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Your Bristol UCU Newsflash, 2nd March 2016

1) General Meeting, 1pm-2pm, TODAY, LT3 Arts Complex, 17 Woodland Road

We have two items on the agenda:

Pay Campaign & Pay Claim 2016-17
(Guest Speaker: Michael Carley, Bath UCU and UCU South West Regional Chair)

University Vision & Strategy

A copy of the agenda is on our website: http://bristolucu.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/files/2016/02/02.03.16-GM-Agenda.pdf

2) Close the HE Gender Gap!

Women in UK higher education are paid 12.6% less than men.

Find out more at www.ucu.org.uk/rateforthejob and enter your results in the comments section of UCU’s Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/ucu.campaigns/ – for a chance to win an International Women’s Day wallchart and ‪#‎heartunions‬ pen!

3) Workload and Well-Being Surveys

A reminder: Bristol UCU Workload and Well-Being Survey Report will be finished by the end of March and tabled in advance of the next meeting with University management on 19th April.

UCU also has its UCU Workload Survey, giving us the ammunition we need to tackle the changing nature and composition of workload in HE.

The survey will remain live until Friday 4 March, and should take around 10-15 minutes to complete.

4) Second Convention for Higher Education on HE & Defend Public Education: From Cradle to Grave

Bristol UCU members attended both the UCU-organised Defend Public Education: From Cradle to Grave on Saturday 8th February, and The Second Convention on HE on Saturday 27th February.

The Second Convention also issued several Conclusion/Action Points, one of which is to draft an alternative Higher Education White Paper; that is, an alternative to the government’s White Paper coming in April.

5) Vision and Strategy Proposals

This is second on our General Meeting agenda today.

Bristol UCU has expressed its concern as regards talk around research de-prioritisation and disinvestment, as well as the notion of ‘under-performing’ schools.

Please have a look at our Bristol UCU blog post, ‘Response to University of Bristol ‘Proposals for Discussion’ – University of Bristol’s Vision and Strategy Consultation

6) South West HE Sector Meeting Wednesday, 9th March, 14:00-16:00, Old School Rooms, Stoke Gifford, Bristol

Bristol hosts the HE Sector Meeting for all members in the South West; two minute walk from Bristol Parkway Station.

Initial agenda items include:

  • Pay Dispute
  • Green Paper
  • Attacks on Framework Agreement
  • Workloads

7) UCU Annual Meeting for Staff on Casualised Contracts, Saturday, 11 March 2016

UCU is stepping up its campaign against casualisation in our sector, seeking to recruit and organise more casualised staff. See UCU General Secretary Sally Hunt’s recent ‘I have a question’ email and her comments that ‘endemic casualisation is HE’s dirty secret’.

Our Annual Meeting is a vital part of that campaign: it elects the Anti-Casualisation Committee, which advises the NEC, for example.

If you are on a casual contract – hourly-paid teacher; fixed term teacher or researcher – and would like to attend, please email ucu-office@bristol.ac.uk.