London Met University staff in UNISON are balloting for industrial action this week, in a battle against job cuts. They have the full backing of both the Students’ Union and the academic union, UCU, who are also balloting their members.

The university has been rocked by controversial plans by the new Vice Chancellor Malcolm Gillies, to cut courses by 70 per cent. These new closures follow announcements to close other essential services such as the last remaining nursery, the Learning Development Unit, the Print Centre and dozens more cuts.

The latest redundancy notice served to the unions, a ‘Section 188’, brings the total so far this academic year to almost 200 proposed job cuts. The university is now slashing Library staff, Student Services, support workers and counsellors who help the most disadvantaged students at London Met who have learning disabilities, mental health issues and other vulnerabilities.

Max Watson, Chairperson of the London Met UNISON branch, which represents these support staff, and National Executive Council (NEC) member for Higher Education, said:

“We’ve made our position clear from day one: talk to the unions seriously, with transparent, open negotiations and genuinely explore ways to avoid compulsory redundancies. Instead, they’ve torn up any agreements we had, and trashed what precious little good will they had left.

“Our members have indicated time and again that we’re not going to accept these cuts lying down. The proposed statutory minimum terms add insult to injury. We’re saying: enough already! If management continue to ignore our reasonable demands in such brutish fashion, then we are left with no choice but to take strike action. I’ve no doubt our members will vote yes and I hope that management will think carefully about what that means when they do.”

Jon Richards, UNISON’s National Head of Higher Education, states:

“Cutting support staff is a short sighted mistake which will mean more work for academics and a poorer service for students. Students want more than just contact time with lecturers. And as fees rise students will expect improved resources: better library, information and guidance services; improved pastoral care in a secure environment; and quality catering and cleaning services. London Met needs to ask itself if it can satisfy this otherwise students in the future may simply decide to go elsewhere.”

Claire Locke, president elect of the Student’s Union, said:

“The Students’ Union noted in the Student Written Submission to the Quality Assurance Agency 2010 that the redundancy policy in 2009 impacted on the learning experience of students and went as far as to say that the University had let the student body down in relation to their educational experience. How the University intends to mitigate against this happening again bearing in mind the severity of the pending cuts is unknown.”

“Students recognise how damaging the universities plans will be to our institution. The Student Council passed a motion in support of staff taking industrial action giving the Students’ Union a clear mandate to actively support staff.”

The ballot closes on Friday 10th June, and the results will be published shortly afterwards and any action will be coordinated with the UCU.

Following the address to staff from Malcolm Gillies and other members of the senior management team this week, many unanswered questions still remain. To see a list of UNISON’s questions relating to the current compulsory redundancy proposals, and cuts to courses, download the file below.

Questions to Gillies, Bowler, etc 24th May

UNISON Ballot paper from ERS

Today (Wednesday) the ballot for industrial action opens. Members will shortly receive a ballot paper (that looks like this image, left) at their home address. Accompanying the ballot paper will be a document laying out the Branch’s reasons for holding a strike ballot, and why members are encouraged to vote “Yes”. You can download the document at the link below.

London Met Ballot-Supplementary Paper

Add your name to the many signatures that have already been collected in support of our petition to save London Met. We need as many supporters as possible to make their voice heard about how the cuts are affecting the services for students, and conditions for staff.

Please sign the petition at the link below, and ask your colleagues, friends and family to do the same.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-london-metropolitan-university.html

UNISON members will soon be balloted for strike action and action short of a strike, in our dispute with management over proposed redundancies. It is imperative that union members stand together and send a clear message to management that compulsory redundancies are unnecessary and that the statutory minimum terms are unfair.

Please download the poster below and put it up in your office, workplace and notice boards around the university. Encourage your colleagues to VOTE YES in the ballot!

Early Day Motion 1805

Please contact your MP and ask them to sign the EDM 1805 calling on the government to speak to London Met and seek a pause in the planned cuts.

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/1805

To find out who your MP is and how to contact them, go here:

http://www.writetothem.com/

We suggest you could say something like this:

*Subject:* Please sign EDM 1805: London Metropolitan University and reductions in higher education funding

*Comments: *

Dear INSERT MP NAME,

I am writing to you as a constituent and as a member of UNISON about the situation at London Metropolitan University.

London Metropolitan University are planning to axe around 70 percent of the courses they offer, including cutting all courses in humanities subjects like history, philosophy and performing arts. UNISON understands the financial pressure institutions are under after the government announcement to remove all state funding from ‘non priority’ subjects and cut the teaching grant by 80%, but do not believe that cutting seven out of every ten courses is the right response for staff, students or the institution. We are calling on the management of LMU to reconsider their decision and to sit down with all LMU stakeholders to look for alternative solutions that will ensure a stable future for the institution.

What is happening at London Met is especially worrying because it is an institution with a good track record on widening participation. We are very concerned that students from ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds will be the first to see their choices reduced and their route into education cut off.

