Categories
Branch Meeting Community and Charity

Charity Donation – A.C.E.

A.C.E Logo

At our recent Branch meeting we approved a donation of £350 to local Charity A.C.E – Achieve, Change, Engagement – to support their links with Lancaster City U18s. Below you can find out more about the charity and how the money will be spent.

We are seeking support for a local charity through the sponsorship of a football team based at Lancaster City.

Firstly, the charity, A-C-E (Achieve Change and Engagement) are a charity supporting young people aged between 11 and 25 with mental health and wellbeing problems, offering one to one support and therapy. As you will appreciate, times such as we are experiencing can have serious effects on young people. The charity supports over 350 young people at any one time and often have a waiting list of over 60.

We are hoping to provide the charity with an opportunity to increase their visibility in the local area and raise vital funds by linking them with the second of the organisations, Lancaster City FC U18’s football team. The team progressed from a local football development center and will represent Lancaster City FC in the North West Youth Alliance League playing fixtures across the north west of England as well as the national FA Youth Cup. Our hope is that a number of local supporters will become involved in both the charity and the football team.

The intention would be that the football team would wear shirts with the A.C.E logo. We have also secured a page within the Lancaster City first team match day programme next season to promote the supporters of this initiative.

We are hopeful that we can not only provide A.C.E with increased exposure through the shirt sponsorship, company links and social media but we would also be able to make a financial contribution to their ongoing support costs.  With your support, young people in the local area will be able to continue to access the excellent services offered by ACE and the team can continue with their football development. If you wish to discuss opportunities to become one of our supporters, do feel free to telephone or email.

Categories
Branch Meeting

Branch Meeting 02/06/21

Birds on a Branch

The Branch held a meeting on 2nd June 2021 to update members on current issues, including the latest Pay Offer, and to make a nomination for the Unite General Secretary.

Chairs Update from Andy Baker

  • This was the 2nd online Branch meeting and hopefully the last. We are looking at holding an in-person branch meeting next time dependent on how the situation evolves over the coming months.
  • Unite Reps are getting involved in as much as possible across campus, influencing conversations about return to work and reimagining campus etc. We’re working with council and are involved in the Health and Safety Review.
  • Retirement and other changes have affected membership numbers so it’s important for us to bring in more members where we can. Increased membership increases our collective voice and influence in the meetings and discussions reps get involved in.

Pay

Final offer from UCEA is 1.5% for grade point 22 and above with a sliding scale of 1.54 – 3.6% for points below 22. The national committee is meeting to discuss their thoughts on accepting or rejecting the offer ahead of a consultative ballot.

Reps expenses and Charity Donations

Branch approved a daily allowance of £25 per day for reps attending training and meetings away from campus. Days can be long and this allowance will help cover basic meals and hot drinks. Branch also approved two charity donations to A-C-E (Achieve, Change and Engagement) in Lancaster and AFC Masters in Bolton – more information available in separate news articles.

Categories
Member Benefits

Unite Free Will Service

  • Unite Legal Services Free Will Service is available to all members once they have been a member of the Union for 13 weeks.
  • The service enables you to have a simple Will prepared free of charge by a legal professional.
  • Using a high street solicitor to make a Will can prove to be expensive
  • Our experts will guide you through the Will writing process, explaining the stages clearly to you.
Categories
Rep Update

Retirement & Pensions

Retirement is one of the most complex times of our life we will experience but strangely it one of the ones we have the most time to plan. We start work whilst in our younger years and retirement seems to be far in the future and so planning for it takes a back seat. We enjoy life and before we know it we are receiving long service awards, and reminiscing saying “when I was younger we could buy fish and chips and have change out of £5”.
Its important, what ever stage of life you are in, you take a step back and look at what provisions you have in place for retirement. Working here at Lancaster we have pension schemes that are supported by the employer and these vary depending on your role at the University. Your pension is specific to you and no two pensions will be the same and so this makes it seem complex, however, understanding the value of your pension and what benefits are associated with it is paramount.
To enable someone to give advice on financial matters they have to comply with strict legal controls. There are things you can do for yourself, however:

  • You can find out how much state pension you could get can here.
  • If you are on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) you can then get a further forecast using the following link

Once you have registered and got onto the site you may have further questions. If it’s general advice, and not financial, then please contact our Pensions Rep – Kev Wallis (k.wallis@lancaster.ac.uk) – who will be able to help explain.

