Independent Workers Union of Great Britain – Universities of London Branch

We just wanted to quickly summarize why we think you should vote No to the University’s proposals this week.

Lower-grade staff deserve a voice too

Grades 1-6 staff voted for IWGB to represent them in negotiations but the University proposes to cut IWGB out from now on – that can’t be right!

Staff can do better

If we say no to this plan, we can then design a forum that includes everyone – UCU, UNISON, and IWGB – everyone will be properly represented, and we can resolve this issue for good.

You can vote with confidence

The Electoral Reform Services are running this ballot, not HR. No one here will ever see how individuals voted. Please vote NO to prevent this unfair plan – your vote is secret!

I know you’re busy so I’ve tried to keep this brief – for more information see our video or our website or just drop us an email (uol@iwgb.org.uk).

IWGB General Secretary Jason Moyer-Lee is profiled in the Guardian today, talking about the gig economy and the IWGB’s efforts to combat it.

He’s also promoting our crowdfunding drive – https://www.crowdpac.co.uk/campaigns/216/iwgb – through which we’re trying to raise much-needed funds to both keep the union running and expand its activities. Please donate if you can and share this widely!

The full article can be read here.

What with the excitement of ICE and the damp squib that was UNISON’s national pay ballot result, it’s possible to forget that IWGB members actually voted to strike over pay back in September!

However, due to UNISON’s decision not to take action we felt that members should decide whether or not to act on our mandate. At the last branch meeting members discussed it and decided we would only take action if UCU, another of the national pay bargaining unions, chooses to strike again this autumn. If they do so we will support them.

UCU won’t meet to make their final decision until this Friday, but legally we have to give one week’s notice of any action we take and that would not allow us enough time, as the time limit is 28 days from the ballot result. I’ve therefore written to Kim Frost to ask to extend the dispute period to give us this flexibility. We’ll see how that goes down!

If he refuses, there’s option B (also approved by members at the meeting): we can call for very short action – even just five minutes! – which would be enough to keep the ballot live without anyone losing pay. Obviously that’s a last resort and we’ll keep you posted.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please just contact me (catherine.morrissey@london.ac.uk)!

Best wishes

Catherine

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We’re posting this to update you on what’s been happening in the ICE negotiations, which have now ended, and to ask for your support in the next step!

Nearly two years ago the IWGB submitted a request to the University of London for an Information and Consultation (ICE) Forum, based on the ICE Regulations 2004.  We did this because many people were dissatisfied with the current arrangements, in which only UCU and UNISON are formally consulted on behalf of all staff.

The University responded by agreeing with UNISON and UCU that only their reps would have a hand in designing the new forum.  The IWGB argued that deal was unlawful.  We won the argument in court, twice.

Following the tribunal decision, the University held proper elections.  Grades 1-6 elected two IWGB reps.  Grades 7-10 elected two UCU reps and one UNISON rep.  The reps’ role was to negotiate an agreement whereby the University would inform and consult staff in compliance with the legislation.

Rebecca and I negotiated in good faith.  To seek common ground, we suggested that a reformed union recognition agreement, in which all three unions would be represented, could work.  We all made a number of positive suggestions for how it might function.

As UNISON, UCU and the UoL weren’t keen on IWGB recognition, we made a second proposal: to create a new ICE Forum constituted on the employee side entirely by elected staff reps.

However, at the final meeting last week we were asked to vote on a joint UNISON/UCU/UoL proposal, written up by Kim Frost.  The proposal was to reform the recognition agreement along the lines of our suggestions BUT to exclude the IWGB entirely.  Because UNISON/UCU have 3 reps and IWGB only have 2, the proposal passed by a 3-2 majority.

We believe that a proposal that excludes level 1-6 staff’s chosen union is divisive, unjust and counterproductive to good workplace relations.  The good news is that the proposal was not passed unanimously, so you now have the power to overturn it.

We are therefore asking for your support for a NO vote in the coming referendum (which opens 17 October and closes 28 October), which will enable us to return to the negotiating table and work out a solution that is fair to ALL staff at the University of London.

