UNISON Announces a new Industrial Action Ballot

Voting YES is the only way to protect our jobs and the future of MMU

Money for courts but not for staff
On Monday 12th April, UNISON informed its members that it was suspending its Industrial Action Ballot. This was a result of Management threatening to take UNISON to the High Court. Members will be aware that recent disputes on the railways and at British Airways have had their ballots overturned on technicalities and Management at MMU were threatening to spend anything up to £100,000 doing the same to us – & trampling on our democratic rights in the process. On legal advice, UNISON suspended the Ballot and put into place new procedures in the wake of recent high court rulings.

New Industrial Action Ballot Announced

Following this, UNISON wrote to the Vice Chancellor on Wednesday 14th April informing him that we would be running a new Ballot. UNISON is recommending a YES vote for Industrial Action in this ballot. New Ballot papers will start to arrive at member’s home addresses from 22nd April and need to be completed and returned to in the envelope provided by the 6th May. All previous Ballot papers must be destroyed – members will have to vote again in order to have their say. The Ballot period lasts only two weeks, which means it’s incredibly important that members return their ballot papers as quickly as possible.

Vote YES for Action to defend jobs & education

Five months into discussions with Management, we are still faced with:
• Up to 127 compulsory redundancies
• Scores of down-gradings without adequate pay protection
• A second class redundancy scheme
• A failure to invite applications for voluntary redundancy in many key areas
• A failure to engage constructively in matching & ring fencing discussions

It is obvious that these job cuts are only the beginning and that the principles that Management are trying to lay down will form the basis of future attacks across the University. That means that this fight is a fight for every single member of staff at MMU.

In the negotiations Management are keen to justify their short-term strategy of cuts at MMU by pointing to Government debt & HE funding cuts. No-one denies the reality of the funding cuts but the truth is that in this years HEFCE funding allocations, MMU saw only a 0.5% decrease in the grant (according to HEFCE figures available on their website).

The financial situation clearly does not merit the urgency and maliciousness of these cuts. That is why UNISON is intent on fighting them. We remain utterly convinced that if Management approached these Restructures in a sensible way and sat down to really consult with us, as has happened in previous Restructures, we can find a way through that would deliver the necessary savings as well as protecting members jobs. At the very least, we could arrive at a situation where everyone who wanted to stay in work could, while those who wished to leave the University with a reasonable redundancy package would be allowed to go. This demand, that there be no compulsory redundancies, is entirely achievable but for the stubbornness of Management.

UNISON has been trying to resolve this situation through negotiation for the past 5 months. Unfortunately we now believe that only the credible prospect of strike action from support staff can secure a better deal for UNISON members.

A fight for all members

The current dispute is a fight for all members – not just those in the affected areas. If Management’s proposals are allowed to pass, then the pay and conditions of staff across the University will be open to attack and everyone’s job will be on the line. Management’s attack isn’t about getting rid of obsolete structures; it is about radically altering the nature of MMU and the basis on which we work here. If it is allowed to go unchallenged, the same pressures that have led to the redundancies & the pay cuts will affect staff in every office and corridor across the University.

If Management were serious about working with staff and making savings then we would have discussions like the University of Manchester – where a commitment of No Compulsory Redundancies has already been given. Instead, our Management insists on a set of policies that will inflict the maximum damage on the lives of our members and on their Union. Their stubbornness is proved by the fact that they were willing to find tens of thousands of pounds to take UNISON to the High Court but can’t find that same money to protect members’ jobs.

We simply cannot let this pass – we have to show Management that we have a right to have our say in the future of this University. That means showing them the power of our resolve by getting the biggest YES vote on the highest turnout possible. Only with that threat of Industrial Action will we have something to bring management to their senses and find a reasonable solution to this dispute.

Vote YES for Industrial Action

We must stand up together to defend jobs and education

Return your ballot by the 6th May

Vote YES for Action in the Consultative Ballot

Over the next couple of days, every member of UNISON at MMU will received a ballot paper at their home address. UNISON is running a Consultative Ballot on escalating the dispute here at MMU. The Branch is recommending the biggest possible YES vote in this ballot, as the only way to effectively oppose the job losses.

