Many thanks to those of you that attended the Branch General Meeting on 16 Jul 2020 – draft minutes have been circulated to members.
It was a really positive meeting, and heartfelt thanks to those who felt able to contribute to the discussion around bullying. We have anonymised contributions, and are positive that no-one can be identified. We want to let you know what we are now going to do with your input. We will write to senior management at the University and with your feedback, and ask that it be taken into consideration alongside the PwC audit of the University’s Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct policy and procedures. We are in the process of establishing the best route for this. We will report back to you any outcomes of the audit, and responses from senior management to your input.
We also want to emphasise that UNISON is here for you to talk to about any incidents of bullying in the workplace. We are non-judgmental and supportive, and we understand that actually what many of you need is an opportunity to ‘say out loud’ what has happened to you. We do not push people into complaining via formal processes, but if you decide that is something you want to do, we are here to support you.
Other updates
Members Team
Many of you have now joined the UNISON Lancaster University members’ team – it’s a space for you to interact informally with the branch, and we will be using it to host future informal conversations. We’ll shortly be posting a poll in there to find out more about the ways in which you want to use it.
We’re also going to hold another themed discussion on ‘returning to work on campus’ on Tues 8 Sep 15:00. Some members have continued to be on campus throughout the pandemic, but many are still working from home or on furlough. Even though a full return to work on campus is likely to be a few months away for many of us, we know that you will have a lot of questions and concerns about how this might look, and as we are actively involved in reviewing H&S arrangements for the re-opening of many parts of campus, we’d really benefit from your concerns and understanding of the situation.
If you’d like to a link to join the Team, or to participate in the themed discussion, please email us.
Voluntary cost reductions survey
We are continuing to press the University management for details on the University’s finances – including the amount raised via the recent voluntary contributions survey and the furlough scheme – and if the estimated £66million savings were indeed accurate. Thanks to all of you who have approached us with thoughts on this subject. We will pass on further info when we have it.