Please do let us know any thoughts or feedback you may have (uol@iwgb.org.uk)

Mark Murphy and Rebecca Dooley (Levels 1-6 Negotiating Reps)

In a bizarre attempt to transfer responsibility for their own incompetence, Kingdom (the company to whom the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art and Heythrop College outsource their cleaning services) has threatened legal action against the IWGB after we brought to the attention of college senior management their failure to pay some cleaners for  two weeks.

The sorry saga began on 23 September, when IWGB members at the colleges reported that they had either not been paid, or had been paid only a fraction of their normal wages.

Mistakes happen – and so we assumed that all we would need to do would be flag up the issue and it would be resolved.

Instead, two weeks later, and following innumerable complaints and emails from the IWGB, and complacent assurances from Kingdom, many workers have still not been properly paid.

This is a disaster for low-paid workers living from one wage packet to another – indeed, one of our members reported today that she will be evicted tomorrow if she does pay her rent.

However, rather than concentrate on paying their workers, or even answering our phone calls, leading Kingdom managers instead took umbrage at the IWGB’s email to RCA, RCM and Heythrop staff and started texting our General Secretary instead:

“Jason I hope we are the platform you desperately require.  I also hope that all information published is indeed factual as if there is just one anomoly [sic] we will be legally pursuing.”

Later, in an email mistakenly sent to all staff (and subsequently ‘recalled’) the same manager stated:

“Kingdom will act accordingly to uphold its reputation as a moral and ethical UK employer.”

Veiled threat or not, we would suggest that the best way to do this is to pay your staff.

The legal boot may in any case be on the other foot, as the IWGB has just written to HMRC presenting evidence of Kingdom being in breach of minimum wage legislation, as well as commencing an ET claim for unlawful deduction of wages.

Hasta la victoria siempre!

Some of you will already have seen this, but just wanted to share these management response’s to UNISON’s proposals (see below).

These seem to incorporate most of our key demands – although please let us know what you think. The main thing that occurs to me is that obviously there will still be far less staff doing more work at the end of this.

Thanks to everyone who flyered / petioned / submitted FOIs etc – this will definitely have had a massive effect on forcing these changes! In addition I know that journalists have been calling HEE asking about the cuts, so that will also have had an effect…

Any questions drop Danny a line (danny.millum@sas.ac.uk).

Please note, these proposals are subject to certain assumptions about VR rates which cannot be guaranteed (as VR applications are a matter for individual employees, which they are free to withdraw should they so wish) and therefore we cannot provide an absolute guarantee that provisions below will take place. However, given the current number of VR applications (75) and resignations (15), we are optimistic that we can achieve the following key outcomes:

• No compulsory redundancies will be made
• No selection process will be required for the vast majority of staff. Most staff will be slotted into the new structure.

In addition the following provisions have been made:

• The revised proposal will be subjected to an externally conducted Equality Impact Assessment
• Current part-time and flexible working arrangements have been guaranteed
• The timeline for implementation has been extended until September 2017
• Secondments will be reviewed and evaluated as whether they can be considered as a ‘permanent’ positions for the purposes of post-matching
• Technology solutions will be subjected to rigorous testing, and an evaluation of their capacity to provide efficiency savings will be undertaken. This will take place prior to the reduction in staffing which will be achieved through VR
• A stakeholder engagement exercise will be undertaken

Thanks to everyone who came to the packed branch meeting last Friday! One of the main issues under discussion was pay, and this was an opportunity both to bring people up to date and to see what members wanted to do next.

For those who weren’t there, the basic situation is this

• the current NATIONAL pay offer is 1.1% – this has NOT been accepted, but the University has decided to start paying it anyway
• the IWGB has voted YES to strike action
• UNISON voted YES to strike action, but on such a low turnout that they have decided NOT to strike
• UCU still have a LIVE strike ballot, and are currently meeting at a national level to decide what to do next.

The meeting decided quite sensibly that we would be guided by the UCU decision – if they called strike action so would we, BUT we would not strike on our own.

As soon as we hear we’ll send updates – but do get in touch at uol@iwgb.org.uk with any questions.