Motions archive 2019

Our branch passed the following motions in 2019.

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Motion passed at the Branch meeting on 17th January 2019

The OU Branch of UCU calls upon the Vice Chancellor to take a pro-European stance to defend the OU against the threats of Brexit. Brexit would mean the opposite of a university that is open to people, places, methods and ideas. It will harm our ability to attract and retain international staff, damage our research, and restrict our ability to undertake first-rate academic work. 

Therefore, this meeting agrees to support the OU Staff open letter to support a People’s Vote. This open letter gives us the opportunity to show our support and solidarity for our colleagues, as well as addressing the wider concerns that Brexit has for the HE sector.

Motions passed at the Branch meeting on 5th March 2019

MOTION 1 Schoolchildren’s Strike and Education for Green Jobs (proposed for UCU Congress)

Congress expresses solidarity with the schoolchildren’s climate change strike and asks NEC to organise support from UCU for such action in future.

Congress welcomes Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to create 400,000 green jobs to tackle climate change. This provides opportunities to implement a Just Transition agenda through the Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA).   

Future generations, both in jobs concerned with climate change and the wider workforce, need awareness of environmental issues and of producing in a carbon-neutral manner.  The post-16 education sector can contribute research, education and training to provide the knowledge basis for tackling climate change. 

UCU will work with a Labour Government and environmental groups to develop research, courses and qualifications to support expansion of green jobs. These should replace high-carbon industries in a socially equitable way, so that solutions are not at the expense of the world’s most disadvantaged groups and peoples. 

MOTION 2 Governance Crisis in HE (proposed for UCU's HE Sector Conference)

Conference notes that 2018 and 2019 have seen several Vice-Chancellors and other senior figures in English universities resign under a cloud. 

Conference believes these cases testify to the failure of a model of governance and of HE finance in which universities are run as businesses.

While each case has been different, common features have been a history of bullying and unacceptable pay differentials, and all have caused damage to their institutions and to Higher Education. Warnings by staff and unions that something was going seriously wrong have been ignored too often.

Conference asks HEC and its appropriate sub-committees to develop proposals for early warning systems as well as pressing for reform of HE governance and finance.

Conference also notes that the law may have been broken in some cases, and that the resignation of one or two senior figures should not prevent (was avoid) prosecution of those responsible.

MOTION 3 REF2021 and redundancy (proposed for UCU's HE Sector Conference)

Conference notes that the UK HE funding bodies have bowed to pressure to allow universities to submit the work of former staff who have been made redundant in the REF2021.

If this decision is not reversed Conference asks the HEC to use Freedom of Information requests or other suitable means to find out which institutions do so, and to name and shame offending institutions.

Motions passed at the Branch meeting on 25th April 2019

1. to organise a national meeting on the intersection of protected characteristics with low pay and lack of job security, with branch representatives and individual activists able to register and take part. This meeting should include workshops and plenary sessions, and feed back to the NEC, ACC and equality committees.
2. that the NEC will plan local and national campaigning on the issues raised in this motion, in conjunction with the Anti-Casualisation and Equality Committees.

1. the continued obstacles to equality and career development for women, black, disabled and LGBT+ colleagues in FE and HE
2. the intersection of protected characteristics with one another, and with the growing use and abuse of precarious and casualised working: black, LGBT+, disabled and women colleagues are disproportionately likely to work under insecure contracts and conditions
3. the need to link work on pay inequities with work on casualisation and disability, and on homophobic, racist and sexist cultures.

1. to ensure consultation and sharing of information about bargaining and campaigning on equal pay and related equality issues between sector committees and the cross-sectoral anti-casualisation and equality committees
2. to promote awareness among branch activists and negotiators of the crucial links between casualisation, disability and race gender and LGBT+ inequities, and provide relevant legal advice
3. to encourage branches to take casualisation and gender claims.

LOCAL MOTION 1 

This branch notes:

1. the climate change emergency sweeping the planet
2. the recent school student strikes against climate change
3. the variety of actions staged by Extinction Rebellion in recent weeks, and the plans for a week of action at the end of April
4. the various local authorities that have already declared a climate emergency
5. the OU’s historic mission to transform lives.

This branch resolves to:

1. declare a climate emergency
2. urge all other HE and FE branches, and the union nationally to do similar
3. urge, in the strongest possible terms, the OU to declare a climate emergency
4. explore with the OU management ways of making this a meaningful statement and the steps necessary to make the OU a carbon-free/neutral institution
5. invite all members of the OU community to make suggestions to make this happen
6. publicise as widely as possible the previous 5 resolutions.

