What we do
Our role is to represent the interests of our members, whether individually or collectively, and to raise awareness amongst staff and the university more widely about workplace problems affecting AU staff and the HE sector.
Our aims are to grow membership of the branch, encourage participation and active involvement of members in the work of the union, to support staff experiencing problems in the workplace, to work with, and advocate for members at AU management forums.
Our support is provided by case officers who work with individual staff, part-time administration and legal support staff, an array of representatives of the membership on university forums dealing with matters affecting staff employment, safety and development.
UCU generally tries to resolve members’ problems through negotiation, usually at a local level. However, in situations that require access to legal support your UCU membership can entitle you to apply for free legal support. However, you will not be entitled to support for issues that arise before you join, so it is important that you join before you need advice, and that you keep your subscriptions paid at the correct level for your earnings.
In the event of industrial action:
- the local branch works to help members enforce their legal rights to withdraw or regulate their labour, including action short of a strike.
- striking involves withdrawal of labour, and with it pay for days not worked.
- the national union holds a ‘fighting fund’ that can be used to compensate workers for some pay lost due to strike action. This is not equivalent to full pay but is designed to ensure strikers can participate and continue to pay bills.
- the local branch also holds a reserve fighting fund that it may make available to support members in extreme hardship
Solidarity
As an individual member of UCU you share mutual goals and obligations to improve the conditions of your colleagues, workplace and wider society. Working together within a union we seek to identify common solutions to common challenges experienced by members and to advocate practical ways to implement these.
A union can only represent its members. The more members the more influence it has in the workplace.
If you are not a member but experience a problem in the workplace the union is not able to support you unless you have become a member prior to the problem occurring. In other words ‘join your union’ if you are not a member already!
What could YOU do?
Our union is only as strong as its members. That’s us – but it’s also you. It’s not hard to contribute to what we’re doing and it requires a relatively small time commitment – volunteer to become a departmental rep, join a sub-group, engage in meetings, express your view, encourage colleagues to join. Any of these makes a difference.