We are now beyond the legal minimum 90 Day Consultation period on the proposed 127 job losses. As many of you would have heard in last week’s General Meetings, Management have put an offer on the table.

This offer has been detailed in previous bulletins (see the website for more). They have moved slightly on payment protection (offering 3 months) and have said they will consider pay in lieu of notice on a case-by-case basis. Previously, we have agreed two years travel protection. But these offers have come along with other declarations from Management – the external release of Grade 5 and above vacancies, stopping UNISON from holding General Meetings on campus, mass downgradings and a second class redundancy offer for support staff. Crucially, Management’s offer still involves 127 redundancies and they have so far refused to give a commitment of No Compulsory Redundancies.

UNISON’s Negotiators firmly believe that if the Management gave such a commitment and worked constructively with UNISON, then we could find a way through these job losses that will allow those to go who wish to and those who want to work to stay. But Management seem intent on sacking support staff and have refused to move from this position, even refusing UNISON’s invite to take talks to ACAS.

UNISON has a set of extremely reasonable demands, but it is obvious that words alone are not convincing Management of this. That is why we are recommending that every member votes YES in this Consultative Ballot. A Consultative Ballot is the first step to Industrial Action: we will be coming back to members in the future to discuss that action. We want a big YES vote and a high turnout to show Management we are serious about defending jobs and education.

UNISON believes that this dispute is at the crossroads: we can either escalate the dispute, or we can accept these job losses, the tearing up of our conditions and years of cuts that will destroy our University. When faced with that choice, UNISON believes that we should fight for our future and for the future of MMU. That is why we are looking for the biggest YES vote and the highest turnout possible in this ballot.

Vote YES for action to defend jobs and education

It’s time for action: come to the General Meetings and vote YES for a Ballot

Over the last three months, UNISON’s Negotiators have been making the case against Management’s proposed 127 job losses. The negotiations have been a frustrating experience. Management, in their latest moves, have ripped up an agreement over vacancies and have trampled on democracy by refusing permission for UNISON’s General Meetings to take place in work time and on MMU property – this is a clearly discriminatory move that makes it difficult for low-paid staff and those with caring responsibilities to attend these democratic forums.

Now that we are in the final week of the legal 90 day consultation period, Management are trying to push through all of their ‘policies’ for ‘mitigating’ redundancies with the minimum amount of discussion. The offers Management have made are detailed below. UNISON negotiators think they are pitifully low and are a designed as a superficial attempt to look like they care. The offers on the table are well below the agreements that existed in previous restructures (i.e. before the 16th November when the job cuts were announced) and fall well short of what we demanded of Management way back in December 2009.

What is clear is that Management want to stop UNISON from effectively defending its members by forcing through this current wave of job losses. We know that they are only the first wave of a programme of cuts that will fundamentally alter MMU, undermining education for decades to come. In order to force this project through and carry out further waves of job losses, Management want to beat us on this wave – that means compulsory redundancies, mass downgradings and the tearing up of previous agreements. It also means attacks on your trade union reps and our union democracy.

But there is a force that can stop management – you. By standing together against the job losses and education cuts, UNISON members can safeguard jobs and the future of MMU. This has happened at University and Colleges across the country – at London Met (where 800 compulsory redundancies were reduced to zero and the entire senior management team was sacked), at Tower Hamlets (where an all out, indefinite strike stopped all redundancies). What is clear is that where staff and trade unions have opposed the cuts and taken industrial action, they have won. That is why at the UNISON General Meetings this week, the Negotiating Team is recommending that members vote ‘yes’ to the call for a Ballot. A strong turnout and big YES vote at the General Meetings and the following ballots will show Management that we are serious about defending jobs and education.

The Next Steps: First stop General Meetings
The process that will see UNISON take industrial action in defence of jobs and education has a number of steps. There are a number of legal hurdles to jump over and, as is right, a number of democratic votes to be taken. The first of these steps takes place at the General Meetings this week and early next week, where a motion will be put to members about calling for a ‘Consultative Ballot’. The Negotiating Team is recommending a YES vote for this motion.

