No improvements made to pay and conditions offer – UNISON says reject
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No improvements made to pay and conditions offer – UNISON says reject

ByBranch Committee

On 17 February UNISON members passed a motion calling for urgent improvements to the University’s offer on pay spine reform (and changes to conditions). This gave University management until the start of this week to come back to us. Unfortunately they have confirmed that they are not willing to negotiate at this stage.  While this…

Support staff pay proposals
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Support staff pay proposals

ByBranch Committee

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…

Pay spine talks – explainer and update
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Pay spine talks – explainer and update

ByBranch Committee

What is the pay spine and what are the discussions for? The structure of grades and points is how our pay is organised. Our yearly pay talks mostly involve increasing everyone’s pay by a percentage, but the pay spine talks are more nuanced and include negotiating the pay people begin on, how quickly they move…

How safe are the plans for September?
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How safe are the plans for September?

ByBranch Committee

Update 07.09.21 – Additional point added on areas where face coverings are required As September begins we find ourselves in a broadly similar situation to last year – coming out of a summer where restrictions have been minimal into a new academic year, in which the key driver seems to be to keep things as…

Initial reaction to VC’s email on “transition” to September
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Initial reaction to VC’s email on “transition” to September

ByBranch Committee

While it’s a bit of a relief that Monday will not see radical changes to safety arrangements at the University, there were a couple of issues in the Vice Chancellor’s recent announcement on the University’s plans for the transition period to the start of the new academic year.  Firstly and possibly most urgently there is…

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

ByBranch Committee

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…

UNISON safety reps raise serious concerns
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UNISON safety reps raise serious concerns

ByBranch Committee

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…

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Emails with the University about safety concerns

ByBranch Committee

Our email reporting concerns 22.01.21 Dear Simon, Gillian, Mark, I am writing on behalf of UNISON members further to discussions this week regarding serious safety concerns that we feel have the potential to put employees of the University at risk of serious and imminent danger, and particularly those working within the University nurseries and the…

Press Release: University “putting city at risk” as Birmingham sees “worrying” rise in hospital admissions
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Press Release: University “putting city at risk” as Birmingham sees “worrying” rise in hospital admissions

ByBranch Committee

Press contact: James Brackley (UCU), jb4243@hotmail.com; Mike Moore (UNISON), mich_moore@hotmail.co.uk;07/09/2020 [STARTS] As the number of cases rise across the country and concerns grow nationally about the potential impact of reopening Universities, unions at the University of Birmingham have expressed serious concerns about plans to reopen the Edgbaston campus. There have been at least three confirmed…