You may then decide you would like additional funds for retirement and would like to find out about Additional Voluntary Contributions AVC’s run by Prudential for LGPS.

Members who are on the USS pension scheme may also have many questions, if you forward them to Kev, we will endeavour to find the relevant people to speak to.

Plan for the future now, tomorrow quickly becomes the past!

Categories
University Community

Young Staff Network

Young Staff Network Logo

A staff network aimed at supporting younger members of staff early on in their careers has been launched. The self-run group will provide a space for members to learn from their peers, professionals and other network groups both internal and external to the University, as well as signposting to useful resources. The network will also act as an independent, informal and supportive space for younger staff from across the University to meet, share experiences and socialise.
Membership is open to all permanent and temporary Lancaster University staff and PGR students that define themselves as in the
younger staff bracket, typically those under 30 years of age, but the network is very happy to welcome anyone above this age who feel
they would benefit from becoming a member.
You can also join the Young Staff Network Microsoft Teams Group and follow the network on Twitter @LancsYoungstaff

Categories
Rep Update

Cleaners News

News on Coats

Thank you all for returning the survey forms, they have provided us with valuable information we pursue with the University on your
behalf. The lack of information, the poor quality of information that had been passed out had no continuity and so resulted in it giving
mixed messages cause distress and anxiety to many of our fellow cleaners. The issue around workload being increased due to covering
for our colleagues was also apparent . This was hampered by an already increased work load due to the pandemic and the constant
need of cleaning touch points etc.


We also would like to let all know that your union will be having monthly meetings with the Facilities managers (Alan and Karen), and
this gives us an opportunity to raise and discuss outstanding issues. It is important that any issues in the first instance are addressed
with your supervisor, and if you cannot get any satisfaction please contact me, or any other Unite reps and we will assist you on
addressing the issue.

Unite has been working hard on your behalf to improve YOUR working conditions for many years. We have worked with the University,
and it certainly hasn’t been easy, to provide all cleaners with an outdoor coat. This is a costly exercise and so it has been agreed it will be
done on a staggered process, to enable the budgets to sustain the investment. You will soon start to see or hear about people getting
their coat, don’t panic you will get one however it could be that you are in the next phase of the purchase. If you have any comments or
questions, drop me a line.

Phillip Demmen (p.demmen@lancaster.ac.uk)

Categories
Health & Safety

International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) 2021

Workers Memorial Day Banner

Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic “accidents”. They die because an
employer decided their safety just wasn’t that important a priority.
International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) commemorates those workers.
Unite has a dedicated team of Health & Safety Reps who on your behalf investigate accidents or near miss reports you submit. It is
important that you request a copy of the form to be sent to your Health and Safety Representative when you submit a form to the
University. You don’t have to be a member of our union to get the incident investigated independently, just tick the box. It’s essential we
report all accidents of incidents to the employer, and this form can be found using this link

Trade unions DO make a difference, and WE are the union.
Workplaces where there are unions are safer workplaces! (TUC)