Consultative Ballot
If members choose to pass the motion for a Consultative Ballot through the democratic vote, then Consultative Ballot papers will be issued on Wed 17th February 2010. A Consultative Ballot is not a legally binding ballot but is almost a rehearsal for a full Industrial Action ballot and gives members a chance to make their thoughts on Industrial Action known. It is incredibly important that we get the biggest turnout possible for this ballot and hopefully a thumping YES vote for Industrial Action. If we do get this, we go onto the next stage, which is requesting a full legal Industrial Action Ballot from UNISON’s North West Region.

It is incredibly important that alongside the Consultative Ballot process that members complete and return their ‘Membership Audit’ forms to make sure that their membership details are up-to-date. As people will no doubt have seen in some high profile cases recently, employers have used injunctions based on incomplete membership data to deny the democratic decisions of ballots. UNISON doesn’t want to fall into this trap.

Industrial Action Ballot and Industrial Action
If a Consultative Ballot is successful and the Regional Secretary agrees, we will then proceed to an Industrial Action Ballot and, depending on the result of this second ballot, we will then take Industrial Action.

Throughout this entire time, UNISON Negotiators will be trying hard to move Management from the disgraceful position they have taken. We hope that the very real threat of Industrial Action will force them to take Support Staff concerns seriously and stop them from treating UNISON members with contempt.

Balloting and any subsequent Industrial Action is a serious step to take (one of the reasons why there are so many votes to endorse it). UNISON realises that any Action will have an affect on people’s lives and industrial relations at the University. But we also know that there is no other choice. If the Senior Management team at MMU continue to insist on a programme of cuts, downgradings and attacks on trade union rights, UNISON will be forced to take Industrial Action. The alternative is accepting years of cuts that will decimate staff at MMU and destroy the future of this University - every job will be potentially at risk and the quality of education provision will suffer. That is why we are calling on members to stand together and be prepared to fight for their jobs and for education.

Management’s offers and the terms of the dispute

No Compulsory Redundancies
Since the start of this dispute, UNISON has asked time again for a commitment from Management that there will be No Compulsory Redundancies. We firmly believe that we can achieve any required savings through a process of voluntary redundancies, early retirements and natural wastage. Management have consistently refused even to consider this option – dismissing it immediately every time we have raised it. This is the headline demand of the dispute because winning a commitment from Management of No Compulsory Redundancies will mean we can win all of our other demands (such as more attractive Voluntary severance scheme). It is also the demand that is most reasonable. By refusing to accept it, Management are not only being stubborn but are betraying the real political drive behind this wave of cuts – that what they really want is to destroy any future resistance to cuts by inflicting a defeat.

No Second-class Redundancy payments
Management have admitted that they have on file an existing Severance Scheme that is significantly better than the Statutory Minimum Redundancy payment. This scheme was used last year for Academics who wanted to leave. Management are refusing to apply that scheme for Support Staff who want to leave. Instead they have made a pathetic offer of a slightly augmented Enhanced Voluntary Redundancy Payment (see figures below). Management have put on the table an extra half-week’s pay per year worked above the statutory minimum. This offer only applies for those volunteering for redundancy and is clearly intended as the carrot (the stick being compulsory redundancy with the legal minimum payment). But even as a bribe, this carrot is pathetic. For a 21 year old, Grade 3 member of staff who has worked here for two years, the total enhanced Redundancy compensation will amount to £655 – half a months wage. Even for the same graded 49 year old member of full time staff who has given 20 years service to MMU, this ‘enhanced’ package amounts to only £13,097 – many years of hard work aren’t worth much to this Management. *

* these figures are based on a mid-scale Grade 3 member of staff and are calculated using Management’s proposed ‘enhanced’ scheme.

UNISON has made the quite reasonable demand that Support Staff should get the same treatment as lecturers – we should have access to the generous, ready made scheme that is sitting in Management’s top drawer. If such a scheme was applied, along with pensions enhancements, we could make the required staff savings easily and no-one would be forced out of work. Yet this demand has again been flatly refused by Management, showing the utter contempt with which they hold support staff.

Real Pay Protection
In previous Restructures, there has long been an agreed policy of salary protection for any member of staff that suffers a downgrading as a result of Management’s new structures. Under HERA, this protection was 4 years and in previous Restructures it was 2 years. Payment protection gives members of staff time to find alternative employment both inside and outside the University, so that they aren’t suddenly left with a huge cut in pay that could have serious consequences for the whole life (e.g. not being able to pay the mortgage). Last week, Management finally moved from no protection and offered the possibility of a paltry 3 months protection.

