Michael Carley on (the subject of) UCU HEC @michael4hec

Crystal ball time The UCU National Executive Committee election results are in and there has been "a near clean sweep" for UCU Commons and allies. Because of the election of two current members of NEC to officer posts, there are two casual vacancies which will be filled after (by-) elections but we can see what the breakdown is like. UCUC and allies hold twenty of the currently occupied forty seats on the Higher Education Committee, which means they should be able to do as they please on many matters, and form a solid block of support for the General Secretary.

Mystic Michael's predictions for the year ahead after the UCU elections

09.03.2025 10:45 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Marxiste, tendance Groucho Last week, on Wednesday 19 February, a special meeting of UCU’s Higher Education Committee was held to decide whether or not to proceed with a ballot on industrial action over pay. Members of…

What do you propose we actually do to protect jobs? | Marxiste, tendance Groucho
michael4hec.wordpress.com/2025/02/26/m...

26.02.2025 21:42 — 👍 7 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 4

Another thought provoking blog
There has to be space make creative demands around vacancy management, use of VS, extending consultation for closure proposals of course/program/department including wider community in conversations

And ofc workloads (4Fs) is a way of preventing silent gutting of jobs

15.02.2025 18:28 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

"The people trying to stop them know what they don’t want, but have no concrete proposals"

It was ever thus
What do we want? NO
When do we want it? NO

15.02.2025 18:23 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Next week’s HEC Short version: even if the ballot happens, it will be too late for industrial action this year; there are no proposals for anything else; branches will have to look out for themselves. Next week, on 19 February, two members of a UCU faction are bringing a motion to a special meeting of the union's Higher Education Committee. For convenience, I reproduce it here:

Short version: even if the UCU ballot happens, it will be too late for industrial action this year; there are no proposals for anything else; branches will have to look out for themselves.

14.02.2025 11:14 — 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0

Could we strike on redundancy? The question is now being raised of whether or not UCU can take UK-wide strike action over the wave of redundancies at Higher Education institutions. At the time of writing, there is a live decision to ballot for industrial action over pay, which has yet to be implemented or formally reversed, and there are demands for UK-wide strikes to resist the redundancies which are already happening.

Could we take UK-wide action on redundancies in universities? If so, what?

13.02.2025 10:31 — 👍 4 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 2

More thoughts on union democracy This year, unusually, a "constitutional" issue has become important in a UCU election. The question of the union's democracy and its structures has been raised as a dividing line, in particular between the two candidates for Vice-President Rhiannon Lockley of UCU Left,and Dyfrig Jones supported by UCU Commons, respectively. UCU Commons have also distributed a contribution to the debate from…

How to avoid sham democracy in UCU

12.02.2025 11:29 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 3

What’s going on? Earlier today, members of UCU in Higher Education received an email from the General Secretary: We wanted to provide an update on what is happening in the national industrial action ballot on pay.  As you may be aware, UCU's higher education committee (HEC) backed a ballot on pay in December 2024, which was expected to take place early in the year, aiming to take industrial action before Easter.

Would it be too much to hope that our trade union treat us like adults?

11.02.2025 14:33 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Where is our strategy? The bosses' rag reports today that "as university deficits continue to grow, prompting ever more redundancies, more universities seem likely to resort to subsidiary hiring". In particular, post-92 universities which are obliged to enroll staff on the Teachers' Pension Scheme, are getting round that requirement by employing new staff in subsidiary companies: if a member of staff is not technically employed by you, you have no obligation to give them the rights of an employee.

Are we doing the thinking? How can UCU respond to the employers?

06.02.2025 09:40 — 👍 2 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 2

What is UCU’s position on international students? On 3 December 2024, UCU issued a statement on immigration saying, among other things, In reality, Tory immigration restrictions did great harm to crucial British sectors, higher education not least among them. Such damage has been compounded by Labour's refusal to change course. Britain's world-leading universities, for example, are now much less appealing for international students thanks to cruel, family-separating visa restrictions.

Do we want international students or not?

23.01.2025 09:01 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Communism equals Soviet power plus electrified voting.

14.01.2025 09:31 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

That's a start: the next step is to automagically generate a voting record for delegates.

14.01.2025 09:30 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

In favour of electronic voting In the arguments about a possible hybrid UCU Congress this year, there has been discussion of electronic voting, which is occasionally put forward as a means of speeding up the voting at Congress and reducing the time spent on recounts or disputes over counts. The main objection to electronic voting is that it is undemocratic because delegates should not be able to vote in secret, given that they represent branches and not only themselves.

Why UCU should implement recorded electronic voting at its conferences

13.01.2025 20:17 — 👍 5 🔁 5 💬 2 📌 0

What do you propose we do? When I wrote previously about the UCU Higher Education Committee decision to ballot for industrial action on pay this calendar year, I questioned the argument made by some people that the Terms of Reference on non-pay issues were an opportunity to improve working conditions and that we squandered this opportunity when the employers withdrew them after the HEC decision to ballot…

What would we do with the Terms of Reference if we got them?

08.01.2025 17:00 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Take the money and sit tight? Last week, UCU's Higher Education Committee decided that the union would ballot for industrial action on pay in the new year, after members in Higher Education rejected the employers' offer in an online consultation. On a 27% turnout, 53% of those voting indicated they were prepared to take industrial action. In response, the employers have decided to "withdraw the terms of reference for joint work and the other aspects of our offer beyond the implemented pay award…

Why losing the terms of reference might not be so terrible.

20.12.2024 16:23 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 3 📌 2

Old thoughts on aggregated ballots.
michael4hec.wordpress.com/2022/06/15/a...

12.12.2024 17:49 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1

You have a right to know what your union is up to: why I am running for UCU's NEC.

https://michael4hec.wordpress.com/2024/11/19/god-loves-a-trier/

19.11.2024 18:56 — 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 3

UCU NEC members should be transparent for their own sakes

https://michael4hec.wordpress.com/2024/11/28/why-nec-members-should-publish-the-information-they-get/

28.11.2024 11:55 — 👍 1 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 2

Election address I have been an active trade unionist in higher education for more than twenty five years, as a caseworker, branch officer, regional chair, negotiator, and NEC member. I am a migrant and I drafted and moved the motion which led to the first extension of the union's legal scheme to immigration issues. I am not a member of any faction in UCU.

Why I'm worth a vote for UCU NEC.

02.12.2024 14:46 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1

Election address I have been an active trade unionist in higher education for more than twenty five years, as a caseworker, branch officer, regional chair, negotiator, and NEC member. I am a migrant and I drafted and moved the motion which led to the first extension of the union's legal scheme to immigration issues. I am not a member of any faction in UCU.

Why I'm worth a vote for UCU NEC.

02.12.2024 14:46 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1

UCU NEC members should be transparent for their own sakes

https://michael4hec.wordpress.com/2024/11/28/why-nec-members-should-publish-the-information-they-get/

28.11.2024 11:55 — 👍 1 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 2

You have a right to know what your union is up to: why I am running for UCU's NEC.

https://michael4hec.wordpress.com/2024/11/19/god-loves-a-trier/

19.11.2024 18:56 — 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 3

Some thoughts on the consultative ballot on pay and conditions in UK Higher Education being carried out by UCU

https://michael4hec.wordpress.com/2024/11/18/consultation-once-again/

18.11.2024 18:42 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Michael Carley on (the subject of) UCU HEC

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