Thanks to all of you who attended our last branch meeting on 7 May 2020 – it was fantastic to see so many of you participating, even if we couldn’t meet face to face. Your contributions were really valuable, and have given us a lot to take back to the table with the University management, especially around the increased workload that non-furloughed colleagues are experiencing at the moment. Draft minutes of the meeting are being circulated to members via email.
Yesterday at the Joint Negotiation and Consultation Committee (JNCC) the Memorandum of Understanding between the Trade Unions and the University was ratified. You can see the ratified text here. We will have to renegotiate this agreement before the end of June, but for now it offers a lot of protection for our members.
Car parking / bus passes
Following queries from several of our members, we have been pursuing refunds for those staff who are continuing to have payments for car parking or bus passes deducted from their wages as part of the ‘flexible benefits’ scheme. It seems that the system is not as flexible as we need it to be: the University have decided that they will not refund any of these charges. With respect to car parking, it seems that the income has already been allocated and spent, and the bus passes cannot be refunded because of the nature of the University’s agreement with Stagecoach.
We’re sorry that we weren’t more successful in this regard, and we continue to pursue ways to ensure that members are not out of pocket during the pandemic.
Welfare
As well has representing you in individual cases, and negotiating on collective issues, UNISON also is able to help with financial matters.
UNISON – Lancaster University Branch: We have a local fund within our branch to assist any member who is undergoing financial difficulties and would like some assistance. There is a short form to complete and any application is treated in the strictest confidence, in accordance with GDPR legislation. This could simply be a request for short term help such as buying food or fuel. This is available throughout the year to all UNISON members. Please email unison@lancaster.ac.uk for information on how funds are allocated.
UNISON There for you – National welfare fund: There for You, the national charity for UNISON members, is here to help UNISON members get the practical and financial support they need. They have established a CoVid19 Response Fund to help ease immediate financial pressures for members including those who have become more vulnerable by providing an immediate grant of £250 to help with essentials.
For details on eligibility and application, please visit CoVid19ResponseFund
Redeployment information
We have been successful in ensuring that those staff currently on fixed term contracts will be offered the opportunity to go on the redeployment register six months before their contract end date (was three months before contract end date). We believe that this will be operational this week, but are awaiting confirmation.
Training
Don’t forget you can undertake training and development whilst on furlough (or even when you’re not!) The staff development portal is the best way to find the full range of training currently offered by the University : https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff-development/. By participating in these opportunities, you are not only contributing to your professional development but also adding to your staff training record, which is can be beneficial to your prospects with the University in the long run.
As UNISON members, you can also access additional free online learning opportunities via: https://learning.unison.org.uk/member-learning/.
EDI
Trans Inclusion: Work to develop a policy and guidance to support trans inclusion for staff and students is progressing. The EDI team are really keen for all those with experience of trans inclusion at LU, whether personally or in delivering a service, to feed into the conversations and consultations on this. They are holding an online drop-in consultation session on this on 20 May 2020. If you would like to get involved, please contact the EDI team via email at edi@lancaster.ac.uk