We don’t think this is anything close to good enough. What is interesting though is that Management offered the possibility of this protection because they’d looked at their finances and found there was more money there than they thought. Clearly, this small step in the right direction is the result of pressure brought about by the UNISON led campaign of staff and students. We can only wonder how much more money Management will find if we proceed to a ballot?

Travel Protection
This is one of the few demands that Management have seen sense on. They have decided to honour the existing agreement of two years travel protection for staff forced into additional travel costs as a result of a Restructure.

Retraining & Matching
The entire issue of retraining is one that Management have so far refused to discuss, despite it being a major theme of our demands since the 15th December and part of our official dispute with Management. The issue of retraining is intimately linked to the process of matching and ring-fencing people with jobs on the new structures and with redeployment. We don’t believe that any member of staff should have to apply for their own job. Equally, we believe that where an exact match cannot be made, it is the responsibility of the University to offer retraining to staff members so that they can take up new posts. Only by agreeing to this can Management seriously claim that they are seeking to avoid redundancies.

Linked into this demand is also the dispute over vacancies. We believe that vacancies should be held in an effort to avoid redundancies (with the exception of agreed ‘critical’ posts). Management disagree and have released all vacancies to the affected staff groups. If not filled, they intend to release Grade 5 and above vacancies externally – this is unacceptable to UNISON when members face redundancy.

For a real attempt to avoid redundancies
UNISON firmly believes that the Joint Trade Union proposal to Management on the 15th December 2009 can offer a way forward that will see every member get the best outcome for them. We also believe that these demands are both possible and reasonable. Yet Management seem intent on sticking to the legal minimum where possible, only offering more where the campaign to stop job losses has forced them to. This is unacceptable and we won’t stand by when Support Staff are treated as second class citizens and people are forced out of their jobs.

Preparing for Action: Build the Union

Preparing for Action and Building UNISON
Over the coming weeks, members will be asked a number of times about whether they wish to take Industrial Action to stop these job losses. The decision is a big one. But is a decision that is being forced on us by Management’s insistence on carrying out Compulsory Redundancies. We will have to rely on our own strength and determination as UNISON members if we are going to successfully defend jobs, education and the future of our University.

That means members taking an active role in the Branch: coming to General Meetings to have your say, filling out and returning Ballot papers and membership audit forms, reading newsletters and distributing them as widely as possible. Most importantly, though, it means asking everyone in your workplace or office to join UNISON. Anyone who wants to stop job losses, who wants to stand up for support staff and who wants to defend education needs to be a member of our union. To make that a reality, every member needs to take responsibility for recruiting to the union. Please print the attached membership form off and go around your workplace.

It is also crucial, in the current time, that everyone is kept informed and up-to-date, so any questions activists and members have should be fed into local Stewards.

With all that said, its next stop General Meetings – your first chance to have your say on the way forward – see you there:

REMINDER: AGGREGATE GENERAL MEETINGS

Thursday 11th February 2010 – All Saints Campus Meetings
All these meetings will take place in the Auditorium, Kings House Conference Centre, Sidney Street, opposite Sugden Sports Centre at the back of the Students’ Union:-
7.45 am – 8.45 am
12noon – 12.45pm
1.00 pm – 1.45 pm
4.30 pm – 5.30 pm

Friday 12th February 2010 – For other Manchester Sites
7.45 am – 8.45 am Peterloo Room, Mechanics Institute, Major St, Off Princess St
Most convenient for Members based at Aytoun Site
12noon – 12.45pm Birch Grove Community Centre, Brighton Grove
Most convenient for Members based at Hollings Site
1.00 pm – 1.45pm Didsbury Pub, Wilmslow Road, Opposite Didsbury Site

Monday 15th February – MMU Cheshire
7.45 am – 8.45 am Crewe Arms, Opposite Crewe Railway Station
11 am – 12.00 noon Alsager Comprehensive School, Opposite Alsager Site
1.00 pm – 1.45pm Crewe Arms, Opposite Crewe Railway Station
4.30 pm – 5.30pm Crewe Arms, Opposite Crewe Railway Station

