UNISON learned in early August of an ongoing restructure taking place at the Guild of Students, that could potentially lead to up to three members of staff losing their jobs. This comes at a time when most staff are still furloughed and the financial impact on the University is still unclear – it simply makes…
We’ve had a number of concerns recently from members regarding the local plans being made for returning to campus. It’s clear that there is a huge amount of variation across the institution, with some good practice where continued home working remains the default as well as unfortunately many examples where a return to on campus work is…
Reposting advice from our Facebook page Government advice throughout the pandemic has been fast changing and sometimes contradictory. Late last week the government indicated that new local restrictions will be put in place across a large area in the North of England, and further loosening of lockdown restrictions have been paused. While the government maintains that…
As government guidance changes and the University moves to asking a greater number of staff to return to work, we wanted to give everyone some advice on the key safety aspects of returning to work on campus. As part of this we’ve shared the University’s guidance but also highlighted where we feel it falls short…
UoB UNISON will be holding an online members meeting this coming Tuesday at 1pm via Zoom. You should have had the invite to the meeting by email and or text. If you are a member and haven’t had it please contact us on unisonbham@contacts.bham.ac.uk and we’ll send it through to you. The meeting will discuss…
Many institutions, companies and organisations have been very vocal about racial inequalities in the UK and others just showed up last week. No one is perfect and we know that we- as the UNISON union branch at UoB can and want to do better. We don’t want to take what has been said/talked about and…
Despite holding talks with University of Birmingham management earlier today (29 May 2019), Birmingham UCU and UNISON University of Birmingham still have Health and Safety concerns over the University’s plans to press ahead with a phased re-opening of campus, starting this coming Monday (1 June). These concerns stem from the University’s failure to properly engage…
Many workers across the country have understandable concerns following the prime minister’s announcement at the weekend, with its reference to “encouraging” people to return to work. UNISON and other trade unions are clear that a return to work at any workplace can only take place if stringent safety measures are put in place to protect…
What does “furlough” mean? In UK employment law, “furlough” is a new employment status introduced as part of the Coronavirus pandemic. If you are furloughed: You cannot do any work for your employer (though you can take part in training and volunteer, as long as it doesn’t generate income for your employer). Your employer can…
Negotiations update Your UNISON representatives and those from the other campus trade unions are continuing to negotiate with the University to keep staff safe and to look after your rights in these very difficult times. Our priority remains pressing the University to limit the number of staff on campus, to protect those who have underlying…
