Dear Colleagues ,
Chesterfield College UCU members ballot on final offer.
You will have by now received your ballot from UCU on the final offer made to the trade unions by the College. It is important that you read the explanatory note on the dispute, the final offer and the union's recommendation before voting:
www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/p/o/Chesterfield_Coll_briefing_Jul12.pdf
www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/p/o/Chesterfield_Coll_briefing_Jul12.pdf
Could I please remind all members to vote in this important ballot on the final offer made by the college.
The ballot will close on 3 August.
As a UCU member who has always passionately supported the actions of the union, I am left, on this occasion, as an hourly paid lecturer, will the feeling of being sold out by the union as they recommend that we accept the latest negotiated deal. Contracted staff have had all the threats to their pay withdrawn & this is indeed a credit to collective action & the UCU negotiators. However, over the last few years as an hourly paid lecturer I have had (& I don't have the exact maths) something around 25% cut from my hourly rate. I will be voting to reject this deal & it won't be just from a personal perspective. I can't remember the statistics but the college is seeking to significantly increase the proportion of hourly paid lecturers amongst its lecturing staff. This deal is politically worrying as it will potentially pave the way for a massive increase in casualised, flexible, & ultimately disposable workforce who will live at the mercy of the fluctuations in the political economy. While this may appear a reasonable deal in the short term, it could be disastrous in the medium & long term & seriously undermines the quality & security of future jobs in this sector.
ReplyDeleteAs UCU negotiators we recognise that the offer from the College will mean a reduction in pay for hourly-paid lecturing staff. We regret that this is the case. However the College’s original proposal was to cut the rate for qualified hourly-paid staff by 20%. Through negotiation we have got this down to a 12% reduction staged over 2 years. The College has told us that this is their final offer. They will not move any further on this issue as they say current rates of pay for this group of staff are higher than in other Colleges in the region.
ReplyDeleteIt is worth remembering that in the negotiations we have managed to remove the threat of compulsory redundancies, putting bars on lecturers’ pay-scales, making salary progression dependant on teaching observation grades and taking on ‘junior management’ tasks, cutting pay across the board, moving ALS tutors on to support contracts etc. which would have had implications for all categories of lecturing staff.
Taken in this context we believe that, whilst not perfect, the current offer is the best deal we can achieve as the College has made it clear they will not make any further concessions. On this basis we have put it to a ballot of the branch with a recommendation for acceptance.