Defend Jobs, Defend Education, Defend trade unionism at MMU

MASS PROTEST

Wednesday 10th February 2010, 12.15pm

Outside All Saints Building, Manchester
& At the Main Entrance to Crewe Campus, Cheshire

Last week, as reported in detail, Management ripped up the only agreement made with the Joint Trade Unions – to hold all vacancies in Grades 1 – 4 for staff at risk of compulsory redundancy. They also took a ‘management decision’ to release Grade 5 and above posts, against strong arguments from the Joint Trade Unions. These Management actions were completely unacceptable to UNISON. Also, last week Management tried to suppress UNISON’s free speech in our Site and Section meetings, with humour and imagination we overcame this issue.

This week, Management have excelled themselves by refusing UNISON the right to meet with our members in General Meetings to discuss and vote on the next steps in the campaign to save jobs. They have BANNED US from meeting YOU on University property and in ‘works time’.

UNISON is a democratic trade union and on any major issues we always meet with our members to take democratic decisions/votes on which way we wish to proceed. It is utterly unacceptable to UNISON that management are denying our members the right to meet with their democratically elected UNISON negotiators. Management are attempting to deny our members the right to democratically decide the next steps in the campaign.

This is a fundamental attack on all support staff and your trade union, UNISON.

Management foolishly believe that their repressive measures will halt UNISON’s campaign. UNISON, however know that the mood amongst our Members is one of anger. UNISON members will not be bullied in this way.

Therefore, UNISON is calling a mass protest. We will not be bullied by Management attacks and we will not be bullied into accepting Managements agenda of treating Support Staff as second class citizens in their campaign of job and education cuts. Instead, we will stand together in defence of jobs, education and for the future of MMU.

We are calling on ALL Staff and Students to join us next Wednesday 10th February at 12.15pm outside All Saints Building in Manchester & at the Main gates to Crewe campus in Cheshire, ahead of the scheduled negotiations starting at 1pm. We want to show Management that we are united in defence of jobs, education and Trade Unionism.

UNISON will not allow Management to infringe on our Democracy.

Due to the tight time scales we are working under (today we are day 80 of a 90 day consultation period) and the fact that Management have banned our UNISON General Meetings on University premises and in works time – UNISON has had no option but to decide to hold our General Meetings off campus, outside of ‘normal’ working hours.

Our highest priority is to give our members their democratic right and voice on which way forward for our Campaign to stop Job Losses and to Defend Education.

UNISON understands that members have many important commitments, such as childcare and caring arrangements, that make attendance at meetings difficult outside of work time – that is why we are so appalled that Management are banning our meetings.

However, we are a democratic Trade Union and feel that it is incredibly important that members get a say in where we should go next in our campaign to stop the cuts and job losses.

Therefore, we will be holding a series of meetings across the following sites:

Thursday 11th February 2010 – All Saints Site Meetings
7.45 am – 8.45 am All Saints

12noon – 12.45pm All Saints
1.00 pm – 1.45 pm All Saints

4.30 pm – 5.30 pm All Saints

Friday 12th February
7.45 am – 8.45 am Aytoun

12noon – 12.45pm Hollings
1.00 pm – 1.45pm Didsbury

Monday 15th February – MMU Cheshire
7.45 am – 8.45 am Crewe

11 am – 12.00 noon Alsager
1.00 pm – 1.45pm Crewe

4.30 pm – 5.30pm Crewe

We are currently endeavouring to book rooms, in locations close to these Sites, however if all else fails, have umbrella’s at the ready!!!

A full agenda for these meetings will be sent out on Friday 5th February.

Both the Protest at 12.15 pm on Wednesday 10th February 2010 outside of All Saints Building in Manchester and attendance at one of the above UNISON General Meetings is extremely important.

Please make every effort to attend

VACANCIES & ACAS - Negotiations Update

UNISON is angered that Management, last week, ripped up an agreement reached with the Joint Trade Unions in relation to vacancies in Grades 1 to 4 and seems intent on destroying the good industrial relations we have tried hard to maintain.

