Great turnout and lively debate for London Weighting meeting — December 4, 2014

Great turnout and lively debate for London Weighting meeting

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In 1992 the first text message was just being sent, and London Weighting was £2134. In 2014 150 billion texts were sent…and London Weighting is still £2134…

Thanks to everyone who came to yesterday’s all-staff London Weighting meeting, and apologies – we’re clearly going to need a bigger room next time!

Jon Bitmead, Senate House UCU Chair, gave a really useful explanation of the process so far from the UCU perspective – in summary the results of UCU and UNISON’s ballots on accepting or rejecting the £3500 / 2018 offer will be out by the end of the week. If either union votes no, then both will reject the offer, and the next stage will then be to consider industrial action.

Catherine Morrissey, IWGB Branch Secretary, reported that IWGB members had overwhelmingly rejected the offer, and the majority expressed support for industrial action.

Mark Murphy provided an interesting critique of the financial arguments provided thus far by the University, and it was clear that the meeting was far from convinced by the claim that the current offer was the maximum that could be afforded.

A show of hands indicated that the vast majority of attendees were not satisfied with the current offer, and the meeting resolved:

  • to produce a more detailed financial case to support the £4K NOW claim
  • to ensure the Jan 15 All-Staff Meeting was dominated by London Weighting
  • to look to all the unions to enter into dispute with the University and start to explore options re industrial action
  • to start to build pressure re a press campaign

As ever, any question just get back to us at uol@iwgb.org.uk.

Branch meeting – this Friday, 12.30 Institute of Education, 15.00 IWGB Office — December 3, 2014

Branch meeting – this Friday, 12.30 Institute of Education, 15.00 IWGB Office

We’ll be holding our December branch meeting this Friday, 5 December, in room S13 in the Institute of Education.

Please do come along if you can – we’ve got some urgent branch business to vote through, and IWGB President Jason Moyer-Lee is facing deportation and needs all of our support in his struggle to stay in the country.

See you there.

Statement to members – July 2012 to December 2013 — November 26, 2014

Statement to members – July 2012 to December 2013

Every year, the Union is required to give a financial statement to its members under the ‘Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Please click on the links to access the statement, which has been signed by the Treasurer and an independent Auditor. It is available in English, Spanish and Polish. Printed copies in all languages will also be available in the IWGB offices for any member who would like one, and you can also request a copy to be sent to your home: please call 020 7242 8044 to request a copy.

Cada año, el sindicato tiene que dar una declaración financiera a sus miembros a causa del ley “Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992”. Por favor haga clic en los enlaces para acceder a la declaración, que ha sido firmado por la Tesorera y un Auditor independiente . Está disponible en inglés, español y polaco. Las copias impresas en todos los idiomas también estarán disponibles en las oficinas IWGB para cualquier miembro que quiera, y también se puede solicitar que una copia se enviará a su casa: por favor llame al 020 7242 8044 para solicitar una copia.

Statement to Members – July 2012 – December 2013 – English

Statement to members- July 2012- December 2013- Polish

Statement to members july 2012- december 2013- Spanish

London Weighting – ALL STAFF MEETING next Wednesday, 3 December, 12.30 —

London Weighting – ALL STAFF MEETING next Wednesday, 3 December, 12.30

So, as you know, we’re at a critical stage of the campaign.

The University’s second offer (3500 by 2018 – full details at http://www.uollondonweighting.uk/campaign-continues) is currently being considered by members of the different campus unions.

In addition, we have passed on a summary of the responses we’ve received to these emails.

For anyone still voting, as Zammo would have put it, JUST SAY NO!

  1. The offer would still leave us substantially worse off than in 1992
  2. 2018 is a long way off
  3. Consolidation means we have effectively signed away the chance of ever raising the issue of London Weighting again
  4. We have received no explanation of why this is the ‘final offer’ – so it’s probably not!
  5. At the August meeting with the University, they promised to provide ‘more details and a breakdown of costs’. None of this has been provided – so there is no evidence that it is financial necessity that is preventing staff being paid properly.

