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Equality

#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 2

Published: 26th November, 2019

Having been featured as part of the face of the current strike on BBC News yesterday, Leicester UCU again came out in force, despite the rain, to protest in defence of our pensions and pay against a decade of steady decline, and to fight back against excessive workloads, casualisation of our professions and pay inequality…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 1

Published: 25th November, 2019

Roll back to 16th March 2018 – the final day of 14 days on the picket line and it felt like we had unfinished business. In fact, one of our picket lines even made the point that they’d be back in chalk on the pavement outside the University. And today we were back – boy…

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Leicester votes YES – and YES and YES and YES!

Published: 31st October, 2019

We’re proud and very pleased that members of Leicester UCU have voted decisively in favour of strike action (and action short of a strike, ASOS), both to defend our USS pensions and in support of our pay-and-equalities claims. More than half our eligible members voted in both ballots, giving us a legal mandate to take…

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Pay and Equalities: (Not!) Enough Already

Published: 26th September, 2019

Another superb explanation of what’s going on from Sheffield UCU. This one by pay negotiator Robyn Orfitelli, it explains our ‘four fights’.

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Let’s plan, let’s Get Out the Vote!

Published: 15th August, 2019

From September 9, all UCU members will receive two sets of ballot papers, asking whether we are prepared to take strike action in defence of our pension and in support of our pay-and-equalities demands. It’s essential a high proportion of members vote. For the result to be legally valid turnout must be at least 50%;…

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Moving towards a safer campus

Published: 14th June, 2019

University leaders’ decision to repurpose the Brookfield campus such that it becomes home of the School of Business (ULSB) have been contentious to say the least. Few of the professional services staff who had been located there wished to move to the main campus. Few ULSB staff wanted to move to Brookfield, believing that the…

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Gender Pay Gap Continues at University of Leicester

Published: 3rd April, 2019

The Suffragettes chained themselves to metal gates and held hunger strikes in order to receive the vote for women in the early part of the 20th century. Dagenham plant and Ford machinist women workers fought in the 1960s to be paid the same amount that men were being paid to carry out the same work…

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Statement on ballot result

Published: 24th February, 2019

Members will no doubt have heard the news about the outcome of the pay-and-equality ballot. Although 70% of those members who voted in England, Scotland & Wales backed strike action and 81% voted for action short of a strike, the turnout was only 41%, falling short of the 50% legal threshold. In Northern Ireland, where…

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Will you stand up for Sarah?

Published: 17th February, 2019

Dear UCU Friends, Many of you may not know me well, but this is a personal plea. I am the co-chair of Leicester UCU, a 30-something-year-old Research Associate who is a woman. During the USS strike this time last year I stood next to you every day in the snow and cold, the rain and…

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Great expectations – on grant income targets in Life Sciences

Published: 23rd November, 2018

Message sent to all Leicester UCU members, 22 November. Over the past few weeks, several UCU members in the College of Life Sciences have expressed concerns over plans to introduce ‘targets’ or ‘expectations’ of academic staff, including level of grant income. In case anyone needs reminding, the use of such a metric as a performance…

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