising v mobilising debate (which was what alerted me to the article) but it provides welcome context and challenges some of the politics and just weird claims made in the Tribune article.

ETA: depressing to see JG’s apparent drift towards oligarchy. I had hoped she’d be a breath of fresh air given her election directly from the rank and file

 

[SpackleFrog]

Thanks for that SpackleFrog - it’s exactly the type of counter argument I assumed the Tribune piece would generate. Not sure either article really grapples with the detail of the organising v mobilising debate (which was what alerted me to the article) but it provides welcome context and challenges some of the politics and just weird claims made in the Tribune article.

ETA: depressing to see JG’s apparent drift towards oligarchy. I had hoped she’d be a breath of fresh air given her election directly from the rank and file

I don't think there was any drift based on my experiences...

Yeah agreed but I think the point that it makes well is that rejecting the offer doesn't mean re ballot immediately, it can mean keeping the dispute live and developing a strategy that wasn't there to begin with and which the GS is partially responsible for whatever they say.

 

[redsquirrel]

Elections for NEC open today.

IBL being their usual lying cunts - Justine Mercer longtime IBL stalwart "Not being part of a faction or slate means I can more easily unite all our different voices."

 

[SpackleFrog]

Elections for NEC open today.

IBL being their usual lying cunts - Justine Mercer longtime IBL stalwart "Not being part of a faction or slate means I can more easily unite all our different voices."

There are two IBL candidates though! Mysterious.

 

[redsquirrel]

There are two IBL candidates though! Mysterious.

Really who's the other one?

 

[SpackleFrog]

Victoria Showunmi.

Mercer has claimed to be independent in the past but she votes like IBL and talks like IBL.

 

[redsquirrel]

Victoria Showunmi.

Mercer has claimed to be independent in the past but she votes like IBL and talks like IBL.

Yeah and backs IBL candidates, caucuses with them, and accepts their backing. Usual IBL nonsense of we're not a faction just a group of like minded independent individuals

 

[SpackleFrog]

I'm not a huge fan of Marian Mayer but I'll be voting for her - no other choice really. And Peter Evans for the other seat.

 

[cybershot]

Union boss who slammed 'out of touch' vice-Chancellor salaries earned over £500,000 last year

Sally Hunt, former general secretary of the University and College Union, was the highest paid public sector trade union leader in 2019

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[SpackleFrog]

Union boss who slammed 'out of touch' vice-Chancellor salaries earned over £500,000 last year

Sally Hunt, former general secretary of the University and College Union, was the highest paid public sector trade union leader in 2019

www.telegraph.co.uk

Think that will be because of some kind of retirement/severance pay as she retired due to ill health - although her basic salary was £140k if I remember rightly

 

[SpackleFrog]

Sorry to be that guy but its election time. Please everybody vote if you haven't - for left candidates who will support campaigns and industrial action against casualisation and job losses and for better pay, pensions and job security - whether they are UCU Left or just left.

Goes without saying but avoid the new right UCU Commons faction and the old right Independent Broad Left.

If anyone wants to know anything about any of the candidates feel free to inbox or ask here and if I know them I'll do my best to help.

 

[SpackleFrog]

Has been an interesting week in UCU Twitter, if you indulge in that kind of thing, which you very obviously shouldn't its bad for your health.

 

[Serge Forward]

I think you're mixing up UCU Commons with UCU Agenda here. It's Agenda, formerly IBL (not that you'd notice cos they hide their faction under a bushel), who are the rightists here. Commons are a mixed bag with various lefts and members of the Grady bunch. People like Gareth Brown and David Harvie are not "right" or "new right".

 

[SpackleFrog]

I think you're mixing up UCU Commons with UCU Agenda here. It's Agenda, formerly IBL (not that you'd notice cos they hide their faction under a bushel), who are the rightists here. Commons are a mixed bag with various lefts and members of the Grady bunch. People like Gareth Brown and David Harvie are not "right" or "new right".