When MMU announced its intentions to cut jobs it was obliged to negotiate with the recognised trade unions in order to try and avoid or, at the least, reduce any losses as much as possible. Whilst there are potential redundancy situations it is vital that a serious and genuine redeployment procedure is put in place and Management work with the trade unions. Management have turned their backs on this and have begun releasing vacancies. The bank of vacancies that exists within MMU was a vital part of being able to avoid or reduce redundancies at the end of the 90 day period of negotiations.

In their decision to rip up the agreement and release these vacancies, Management have reduced the pool of posts from which alternative employment may have been found. As such, staff have been put in greater danger of redundancy, with a dwindling number of alternative employment opportunities available. We are appalled at the direction Management have decided to take on this matter.

It seems to us that Management are determined to force through compulsory redundancies – backing away from taking a common sense approach to vacancies and working in partnership with the unions can’t be read as anything other than Management washing their hands of their obligation to engage in meaningful negotiations working towards avoiding job losses.

In breaking the agreement to hold vacancies back, Management have given us no choice but to extend the trades dispute that we’re in to cover this issue. This amounts to a serious escalation of the dispute.

We also regret to inform members that despite UNISON asking for ACAS to be brought into negotiations in order to try and avoid the escalation of the issue to the most serious of levels, Management have refused this request.

UNISON has previously entered into dispute with management over the proposed job losses. We have now added the issue of vacancies to the list of issues we are in dispute over. We believe that our demands are entirely reasonable and are the minimum that any responsible employer should adhere to, if it was really serious about avoiding compulsory redundancies.

The issues under dispute are:

1. Failure to agree on a position of no compulsory redundancies, and the adoption of an avoidance of redundancy approach.
2. For the University to give a real commitment to holding job vacancies within the University with a view of seeking reasonable alternative employments and a commitment to delivering training to avoid redundancies.
3. For a commitment, as in previous restructures, to protect for a minimum of two years any staff member that suffer a loss of salary as a result of these restructure.
4. For a commitment for the same terms applied to Academic Members of Staff to be applied to Support Staff in relation to voluntary redundancy/severance packages.
5. In the event of agreed voluntary redundancies, a three month notice period will apply to all staff.

UNISON thinks these demands are entirely reasonable. We also expect management to allow us to bring in ACAS as a third party in these negotiations.

UNISON will be seeking to meet members in the very near future to discuss the next steps in our campaign to save jobs and education at MMU. In the meantime, we need to show that staff are united in their opposition to the cuts. That means every member of UNISON recruiting to the union and helping to build it as a strong force on campus – take the attached membership form around everyone in your office and encourage people to fight to defend jobs and education.


ADVICE FOR STAFF IN THE 5 AFFECTED AREAS:

UNISON is appalled at management’s actions in releasing these vacancies and although we wish to stop it and hold the vacancies to mitigate redundancies, we cannot ignore the fact that management are releasing them. Therefore, we are advising staff in the affected areas to apply for any posts they think they have the skills set for. It is crucial that members keep UNISON informed throughout the process.

UNISON enters into dispute with MMU

As part of the ongoing campaign to stop the job losses and cuts at MMU, UNISON’s Branch Executive unanimously agreed to enter into dispute with Management at its meeting on Wednesday 20th January 2010.

Since the 16th November 2009, members across the campus have built a vibrant and vocal campaign to protest against the proposed job losses. We have mobilised hundreds of members, staff and students in lobbies, protests and mass meetings. Members should be proud of this campaign and its achievements.

The campaign has won concessions – most notably, allowing UNISON access to financial information and indications that further negotiations will take place around our other reasonable minimum demands.

However, Management have so far refused to give us a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. They have similarly refused to match the terms of the academic redundancy scheme or give concrete examples of their current position on issues such as pay protection.

In light of the above and with no concrete improvements on the table from Management, UNISON has decided to enter into dispute. We have done so because we believe words alone will not compel management to commit to no compulsory redundancies. From this central demand flow all our other demands on no downgrading, payment protection and retraining.

UNISON will be holding a series of Site and Sector meetings this week across MMU. Thesewill provide the opportunity for members to receive a report back on the consultations sofar and ask questions on progress to date. All members are strongly encouraged to attend.

We are also encouraging all members to take responsibility for building UNISON. Unless we stop this first round of cuts, no-one’s job at MMU is safe and we will be condemning every member of staff to years of education cuts. To stop them we need a strong fighting union – that means getting active in UNISON and encouraging every member of support staff to join.