By next week we should know more clearly the full response to the offer, and be able to plan the next stage of the campaign – whether that involve getting the University to finally meet with staff en masse and provide proper figures, start generating external pressure or look into the possibility of industrial action.

All staff are therefore invited to an open meeting, next Wednesday 3 December at 12.30.

Jon Bitmead, the UCU chair, will be coming to speak to the meeting and give us his perspective on the offer and the negotiations so far

Please, please put this in your diaries and come along – the bigger the turnout, the more the University will know we mean business.

IWGB Christmas Party – Saturday 6 December 2014 —

IWGB Christmas Party – Saturday 6 December 2014

santa-karlAll members are welcome to attend the IWGB Christmas Party, taking place on Saturday 6 December at the Red Onion Grill, 133 Stockwell Road, SW9 9TN (2 minutes’ walk from Stockwell Tube Station).

Starts at 8pm, finishes at 1am.

There will be dinner and dancing, and food will be provided from 8­–9.30. Please bring your own alcoholic or soft drinks.

FREE to members; £6.50 for non-members*

Text ‘PARTY’ plus your name 07786 087722 to confirm.
* CASH only. Pay on the door.

Branch meeting this Friday 21 November – please note this will take place at 1pm, not 12.30 as previously advertised — November 19, 2014

Branch meeting this Friday 21 November – please note this will take place at 1pm, not 12.30 as previously advertised

crowdThis month’s branch meeting will take place on Friday 21 November, at 1pm, in room S13 in the Institute of Education.

There will be a second meeting for workers on different shifts at 3pm in the IWGB office, 80 Lamb’s Conduits Street.

All members are welcome to go to one or both meetings, and translation will be provided.

We will be discussing London Weighting, salary scales for our branch employee, new officers, developments re recognition and much more.

Just drop us a line if you want anything added to the agenda – uol@iwgb.org.uk.

Please do come – we had a great turnout last time, and the union can only run with your enthusiasm and participation!

End Violence Against Women —

End Violence Against Women

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The IWGB is supporting an event organised by the RMT to mark the UN End Violence Against Women Day on the 25th of November. Talks will include speakers on topics ranging from Domestic Violence to Honour Killings to FGM. RMT’s own Janine Booth will also be reading some of her poems written specially for the event.

The event is open to RMT member of all genders and to supportive campaigners and trade unionists. Please email j.webb@rmt.org.uk to book your place.

The event starts at 6.30 and will be held at the P21 Gallery, 21 Chalton Street, London, United Kingdom.

For more details see https://www.facebook.com/events/868138543209753/.

London Weighting – signatures gathered and petition now in — November 12, 2014

London Weighting – signatures gathered and petition now in

No, this isn't the next campaign tactic, just a reminder that the last time we got a rise in London Weighting Quentin Tarantino was still making his debut...
No, this isn’t the next campaign tactic, just a reminder that the last time we got a rise in London Weighting Quentin Tarantino was still a an eager young debutant director…. 

Thanks to everyone who signed the petition calling on the University of London to open direct negotiations and consultation with staff, specifically over London Weighting – this has now been submitted, and we await the University’s response.

The IWGB itself has also submitted a formal recognition request to the University of London- anyone interested in reading the document in full should get in touch at uol@iwgb.org.uk and we’ll send you a copy.

We’re also hoping to have a first batch of London Weighting badges delivered this week – again, get in touch if you or colleagues want one!

New Facebook presence for the IWGB University of London — November 9, 2014

New Facebook presence for the IWGB University of London

Facebook-logo-PSDJust to let all members know that we have a new Facebook page just for our branch – and it would be great if you were able to like the page so that we can share quickly any news with as many people as possible.

We’ve been on Twitter for a while (https://twitter.com/IWGBUoL), so this is another good channel to find out what’s going on, as well as for us to alert you to other campaigns and issues we think you might be interested in…