Thanks for everyone who attended the EGM on 4th May.   Some good debate was had over the MAB and we are pleased to report that all motions were strongly supported with no votes against.

A letter has already been drafted for the attention of the VC containing the motions as passed and urging her to take action to address the concerns of the branch.

Q&A’s from the Floor

Q – You suggest that members use their backlog of leave and seek to slow down M&A by submitting leave requests.   Is it not the case that leave is embargoed during M&A?

A -It will depend upon the attitude of your line manager, but it is a managers duty to allow sufficient time for you to take leave, or agree that you can carry forward more leave into the next leave period.

Q – Do we expect the University to deduct 50% of a month’s salary?

A – At this stage we simply do not know what the deductions will look like, but suspect neither does management.   If such deductions were made we would strongly object on the grounds that it would be disproportionate.   Be prepared though for deductions to occur and for UCU to have to intervene to get them refunded.

Q – Should I still continue to do external viva’s?

A – UCU advice is that you SHOULD honour such external contract agreements.

Q – How can I handle student complaints?

A – Whatever your level of seniority, any communications from students should be passed to your line manager; you should not be dealing with the fall out of a dispute that is directly linked to management failure.   If you are asked by students when they can expect a mark then the honest answer would be to say that at this stage you simply do not know.

It is important that students are helped to understand that UCU’s dispute is not with them and that the MAB is being taken with a heavy heart.   An open letter to students has been issued to the Student Union explaining the background of the dispute and the reason it has been seen as necessary to take such drastic action.   The letter is available as a PDF here and you may wish to provide links to the letter for your students in email correspondence and other information channels.

Slides from the EGM including motions passed on the day can be seen here.