Entering into dispute is the next step in our campaign to stop the job cuts. We want to send Management a clear message that we will not accept compulsory redundancies. If we send that message together then we stand every chance of defending our jobs and defending education.

No ifs, no buts: no education cuts!

Joint Trade Union Statement 15/12/09

Joint Trade Union Statement to Management:

The Trade Union side has seen nothing in the course of our consultations that justifies the proposed 127 job losses or the urgency with which management insist on carrying them out. On the contrary, as planned restructures, the trade unions believe that these changes should be open to negotiation in the same way as all other restructures and with the same guarantees over protection and avoidance of compulsory redundancies.

In the light of this, this document clearly states the minimum agreement that the trade unions would expect a reasonable employer to abide by. Once we have agreement on these points, we can begin the process of negotiating through the restructures. We believe that it is an entirely reasonable request to remove the threat of compulsory redundancies, to open the books and to have a full and open discussion about the future of the University.

The Joint Trade Union demands are:-

• No compulsory redundancies
• Open the books. Give us detailed financial information on the University so that we can construct real alternatives to job losses and engage in constructive and meaningful consultation. To support the achievement of these aims the Joint Trade Union demands are:-

(a) For the University to re-confirm a commitment for open and transparent ring-fencing and matching discussion with a view to avoiding redundancies

(b) For the University to give a real commitment to seeking reasonable alternative employments and to commit to delivering training.

(c) Salary and travel protection for all. As in previous restructures, we expect the University to give a minimum of two year’s protection for any loss of salary or extra expenses occurring due to travel.

(d) No second class voluntary redundancy pay. No separate schemes for support staff and academics, we want support staff to be treated the same as academics.

(e) In the event of agreed voluntary redundancies, a three month notice period will apply to all staff.

The Joint Trade Unions are requiring a written response from Management by 3.00 pm on Friday 18th December 2009 on the above points, in order to allow meaningful consultation to commence on the avoidance of redundancies.

Report from the Mass Lobby and Cheshire Protests

5300 (and counting) call for vote of No Confidence in the VC

Office workers rattled paperclip holders, kitchen staff beat the bottom of empty bins with spoons; one worker even banged two empty water cooler bottles together in rhythm as they chanted 'no ifs, no buts, no education cuts.'

At least 400 staff turned out in the pouring rain and cold to make their voices heard outside the Board of Governors meeting that was taking place inside the Ormond Building. Carrying placards that read, 'No Confidence In The Leadership Of The VC,' the message was crystal clear: the staff of MMU have had enough of the mismanagement they have seen and will not blindly follow in the direction the VC and his most senior managers are trying to take them. Similar protests took place at the main entrances to Crewe and Alsager sites, where over 60 people protested at each.
The Chair of the Board of Governors refused to come and speak to the gathered staff of MMU; so a UNISON delegation was sent up to deliver a petition of 5319 names of MMU stakeholders calling on the Board to remove the VC and stop the proposed job losses.

Petitions continue to flood in, over 5300 staff and students have registered their view that the VC's position is untenable and that they do not accept the proposed job cuts are necessary. This is an astonishing number of signatures in just one week! There can be no doubt about the near-universal feeling on campus - the VC must go, and take his awful corporate 'vision' of the future with him.

MOOD CAN NOT BE HIDDEN
On the morning of the lobby, the UNISON office received many reports that there had been a sweep of buildings to remove all notices and newsletters about the situation at MMU. The attempt to conceal the feeling of staff from the Board of Governors was made to look pathetic by the hundreds of members of staff who turned up outside the meeting and made a thunderous sound.

In Ormond Building itself, notices about the call for a vote of No Confidence were consistently collected and kept out of the way of Governors - some were ripped up and left on top of a toilet.
In the end management and the Board of Governors failed to come and face staff and show them the respect they deserve. If staff and their recognised trade unions are treated with contempt, what choice do they have but to stand up to be counted?

The mood last Friday at both Manchester & Cheshire was inspirational: Staff will fight for their livelihoods, students will fight for the services that support staff give them, and together staff and students will fight the 'vision' the VC is trying to inflict upon us. After such an awesome turn-out, management can not claim to be unaware of how staff feel about the current situation.

