Executive Committee’s open letter in response to UCL HR Director’s USS message to staff

UCL UCU Executive Committee were concerned to discover that UCL HR Director, Fiona Ryland, had circulated an email relating to proposed USS changes to an undisclosed subset of staff on 8th January, inviting them to a town hall meeting on Wednesday 24th January – which is the day after joint negotiations on the future of USS are set to end….

Provost says “Not a penny more…” on pensions or salaries – vote to defend USS

As your local Branch Officers met on Tuesday this week with UCL senior management to discuss UCL’s position on the proposed changes to the USS we learn that the UCL Provost has claimed that there will be “not a penny more” for the USS. The meeting heard from the Directors of Finance and HR and…

Your pension under attack – Q&A with UCU National Pension Officer, Tue 12 Dec

We wrote recently to members to warn of “a new and devastating attack on our USS pensions”. We promised further updates.  The shadow Education Secretary has recently expressed support for us: https://www.ucu.org.uk/rayner-uss-solidarity The National Union of Students too has now thrown its support behind UCU: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/9104/National-Union-of-Students-calls-for-negotiations-in-USS-pensions-dispute Have you voted yet? If your ballot paper hasn’t yet arrived, please…

Strike for USS

UCU’s higher education committee has agreed to launch an industrial action ballot in the dispute over the future of USS.They have said serious and sustained industrial action is required in the face of damaging proposals from the employers which would effectively destroy the pension scheme. Currently, USS pension benefits are guaranteed for all your salary…

Academics Stand up in Large Numbers: UCU Report of the Special Meeting of Academic Board

Please find below a report on Thurs 18 May’s momentous Academic Board (AB) Special Meeting. This report has been distributed by email to UCL UCU members. The meeting was called by 22 signatories of a letter in response to a Survey of Board members on the current state of the university and its Management. The…

Elections to Academic Board Governance Committee – our view

This message is especially directed at our members on Academic Board, but it is important that the wider membership is aware of what is happening too. A new Governance Committee has been set up by academic board after an unprecedented Special Meeting on which we recently reported. This committee is charged with scrutinizing decisions and…

Please respond to the all-staff ‘consultation’ on the grading process

We invite you to contribute to the all-staff, anonymous ‘consultation’ on the grading process launched by UCL on 8 June 2017 (closes 5pm 23 June).See The Week@UCL and the UCL Staff News website article. We are proposing that colleagues respond to the consultation and when doing so score the Likert scale questions 1 –  6 as ‘N/A’ and…