Under item 4, for example, 

• ensuring that all teaching venues are easily accessible by public transport
• moving all OU vehicles to electric or PHEV
• installing PV panels on all OU buildings
• devising an expenses claim system whereby staff are discouraged from using private vehicles but not financially penalised by such a system
• ensuring that module materials are sent to students in environmentally friendly packaging and are printed on recycled paper
• removing plastic packaging from OU merchandise.

LOCAL MOTION 2 – MOTION FOR A MINOR RULE CHANGE

This general meeting agrees to change “15” to “13” in rule 13.2 below. This meeting also agrees that the change is not substantial nor involves matters of principle, so does not require a ballot of branch members.

13.2 Other General Meetings
The honorary secretary will take all reasonable steps to ensure that notice of other general meetings is received by members not later than the day that is 21 days before the day on which the meeting is to be held. The calling notice will invite members to submit motions for discussion at the general meeting. Motions must be received by the honorary secretary no later than the day that is 15 days before the day of the general meeting. The honorary secretary will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the agenda for the meeting is received by members not later than the day that is 10 days before the day on which the meeting is to be held.

LOCAL MOTION ON SENATE HOUSE BOYCOTT

This branch notes that outsourced workers at the Central University of London have been campaigning since September 2017 to end outsourcing and be made direct employees of the university.

This branch further notes that outsourced workers, the majority of whom are migrant workers and/or BAME, suffer from far worse terms and conditions than the majority white British colleagues that are directly employed by the university.

This branch further notes that the University of London has gone back on its initial commitment to end outsourcing, with cleaners and catering staff being told that an in-house option will be presented alongside other commercial bids when the contracts are up for tender in 2020 and 2021. 

This branch further notes that the university has ignored all calls by the workers to go into substantive negotiations with them and the union that represents the vast majority of the outsourced workers, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain.

This branch resolves to ask members not to organise or attend events at the University of London central administration (including Senate House, Stewart House, the Warburg, the Institute of Historical Research, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and Student Central) until the outsourced workers' demands are met and they are brought inhouse, and to inform members of the reasons for this.

Motions - Motion 1

This General Meeting agrees to the setting up of a local hardship fund to supplement the national UCU hardship fund during any industrial action over USS pensions or over pay this year. The purpose of the fund will be to support branch members who face hardship, as a result of lost pay during the industrial action. 

This meeting authorises: 

1. The transfer of an initial sum of £25,000 from local branch funds into the hardship fund and asks the branch executive to set up a process for members to access the fund in accordance with national UCU guidance. 

2. The branch executive committee to agree to transfer a further sum of money of up to £30,000 in addition to the initial £25,000, if this is considered necessary by the branch executive.

3. The branch committee to seek to increase the hardship fund further by asking for donations, to the extent that this is practically possible.

Any money remaining in the hardship fund at the end of the action should be transferred back into our local branch funds.

 

Motion 2

This meeting authorises the branch Treasurer and the branch Executive committee to use branch finds for reasonable expenses incurred during any industrial action over pay or USS pensions this year, including travel expenses for members who take part in our picket lines, and the hiring of rooms to hold meetings on strike days.

 

Motion 3 - a proposed local rule change

This general meeting agrees to change “an overall limit of three times the above figure (currently £794.52)” to “an overall limit of £2500” in rule 6.3.4 below. This meeting also agrees that the change is not substantial nor involves matters of principle, so does not require a ballot of branch members.

6.3.4 Donations to charities or other bodies whose objects are consistent with those of the branch. Donations greater than one year's maximum individual annual subscription (currently £264.84) must be approved by a quorate general meeting of the branch. Donations below this amount may be approved by a quorate meeting of the Executive Committee, subject to any such donation being reported to the next general meeting and there being an overall limit of three times the above figure (currently £794.52) in any one year for donations made without the prior approval of a quorate general meeting.

Motion passed at the Extraordinary General meeting on 4th July 2019

MOTION - OU branch of UCU

1. Commends the Open University’s commitment to respect the rights and protect the wellbeing of all students and staff, and its participation in the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme;
2. Therefore supports: 

• all elements of the OU’s equality and diversity policy as it stands, including the gender identity policy and,
• the OU continuing to draw upon expertise from Stonewall, the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES), and Gendered Intelligence (GI), to inform this policy;
• Respects the rights of colleagues to academic debate, and maintains those rights can only be fully realised by all if we create and maintain a fully inclusive environment that recognises the rights of trans, non-binary and other gender-diverse people to self-identify, and to be treated with dignity and respect by OU staff and students and;
• notes that through providing and sustaining a secure and supportive environment, for all members of the OU community, we protect and uphold academic freedom.

References:
OU Gender Identity Policy and Guidance 
Stonewall Diversity Champions programme  
Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES)  
Gendered Intelligence