Pictures from the Mass Lobby, including pictures of the Crewe protest, can be seen online at http://bit.ly/4sh9b9

The Manchester Evening News article is online at http://bit.ly/4xwqcu


Below is a video taken by one of student activists:

UNISON MMU announces call for Vote of No Confidence in the leadership of the VC

UNISON MMU has launched a vote of No Confidence in the leadership of our Vice Chancellor. Below we set out the reasons why. This petition will be handed in at mass lobby of the Board of Governors:

On Friday 27th November, the Board of Governors (an independent body that overseas the running of MMU) is meeting on the All Saints campus. The joint trade unions have called for a mass lobby of the Board of Governors meeting. The purpose of this is to encourage the Governors to carry out our demands to:

• Call for a vote of No Confidence in the leadership of the VC
• Stop the proposed compulsory redundancies

Mass Lobby of the
MMU Board of Governors

Friday 27th November
12.30pm (Lunchtime Rally)
Corner of All Saints Park
Outside Ormond Building

Why we are calling for a vote of No Confidence in the Vice Chancellor

On Friday 27th November, the Board of Governors (an independent body that overseas the running of MMU) is meeting on the All Saints campus. The joint trade unions have called for a mass lobby of the Board of Governors meeting. The purpose of this is to encourage the Governors to carry out the demands in the attached position:

• From the very beginning, the joint trade unions have opposed the proposed job cuts. We want the Board of Governors to overturn this decision.

• UNISON is calling for a vote of No Confidence in the Vice Chancellor. If this is passed, this vote would be a powerful boost to our argument that the job losses are not necessary and are really the result of his management strategy.

UNISON is calling for a vote of No Confidence in the Vice Chancellor because we think the current round of attacks, cuts and job losses are the result of his management decisions. In his open meetings, the VC tried to blame funding cuts for the job losses. In reality, though, the VC has manipulated the budgets to create a bigger deficit on paper than really exists - the University is rich but his priority isn’t jobs. On top of this, we have seen the addition of growing layers of senior management. Worse of all, a series of restructures imposed by management across support staff structures within the University have left us with systems unfit for purpose, overworked staff and a culture of bullying to cover the cracks in management strategy.

This has left us with a University that has a £7 million budget deficit, an estates strategy that is being constantly scaled back and declining league table positions. The Vice Chancellor is trying to make support staff pay the costs of his mistakes– with their jobs and livelihoods. UNISON and the other campus trade unions have a different vision of what MMU should look like – that’s why we are challenging the VC's strategy and why we have no confidence in his leadership.

Joint Trade Union Statement in response to proposed redundancies at MMU

The trades unions at Manchester Metropolitan University – UNISON, GMB, UCU – have this morning been notified of proposals for redundancies, initially of 127 support staff. We are outraged at this news and wish to make it clear to the public, the students and the staff of MMU, that we do not accept the need for these drastic measures and that we intend to resist any and all compulsory redundancies.

We have not been given evidence of any immediate financial crisis at MMU that could be used to justify such job losses. We have been told that this current and future governments are likely to reduce public spending in future, and this may require efficiency savings in universities. In this situation what is needed is a clear vision for the future of the university and a consistent dialogue with staff trades unions about how to develop the organization. Instead we are faced by a reduction in trades union facilities, in a clear attack on trade union organisation at Manchester Metropolitan University.

We will be consulting our members on a vote of No Confidence in the Vice-Chancellor. The current senior management team have presided over a chaotic re-organisation of administrative structures; and a series of u-turns on the university strategy for campus development. We have no confidence in their ability to take the University forward or in their justifications for redundancies.

Redundancies amongst support staff will have a negative impact on the experience students have whilst at University. Students deserve decent services and these need to be adequately staffed. Many of our staff live locally and this proposal will also damage the university’s reputation in the local community.

At a time when billions of pounds of public money has been spent on propping up the banking system, we need to fund our universities too. Higher education is more than ever about providing a future for our young people and for our communities – MMU has a proud tradition of widening participation and this is something the trades unions intend to defend. The trade union vision for this university is one where students really do come first, where people are seen as more important than buildings, and where staff are recognized for their commitment to education.

We will fight to defend jobs and education.