Our “long weekend” of strike action starts on Thursday with four days. We’re serious about a resolution to the imposition of a massive real-terms pay cut from August last year and we can’t continue to accept the reduction to our wages this implies. We know the University of Brighton is in a poor financial situation, but this is national campaign…
Reports from UNISON’s Higher Education Conference
Leonie Moore and Lee Christien were recently delegates to our annual Higher Education conference. Here are their reports: UNISON 2023 Higher Education Service Group Conference Reports
Black Members’ Conference, January 2023
Bill Acharjee, our joint Black Members’ Officer, attended UNISON’s national conference for Black Members. Here’s his report. ACHARJEE, B – National Black Members Conference 2023 (Report) If you’d like to know more or get involved in our branch’s or our region’s Black members’ group, please just let us know.
Initial pay offer for 2023-24, 4% – 7%
As you may have seen, we’ve been made an opening offer of between 4% and 7% for August 2023, with a proportion of this payable in February 2023. The higher 7% is targeted at the lowest grade with 4% at those currently earning the most. This contrasts with UNISON’s pay claim, which is for £4,000 or a rise in line…
Strike Action over Pay – 24/25/30 November
You will know this already, but we’re planning strike action again on 24th, 25th and 30th November. This time, we’ll be striking alongside UCU at virtually every university and about 20 UNISON branches with a strike mandate. The Vice-Chancellor’s recent email recognised that the planned industrial action “stems from genuine concerns about the cost of living”. It is also about…
UCU Ballot Result points to joined up strike action over pay
If you’re going to have to take strike action to stop your pay sliding down and down, then you might as well make sure you win the strike. UCU’s national ballot result over pay and working conditions is a victory for all UNISON members, because it was necessary for UCU members to be able to take national strike action. They…
October strikes “out of office” message
If you’re on strike this week, why not leave an out of office message that’s something like this? “Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, I won’t be at work on Thursday, Friday and Monday because I’m a member of UNISON, taking strike action as part of a campaign for university workers to be paid properly. Our pay has fallen dramatically,…
13th, 14th and 17th October
We’re giving the University notice of strike action over pay on Thursday 13th, Friday 14th and Monday 17th October. This is because we can’t accept the imposed increase in August, which is so far below the cost of living that it represents a real terms pay cut of between 9% and 4%. We’ll be organising picket lines and calling on…
Calling all Black members – newsletter and training event
The Summer edition of the regional Black members’ newsletter can be found here: SERBMSummerNewsletter2022 Black members have also organised a training weekend, details here: Black-Members-Training-weekend-flyer-and-Application-form (8) Please get in touch if you’d be interested in attending.
Please complete our Stress Survey
This week, we launched our first ever stress survey, which is our attempt to collate information about how members of staff are feeling. As far as we’re concerned, the University is doing what it should be doing, that is monitoring and addressing the issue of work-related stress adequately, so our survey is an attempt to provoke more attention to the…