Monthly Archives: March 2023

Comments on the national dispute

Posted on by

Several members have asked for some sort of branch comment, or further clarity on events regarding the national UCU disputes, especially regarding the fast moving updates from the week commencing 13 March. Vijay, our branch president has recorded the below video to try and give a balanced account for the benefit of Imperial UCU members. A PDF of the slides can be directly downloaded as well.

The video contains: a high level overview of the disputes – a comment on “the pause” in action from about March 2023 National Dispute Commentary three weeks ago – commentary on the USS pensions dispute and the relative merits of the current proposal/agreement with employers – reasons why voting in the reballot is essential – comments on the e-poll and the subsequent fallout from that – some information on what happens in the near future.

All staff meeting on the cost-of-living crisis at Imperial College

Posted on by
Zoom meeting details:
1-2pm, Monday 27 March
Meeting ID: 889 8228 7277

Passcode: 001328

Meeting summary:

The Joint Trades Unions (JTU) at Imperial College London invite all Imperial College staff to a Zoom meeting from 1 – 2pm on Monday 27th March to discuss the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on Imperial College staff and students. A survey of our members revealed some of the struggles staff across the College are facing and deepened our concerns. We have tried to impress the seriousness of the situation on senior management in meetings and in our 2023-24 pay claim: https://ucu.imperial.ac.uk/icjtu-2023-23-pay-claim

Unfortunately, we do not believe management is taking these issues seriously enough. Despite submitting our claim over a month early, management continues to stall negotiations.

The JTU therefore believe it appropriate to call an all-staff meeting on the cost-of-living-crisis and the pay dispute as soon as possible. We invited President Hugh Brady to attend this meeting to hear his perspective and address staff concerns, however, although we offered him a range of dates, he has not replied. We will go ahead without him but he is welcome to join us should he wish to participate.

The purpose of the meeting will be to provide information on what has happened so far in relation to pay at Imperial College, followed by open discussion. In the second half of the meeting we will propose a motion aimed at impressing on management the importance of giving Imperial staff a fair pay deal in 2023-24, for debate and voting by all staff present.

March 2023 Strike Information

Posted on by

The strike dates for March 2023 are:

  • Wednesday 15th March
  • Thursday 16th March
  • Friday 17th March
  • Monday 20th March
  • Tuesday 21st March
  • Wednesday 22nd March

All of the above strike dates relate to the USS pension dispute. The 15th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd are also related to the local dispute on pay.

Imperial’s local Unite branch is also on strike on the 22nd over the local dispute on pay.