Month: February 2020

A STRONG GROUP OUT IN FORCE Day 3 Done – 11 Remaining!

Today we had a strong group out in force and were able to have Picket Lines outside the Reid, Stow, Haldane and the Bourdon. Fuelled up by coffee and rolls from ‘The Monkey’, plus a great selection of baked goods from our supporters, we had a fine morning.

If you haven’t done so already please come and join us, it’d be great to see you. Strike as many days as you can. Picket as many days as you can – 1 or 2 makes all the difference! Let us know if you intend to picket below – makes planning easier.

Picket Sign Up

Tomorrow UCU Scotland are organising a UCU Scotland RALLY on Tuesday 25 February at THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, Edinburgh.   Assemble from 12.30 pm.  Speakers at 1.00 pm including from UCU Scotland, NUS Scotland, the STUC, EIS and MSPs.  Join UCU colleagues from across Scotland. Branches are asked to bring banners.

Coming to your inbox soonHardship fund Further FAQ Guide to ASOS How to support the action from the inside

Tomorrow Nicky Bird & Graham Ramsay will be your Picket Coordinators. EIS will be out tomorrow as well. If you have questions around the dispute, make sure you ask them and they will be able to help. If not they can pass on your question to the committee.    Some Top Tips if you are planning to join the Picket Line:  Weather forecast for Tuesday. 3ºC feels like 0ºC, Rain/Snow, wind gust up to  20mph Waterproof coats and trousers are seriously recommended Plenty of layers will help to keep you warm Put on at least two pairs of socks – cold toes help nobody Bring a flask of hot drink – hot drinks will be provided but time can vary Keep moving

In this post you will find: Details about tomorrow  Picket Survey Strike FAQ

Details for day 1 Tomorrow is the first day of Strike action and we will be on the Picket Line from 8.30 am till 1 pm. Meet outside the Vic doors as before (sadly closed at the moment). If you are joining the picket dress for the weather! If you are ASOSing come past and say hi!. If you have any questions, observations, photos, or stories you would like to share please email Digger committee@gsa-ucu.org.uk and they can be included in the daily strike updates. If you are picketing Graham Ramsay and Christina McBride will be your Picket Coordinators, make sure you say hello and get your armband.

Picket Survey Please let the branch know when you intend to Picket. This will help us manage and prepare for the picket line. We have Picket Supervisors for all days so we can picket on all strike days. The survey will remain open throughout the action so please update if you need to.

Picket Survey

FAQ Do I have to strike? No. You are asked by UCU to strike, and you may have voted to strike, but it’s not a requirement to strike.  Do I have to picket? No. If you strike it is reasonable to assume that you are prepared to show that you have chosen to withdraw your labour by supporting a picket line outside your place of work, GSA-UCU wants to maintain a picket presence for the duration of the strike so needs the support of members – however, everyone has the right to choose. Can I cross the picket line? Yes, it is possible to cross the picket line. No picket will impede or cause distress to anyone crossing. Why are we striking on these dates? The dates are agreed by the UCU Higher Education Committee (HEC). The dates chosen match the UCU industrial action for USS pensions that other branches are taking, so the hope is that both actions support each other. The dates are implemented nationally, there is an option to adjust some dates locally to avoid reading weeks, GSA does not have a reading week so no adjustment was taken.

Coming to your inbox soon: Hardship fund FAQ on action Guide to ASOS

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Join us on Monday 17th February 5 pm Reid Lecture Theatre.   Agenda below. If you can’t make it and have any comment, thoughts, feedback please get in touch.

Members Meeting The following agenda is for the members meeting on 17th Feb – 5 pm – Reid Lecture Theatre: Agenda: 1. Introduction a. Disputes update b. Strike dates reminder c. EIS result d. Branch Committee roles 2. Hardship Fund a. Local hardship fund established b. Claiming UCU Hardship Fund 3. Information for students  a. Materials on further strike action b. ‘Teach Out’ information 4. In the run-up to strike  a. Strike stats local branch b. Registering impact c. ASOS 5. Strike practicalities a. Picket Co-ordinators b. Rota c. Key dates d. Placards 6. Other information a. Re-ballot update b. Reminder UCU trustees, national officer and NEC elections – voting closes 4 March 7. AOB  If you have anything to add to the AOB item, please get in touch.

UCU update: So far this week you will have received emails from both Joe Grady (Monday 10th Feb) and Vicky Blake (Tuesday 11th Feb) with updates and answers to members questions.  These emails provide a useful insight into the context and current progress.

Coming to your inbox soon:            Strike survey + Strike team Hardship fund FAQ on action Guide to ASOS Current voting for NEC and HEC

Thanks for taking the time to read – keep an eye on your inbox for more details soon. GSA UCU Committee.

In this post you will find out about the upcoming industrial action, how you can help, details on a members meeting and what other info you can expect to receive over the next week.

A quick update from the November Strike: Over 50% of members participated in one or more days of strike action in November. That’s a great effort and looks good for the forthcoming action. Well done!

Strike dates: Seventy-four UK universities will be faced with a total of 14 days of strike action in February and March. The action will start on Thursday 20 February and escalate in length each week, culminating with a week-long walkout from Monday 9 to Friday 13 March.  Week One – Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February Week Two – Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February Week Three – Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 March Week Four – Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 & Friday 13 March

EIS have voted to take industrial action:Read more about their strike action here https://www.eis.org.uk/ULA-News/UniStrike There 5 strike days will overlap with UCU strike days.

URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED: If we want to picket we need your help. We need PICKET COORDINATORS, we can not picket if we do not have them.  Your role is to be a point of contact and to make sure that good picketing etiquette is followed. It is a legal requirement to have this named contact.  If you are available to take on this role please respond to committee@gsa-ucu.org.uk with your name, mobile phone number and what dates you can cover. If you would like further information on the role please get in touch.  Members Meeting: We will be holding a members meeting to plan for the upcoming action along with updating members with ongoing branch news. Date and agenda to be announced shortly. Upcoming Ballot on Further Action: UCU has decided to ballot members on taking further industrial action after the upcoming 14 days. The current mandate to take action is soon to expire, to enable UCU to keep up the pressure in negotiations they will be seeking for members to approve future action should they and the employers not be able to agree a deal.

Coming to your inbox soon:           • Strike survey + Strike team• Hardship fund• FAQ on action• Guide to ASOS• Current voting for NEC and HEC

Thanks for taking the time to read – keep an eye on your inbox for more details soon. GSA UCU Committee.

We will soon be sending out a mail to all members on the recent committee meeting and the path forward at GSA with regards the next stage of industrial action.

In the meantime – for your own planning – here is a reminder of the strike dates agreed by the HEC.