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The Open University branch of the University and College Union

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News

Audio recording of our Hustings event

We held a Hustings event on 23rd October for both candidates, in our election for a new branch President, to speak to members. We can now share the audio file from that event.

Audio of our Hustings event - soundcloud

The election for a new Branch President closes on 31st October - please use your vote!

29th October 2018

Election statements from both candidates in the branch election

We are holding a branch election for a new President on our Executive Committee - members will have received an email from the Electoral Reform Services on 11th October.

Here are election statements from the two candidates:

Caitlin Adams

Lesley Kane

17th October 2018

OU UCU Workload survey

Excessive workload in parts of the university is often flagged up to us by our reps and caseworkers.

UCU has developed a workload survey which we are inviting all members to fill in at this address: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8PBG6GR, to find out how widespread this is, and to find out how many of you are feeling under pressure.

4th October 2018

Branch update on USS and UCU SWG statement

At the Branch meeting on 17th September our guest speaker Carlo Morelli from the UCU and University of Dundee gave an overview of the Pay and Equality ballot and also answered questions about the pension scheme (USS).

The branch executive therefore thought this was a good time to send an update on the pensions dispute. We are also planning to hold a branch meeting in October in order to consider the branch’s position on USS once further information is available.

24th September 2018

Calling notice for Executive Committee has been sent to all members

We have sent the calling notice to all OU UCU members for the annual election of our Executive Committee.

It is the time of year once again to start the process of electing our UCU branch officers and committee members. The deadline for nominations is 4pm on Friday 5th October 2018, and the election results will be announced at our Annual General Meeting on 15th November 2018.

12th September 2018

Recording of K McNerney's talk on 28 August

One of our AL reps, Kevin McNerney, did a talk in our Adobe Connect room on 28th August at 6.30pm.

The talk was called OU Employment Contracts: enigmas wrapped up in mysteries and there is a recording of it at this address: https://learn3.open.ac.uk/mod/connecthosted/view.php?id=135696.

The link is for OU staff only, click the "view previous recordings" option in the top right hand corner of the page.

 

3rd September 2018

Change in tax rules on Pay in Lieu of Notice

The rules on pay in lieu of notice (PILON) changed in April 2018 and now all payments in lieu of notice will be taxable, whether contractual or non-contractual.

So if someone works their notice, they will obviously be paid and taxed on their salary in the normal way up until the date of termination. Any compensation payment they are then given is tax free up to £30,000.

13th August 2018
Denzil DeSouza

Branch Equality Officer

Our Equality Officer, Denzil DeSouza, has recently resigned his position on the Executive Committee as he is leaving the Open University at the end of 2018. Denzil has been on the Executive Committee for 3 years and has played an active part in helping with technology at branch meetings and pursuing equality issues with the university. Denzil was on the interview panel when our Branch Administrator, Deb Shann, first got a job with the Open University back in 2007, Deb and the branch will all miss Denzil!

9th August 2018

Branch news update 29 June 2018

Pay deductions, OU UCU's hardship fund, and local subscriptions
We expect that by now most deductions from pay for strike action over the pensions dispute will have been made, so the local hardship fund process has now closed. We are not closing the hardship bank account entirely because there is the possibility that further industrial action may be necessary: the pensions disagreement has not yet been resolved, and there is still much uncertainty about job losses and potential involuntary redundancies at the OU.

2nd July 2018

Statement from the OUBUCU Delegates to UCU Congress 2018: Sue Cowgill, Bruce Heil, Caroline Holland, Friday Jones and Kit Power

Members will have received an email recently from Sally Hunt, the UCU General Secretary, indicating that at the recent Congress there were walk-outs by staff of the union. The staff objected to two motions that were to be debated. One was to censure the General Secretary and one was to call for the resignation of the General Secretary. The General Secretary is a Unite member and Unite were of the view that Congress could not debate these motions.

8th June 2018

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