Unison members at a rally at the train station
| | | |

UNISON settles dispute with University of Birmingham, winning key improvements on conditions

UNISON is thrilled to announce a significant victory in our dispute with the University of Birmingham over the pay spine reform. Thanks to our members’ unwavering support and strength, we have successfully negotiated key improvements in working conditions. Members voted to draw our strike to a close, but our campaign continues as we work to…

Joint statement with Birmingham UCU on RAAC at University of Birmingham
| |

Joint statement with Birmingham UCU on RAAC at University of Birmingham

You can also view this statement on Birmingham UCU’s website. We are pleased the University has now updated staff and students on its review of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete on campus. According to the University, of the 200+ buildings across campus, part of one building, the roof extension of the Arts building, may contain some RAAC….

Support staff pay proposals
| | | | | |

Support staff pay proposals

University releases proposals on support staff pay (and conditions) The University has released what they describe as their final offer on support staff pay. All trade unions are now moving to consult their members on the proposals. The committee’s view on them is that while generous for some staff, there remain significant issues with the…

Counselling provision at University outsourced until at least the beginning of new academic year
| | |

Counselling provision at University outsourced until at least the beginning of new academic year

UCU and UNISON, the unions representing mental health support workers at the University of Birmingham, are seriously concerned about changes made to counselling provision at the University last month. After years of underfunding and understaffing the University has elected not to replace counsellors after all but one of the existing post-holders left in March via…

monochrome photo of resist signage
| |

University puts catering and conferences staff at risk of redundancy. Also seeks to force staff onto “flexible” contracts

On Wednesday and Thursday last week all staff working in the University of Birmingham’s catering and conferences departments were invited to meetings with senior managers and HR. At these meetings roughly half of the staff (almost 120 staff in total), including chefs, supervisors and the whole Conference and Events Department were informed they were at…

An empty school room
| | |

UNISON safety reps raise serious concerns

Since our last safety update at the start of term, we’ve been consistently pressuring the University to take the national lockdown seriously, by reducing activity on campus as much as possible, reducing the number of support staff required as a result. While we’ve had some engagement from the University on which buildings remain open, which…