Cuts at London Met will also have national implications. If other institutions follow this approach, subjects such as arts, humanities and philosophy will simply cease to be offered in many areas. Only a narrow range of highly profitable subjects that can finance themselves through student fees will remain. This is not only deeply unfair, it is a very dangerous situation for a world-class higher education system like ours.

Please support Early Day Motion 1805 (http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/1805) which calls for the government to speak to London Met and seek a pause in the planned cuts in order to properly engage with all stakeholders and find an alternative solution – one which offers a stable future for all involved.
Yours sincerely*, *

*INSERT NAME*

[your address]

UNISON are offering free English classes for non-native speakers, in particular to the university’s Spanish speaking cleaning and catering staff, etc.

A poster with details (in Spanish) can be downloaded below.

Urgent all-member meetings have been arranged for May 24th and May 25th to discuss the proposed 86 compulsory redundancies. Download the leaflet with details below.

For immediate release:

Friday 13th – Nightmare on London Met Street

Yesterday, Thursday May 12th, the university announced a further round of a total of 86 job cuts, this time deliberately targeting support staff. They include Library staff and student support staff – which could mean counsellors, disabilities advisor or other crucial support workers.

It also includes in the Finance department staff, despite the university being in serious financial difficulties – you’d think we’d need all the help in that team we can get.

The proposals – all out of the blue, all of them without prior consultation with the staff themselves and all of them compulsory job cuts at statutory minimum levels.

Max Watson, Chair of the UNISON Branch at London Met, which represents the support staff facing these recent cuts, said:

“These cuts to London Met staff are ideological, an attack on London Met and all that we stand for. These deep cuts at London Met are a result of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, so it’s a bitter irony that we received the news of this latest round of cuts by a former investment banker.”

“The university appears to have adopted a method of cutting off its arms and legs to save its body.

“Student Service support workers, Librarians, Administrators – we are all vital components of a university that functions well. Just as a university worth its salt should teach philosophy and history, we also need IT technicians, course administrators and secretaries to facilitate the learning experience.

“The are attacks on Student Support services condemns our most vulnerable students – who have disabilities, learning support needs, and are stressed with work, life and study pressures.

“UNISON will not allow these cuts to go ahead without a fight. We have warned the university time and again that they ignore our staff at their peril, and they’ve apparently not listened to a word we’ve said.

“It may well be time to speak the only language they understand – action sometimes speaks louder than words. We have already held an indicative ballot on industrial action and we are exploring all options open to us at this time.”

UNISON has over 400 members at London Met, working in in all sections covered by the the current proposed redundancies.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

UNISON represents support staff at London Met, either directly employed by the University or by private contractors. We negotiate for better pay and conditions collectively — for all of the support staff, UNISON members or not — we help individuals in trouble and campaign for a fairer, better society.

Contact Max Watson, Chairperson, for more info:

07793145754

Below is the text of an open letter sent by UNISON to VC Malcolm Gillies, highlighting the issue of anomalies within the terms and conditions of front-of-house staff:

Friday, 13 May 2011

Dear Malcolm,

Re:      What future for Front of House Staff?

In 2002 London Met Uni was established as a merger between London Guildhall University and the University of North London and the terms and conditions / job descriptions of almost all groups of equivalent staff were merged in one way or another: Except for the front house staff

For them there is an outstanding anomaly. And for the last five years there has been an ongoing ‘review’ into their structure, job descriptions and so on. In the north there are receptionists and security guards and porters and post room staff, but in the City you have school keepers, who do all those duties. There are in addition ongoing differences in pay and conditions e.g .the North Campus staff are paid an ‘attendance allowance’, but not in the City.

As you also know, there has been a recruitment freeze and non-replacement of staff for the last at least three years – and an agency, SGC Facilities management, (who pay as little as £6 per hour), are used to fill the gap. The service is not the same standard nor is it cost effective.

You received a written final report of that review last summer and staff were told it would be published and consulted on ‘imminently’. Since then, however, we were told that review would be superseded by the Business Processes Review, and yet that review failed to address the front of house staff. Our members have had enough waiting for the never ending review to conclude. Like a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, they have watched their work mates of several years leave and only to be replaced by temporary agency staff.

In effect, whilst there are so many agency staff, there is now a two tier workforce, a de facto part-privatisation. UNISON has already presented our views on bringing staff in house and presented a good business case for this (see our submissions to the Business Process Reviews). UNISON believes that those staff, and all of us staff who value them, have a right to know: what is their future?

When will you and your representatives meet with a delegation of our members to discuss this as a matter of urgency?

Regards,

Max Watson                          Allan Pike

Chairperson                          Branch Secretary

This letter was also signed by the majority of schoolkeepers, security guards and receptionists at both campuses.

UNISON has also called for a full, urgent investigation into allegations of external “thugs” used during the student occupation of the Graduate Centre. See the blog post here: http://wearelondonmet.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/no-more-external-thugs-only-london-met-security-on-site/