University and College Union

UCU

University and College Union
Founded	2006-06-01
Members	116,000 (on formation)
Country	United Kingdom
Affiliation	TUC, ICTU
Key people	Sally Hunt (General Secretary)
Office location	London, UK

The University and College Union (UCU) is a UK trade union formed from the 2006 merger of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE).

The union was formed on 1 June 2006. For the first year a set of transitional rules was in place until full operational unity was achieved in June 2007. The union has around 116,000 members and is the largest further and higher education union in the world.

During the first year of the new union the existing General Secretaries (Sally Hunt and Paul Mackney) remained in post, managing the union’s day to day business jointly. Paul Mackney did not stand for General Secretary of UCU due to ill-health and Sally Hunt was elected the first General Secretary of the new union on 9 March 2007, and took office on 1 June 2007.

The logo of the new union was designed by London design group sans+baum.^[1]

The group has been routinely criticized for its repeated selective targeting of Israeli academics for boycott (see below).

[edit] 2006 HE industrial action

the demonstration on the first day of the new union

Until the merger, AUT and NATFHE members in higher education were involved in ongoing 'action short of a strike' - including boycotting setting and marking exams, and 'Mark and Park' where members would mark coursework but do not release marks and this action continued under the UCU banner. Lecturers were taking industrial action over issues of pay, and the gap that has grown up over the last 20–30 years between their remuneration and that of other similarly qualified public-sector professionals. Prime Minister Tony Blair promised that a significant percentage of new monies released for universities would be put towards lecturers' pay and this had not happened.

AUT and NATFHE rejected an offer of 12.6% over three years which was made on the 8th of May^[2] and a further offer of 13.12% over three years made on 30 May ^[3][4].

Concerns grew that students would not be able to graduate that year (2006).^[5] The National Union of Students' leadership supported the lecturers' action and although the matter was raised at various meetings NUS support for lecturers was never successfully challenged. In response to feedback from a group of students' unions NUS advised AUT/NATFHE (UCU) that their support for action could not be indefinite and was wholly dependent on seeking a fast resolution. Many students' unions from around the country went further and openly condemned the action taken by the lecturers' unions as holding the students to ransom.

To support the industrial action the new union, on its very first day of existence, organised a 'day of solidarity' by its higher education members. This included a demonstration in London which ended with a lobby at the headquarters of the employers' body, the Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (Ucea) ^[6][7]

Following further talks on 6 June between UCU and UCEA, sponsored by the TUC and Acas, the UCU agreed to ballot members on the 13.1% offer (with an increase of around 15% for lower paid members of non-academic university staff) over three years, with the important proviso that any monies docked from striking lecturers would be repaid and that an independent review would consider the mechanisms for future negotiations and the scope of funding available to universities for future pay settlements. The pay increase will be phased over the three years, with the final year's figure subject to further increase in line with inflation. The boycott of assessment was suspended on 7 June.^[8][9]

[edit] Boycott of Israeli academic institutions

Since 2007, the UCU has been involved in controversy over boycotting Israeli academia.

[edit] Privatisation of education

UCU is campaigning against private finance initiatives and joint ventures, such as those proposed by INTO University Partnerships.

[edit] UCU Left caucus

UCU Left is a grouping within the union dominated by the Socialist Workers Party^[10] which takes a broad view of what the union should consider within its remit (including such issues as tuition fees, funding for higher education and the Israel/Palestine conflict) whereas its opponents argue for a focus on "bread and butter" issues such as pay and conditions.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• University and College Union official website
• Joint AUT–NATFHE press release
• Opposition to proposed UCU anti-Israel academic boycott
• British Academic Union passes Motion to consider Boycotting Israel
• UCU Left website

Organized labour portal