Have you met them?

They argue against industrial action - Gareth Brown thinks we should hold bake sales and organise 'smile strikes' instead, he was very clear about this in his VP campaign.

They want a union for middle class professionals.

They think instead of fighting for minimum contract lengths for casualised members we should ask for career development opportunities like paid internships to 'compensate' the casualised.

And they have been set up to defend the GS Jo Grady in exactly the same way that Agenda/IBL existed to defend Sally Hunt.

 

[hitmouse]

Totally out of the loop and just trying to catch up on this stuff, is UCU Commons a Plan C thing at all, or am I reading too much into things here?

 

[redsquirrel]

Totally out of the loop and just trying to catch up on this stuff, is UCU Commons a Plan C thing at all, or am I reading too much into things here?

Some of them may be Plan C but I don't think it is a front or anything. Like the GS they seem to be generally aligned with the left of the LP.

 

[SpackleFrog]

There may be some crossover, I have no idea, although hasn't Plan C run its course pretty much?

 

[Serge Forward]

Have you met them?

They argue against industrial action - Gareth Brown thinks we should hold bake sales and organise 'smile strikes' instead, he was very clear about this in his VP campaign.

They want a union for middle class professionals.

They think instead of fighting for minimum contract lengths for casualised members we should ask for career development opportunities like paid internships to 'compensate' the casualised.

And they have been set up to defend the GS Jo Grady in exactly the same way that Agenda/IBL existed to defend Sally Hunt.

I've met Gareth Brown on a picket line. He seemed sound enough at the time. I think (not 100% sure) David Harvie is Plan C. Would I be critical of them? Yes of course. They've come out of the UCU Rank and File, and yes, they probably are there to defend Grady. But were they 'set up' to do that? Extremely doubtful. True, they are as flawed as most other candidates, but much less so than those associated with the nefarious and duplicitous Agenda. I'd say Commons are certainly no worse than UCU Left. Against industrial action? That's not quite how I read it. Are they right wing (your words)? No, that's completely ridiculous Trotskyoid smear shenanigans.

Mind you, I'd agree the Commons slate comes across as all a bit senior lecturers and "middle class"-ish. But that's not exclusive to the Commons slate, is it.

 

[SpackleFrog]

I've met Gareth Brown on a picket line. He seemed sound enough at the time. I think (not 100% sure) David Harvie is Plan C. Would I be critical of them? Yes of course. They've come out of the UCU Rank and File, and yes, they probably are there to defend Grady. But were they 'set up' to do that? Extremely doubtful. True, they are as flawed as most other candidates, but much less so than those associated with the nefarious and duplicitous Agenda. I'd say Commons are certainly no worse than UCU Left. Against industrial action? That's not quite how I read it. Are they right wing (your words)? No, that's completely ridiculous Trotskyoid smear shenanigans.

Mind you, I'd agree the Commons slate comes across as all a bit senior lecturers and "middle class"-ish. But that's not exclusive to the Commons slate, is it.

As flawed as UCU Left are, and I'm not disputing that, to say they are no worse is nonsense, I'm sorry. The better UCU Left candidates are a world apart. From where I sit a lot of what they say is very similar to things I hear from IBL types, particularly their idea that clever academics can find cleverer ways of achieving our demands than strikes.

They may see themselves as left, but thats really not what I'm interested in. The fact that they are currently arguing that we cannot use S44 to organise against unsafe teaching as the NEU have done, and this week one of their candidates is arguing against the demands in our national claim for minimum contract lengths and in favour of some sort of casualisation tax whereby employers compensate us for casualisation with 'career development' opportunities, says to me that they're backing away from serious campaigning and looking for technocratic/'influencing the government' type solutions.

Gareth seems a nice guy for what its worth and I don't really know DH. But GB was very specific about using 'creative' alternatives to strike action in his VP campaign and the direction of travel is pretty clear to me.

