Our branch attended the a right to strike protest last week outside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, whose Minister Sajid Javid is the author of the draconian new Trade Union Bill which passed its second reading on Monday night.

The bill, which would apply to unions in England, Wales and Scotland, will

• impose a minimum 50% turnout in strike ballots – with public sector strikes also requiring the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote.
• Double the amount of notice unions have to give before a strike can be held – from seven to 14 days
• Allow employers to use agency workers to replace striking staff
• Introduce fines of up to £20,000 on unions if pickets do not wear an official armband
• End the so-called check-off system for collecting union subs direct from a salary

The TUC has called for a day of action to fight the bill – we’ll keep you posted as to developments, but any questions do email uol@iwgb.org.uk.

Tens of thousands of people joined the ‘Solidarity with Refugees’ march on Saturday, and the University of London branch of the IWGB was proud to be among them.

The march culminated in a demonstration addressed by new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who called on people to open their hearts, minds and attitudes “towards people who are desperate”.

There are more details of how to help and get more involved here – https://www.facebook.com/Solidaritywithrefugees.

Despite a few Spanglish-induced mix-ups, we’ve now got half a dozen pairs doing the language swap, learning English and Spanish via everything from the latest news to the poems of Lorca.

We’re always looking for new people to take part, so if you fancy learning another language, and helping someone else learn yours, then just drop Danny a line at danny.millum@sas.ac.uk.

Hasta luego!

After a bit of hard work, collaboration from some of our members and more importantly the decision of our branch members to invest our finances in the future of our branch and our union, the 2nd office of the University of London IWGB branch is up and running.

This is fantastic, given that just 2 years ago we were made homeless after being kicked out from the ULU building by University of London management.

So the message to UoL management now is:
We are here to stay!!
Hasta la Victoria!!

The University has confirmed that CoSector will be on the agenda at the next All-Staff Meeting, scheduled for 6 October 2015 at 2pm.

They will also be responding to a lengthy list of questions submitted by the unions before the end of the month.

We’d encourage all staff take the opportunity before the meeting to submit more questions  – this can be done via https://uolonline.sharepoint.com/Pages/VCO/All-Staff-Meeting.aspx.

As we’ve been discovering, it’s proved extremely difficult to get detailed information on the implications for staff of the CoSector plans, or to see evidence of the benefits the new arrangements will provide.

However, increasing pressure from a variety of sources is forcing them to start to open up. It’s crucial that we step up the campaign and make it clear to the University that staff do not support these plans in their current form.

As such, the IWGB will be leafletting around Senate House on Friday morning – please do get in touch at uol@iwgb.org.uk if you’d like to help out.

On the 26th May 2015, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) opened their campaign against the Royal College of Music (RCM) in order to improve the employment terms and conditions of some of London’s lowest paid workers. The campaign, called the 3 Cosas, had been carried out before, at the University of London, where outsourced workers faced the same precarious terms and conditions that those at the Royal College of Music do today. That campaign was successful and, in spring of 2015, the IWGB set their sights on the prestigious Royal College of Music.

See full article by IWGB volunteer Jess Bilcock here.

Any members of the SAUL pension scheme who have not yet completed the consultation document need to do so before 13 September 2015.

The IWGB’s feedback recommendations can be found here.

Any questions, please just drop us a line at uol@iwgb.org.uk.

The consultation is your opportunity to tell your employer what you think about the proposals before employers and trade unions make a final recommendation about whether the changes should go ahead. You can also ask questions about what’s proposed.

The changes will affect you if you are working for the University of London or Health Education England on 1 April 2016.

You can find out more about:

• why changes have been proposed
• what is being proposed, and
• how you can give your opinion on the proposal

in the consultation document which is available on the SAUL website  at www.saul.org.uk/consultation/document.

Just to keep you posted re this year’s pay award – the offer is a paltry ONE PER CENT.

Some unions have accepted, some have rejected. As a consequence the Dispute Resolution Procedure has been invoked, and it is now looking likely that the first Dispute Resolution meeting will take place in early September with  a second one mid-September.

Employers will not be in a position to implement an award before this process is completed – but the final award will be backdated to August.

Any questions – uol@iwgb.org.uk.

The August branch meeting is being held at the following times and places:

Friday 21 August, 12.30pm (room S13, Institute of Education)

Friday 21 August, 3.30pm (IWGB Office, 80 Lamb’s Conduit Street)

Saturday 22 August, 2pm (IWGB Office, 80 Lamb’s Conduit Street)

Amongst other things, we will be discussing the CAC victory, CoSector and also further branch expansion so please come along!