Yes, of course sections of the membership are very middle class but they base themselves on the most middle class section - so on industrial action they're in favour when it comes to pensions, but not anything their support base doesn't want to strike on.

They do really seem to hate trots though! So maybe that's something you have in common

 

[Serge Forward]

Okay, you seem to know more about the ins and outs than I do, and if they are arguing against organising around S44, then that's plain daft. We do however need to be creative in how we deal with the current onslaught and think tactically about how to deal with it - though obviously 'smile strikes' and bake-offs can fuck right off We're currently in dispute where I work, but I'm fucked if I know how effective a GTVO will be for a ballot, and I'm not sure how a strike would even work in lockdown. That's not to say it's impossible but we do need to be (that word again) creative in methods of attack.

In the end, I voted for a mix of UCU lefts and UCU Commons (the less wishy washy of the Commons lot) but my level of trust is low and I have little faith in anyone who's not a nailed on anarcho-communist whose short term goal is more members' engagement and maximum damage to the bosses

 

[SpackleFrog]

Okay, you seem to know more about the ins and outs than I do, and if they are arguing against organising around S44, then that's plain daft. We do however need to be creative in how we deal with the current onslaught and think tactically about how to deal with it - though obviously 'smile strikes' and bake-offs can fuck right off We're currently in dispute where I work, but I'm fucked if I know how effective a GTVO will be for a ballot, and I'm not sure how a strike would even work in lockdown. That's not to say it's impossible but we do need to be (that word again) creative in methods of attack.

In the end, I voted for a mix of UCU lefts and UCU Commons (the less wishy washy of the Commons lot) but my level of trust is low and I have little faith in anyone who's not a nailed on anarcho-communist whose short term goal is more members' engagement and maximum damage to the bosses

Yeah I can't really argue with a lot of that to be fair. And I'm conscious that its all too easy to get sucked into all the fake outrage and howling that goes on in the union and the more I get involved probably the more that affects my perspective.

You're definitely right that there's challenges and we do need to be creative-hate the word but we do-as long as that doesn't mean abandoning strikes as a tactic. Its fair to say the strike strike strike without strategy message from UCU Left doesn't help this.

Some good outcomes from strikes/threatened strikes at Brighton and Solent from what I can see - its not all bad!

 

[Serge Forward]

Those factions don't really exist where I work, so it's not something I take much notice of. We did manage to build up a decent rank and file group/organising committee that regularly puts out rabble rousing 'in your face' bulletins and has since, pretty much taken over what was previously a placid service oriented branch committee. I can't be that mithered with the factional stuff higher up the chain, to be honest. All I know is IBL/Agenda = scabby cunts; UCU Left and Commons = some okay, some dicks. That'll do, pig.

Oh, and I hear on the grapevine that the Swerps have now set up something called UCU Solidarity = they can get to fuck an' all.

 

[SpackleFrog]

Those factions don't really exist where I work, so it's not something I take much notice of. We did manage to build up a decent rank and file group/organising committee that regularly puts out rabble rousing 'in your face' bulletins and has since, pretty much taken over what was previously a placid service oriented branch committee. I can't be that mithered with the factional stuff higher up the chain, to be honest. All I know is IBL/Agenda = scabby cunts; UCU Left and Commons = some okay, some dicks. That'll do, pig.

Oh, and I hear on the grapevine that the Swerps have now set up something called UCU Solidarity = they can get to fuck an' all.

If that's the ones having a Congress fringe tonight then it's UCU Left rather than the swaps alone and its adding to a long list of bloody pop up fronts! They've got fronts for fronts now! Exhausting. That sounds really positive, great stuff!

 

[chilango]

I'm a UCU member and am happily oblivious to all the above.

...but then I've not got a vote

 

[SpackleFrog]

I'm a UCU member and am happily oblivious to all the above.

...but then I've not got a vote

How come? Student membership?