Categories
Newsletter

Spring Newsletter 2021

Welcome


Well we have here the third edition of our newsletter and the 2nd online branch meeting in the planning stage. We are all getting used
to seeing each other on screens and so we are hopefully planning our summer branch meeting to be face to face where we can enjoy
some summer sun and some more traditional features of a Unite branch meeting.
We have a busy time ahead with the election of a new General Secretary for Unite, and you will soon be receiving information around
that. Its important that we influence the direction we want our Union to go in and so we will be involving and informing you as it
progresses.
We will in turn have our branch elections where we elect all our branch officials. We have recently had so say goodbye to some of our
reps as they have either retired or moved onto pastures new, and so as always we are looking for new reps to join our team. You may
have interests in employment issues, health & safety, green, equalities, pensions, communications etc. and would like to join the reps
here at Lancaster making a difference, then get in touch and we will answer any questions you have in becoming a rep. If this is more
involved than you want to be but you are interested, then a point of contact could be a solution, and again contact us and we will
explain the role.
The reps we have currently work hard on your behalf and we have seen many positive results with ongoing issues. There is no doubt
that Unite does make a difference and does support many members through difficult times.
We do need to recruit new members and it doesn’t matter what your role is on campus, Unite is the union of choice. If you recruit a
new member there is a scheme in place where you get a reward for each person once the complete the qualifying period.
Well take care and see you at the upcoming branch meeting.

BRANCH MEETING
The next branch meeting will be advertised very soon via email.
It’s the perfect opportunity to ensure all your details are up to date.
Has your – Home address changed?
Telephone number changed?
Mobile phone number changed?
Email changed?
Or just check you contact details are correct
then contact Eamon ASAP (e.mclaughlin@lancaster.ac.uk).

On Going Corner—Updates

  • VC Gifted Holidays – The grievance submitted around this issue has now been passed to an independent person from Leeds University to review the information submitted by the employer. Unite hasn’t been asked directly to submit any information to the independent person at this time.
  • Period Dignity -The campaign has continued to develop and the University has now committed to investigate avenues to fund the project and how the continued financial support will be provided on the future.
  • Terms and Conditions Review – Unite is committed to conclude the terms and conditions review as soon as possible, however we hampered with the constraints of Covid 19 regulations and controls. We will be meeting with all our cleaners ,who are our members, as soon as we are permitted, to continue the process and seek an agreement in the change.

Its worth remembering that the employer only negotiates or consults with the recognised trade unions on campus and to enable your voice to be heard, be a member of Unite.
NOT A MEMBER? Join today using this link.

Health and Safety

We have continued to be consulted on many risk assessments to enable the campus to open up as a safe and welcoming place. The
campus is certainly different from a year ago and quickly becoming more vibrant. Having sufficient risk assessments and controls are
essential to providing a safer workplace and the Unite Health and Safety Reps are committed to ensure we have those. We do need more
Health & Safety Reps, and so if you would like to find out what this entails please contact Ian Curwen (i.curwen@lancaster.ac.uk) who
will be able to answer any questions you have.

Branch Web Site

We would love to hear what would be useful on this site and how we can develop it so please get in touch with any ideas or comments.

We would also love to hear what its been like living and working over the last year. What have been the positives and the not so positive
experiences you have encountered? We have a vast range of roles within our membership so why not share your work story and write
a short article for the website? You may have been, or are on furlough, what did or does it mean to you?

Please email articles, ideas and comments to Tim Gregson – t.gregson@lancaster.ac.uk
The web page editors decision is final for articles being published on the website.

Security and Porters

The team within security and porters can be challenging to catch up with. This is due to the complex shift patterns and the
unpredictable work challenges that every shift brings along. We would welcome a rep or a point of contact on each shift to enable us to
improve the communications chain and gain the experienced knowledge from your working patterns and challenges. We can work
together to develop your role within the branch.
Contact Ian or Eamon for further information.

Categories
Your Covid Stories

Teaching Laboratories – Engineering

Engineering Labs

The Technicians have been working very hard in Term 1 to run the Face 2 Face teaching practicals. With the numbers of students allowed in the labs at one time being significantly decreased to abide with social distancing rules, it has meant the number of sessions has at least quadrupled. The Technicians have been working hard to provide a safe environment so the important practical teaching can go ahead, this involved altering the layouts, implementing new procedures and the introduction of cleaning schedules between sessions.
Unite would like to thank those members who have contributed to this. Well done!

Jess Fisher – Chemical Engineering Technician, Unite H&S rep

Categories
Your Covid Stories

Keeping Campus Clean

Cleaners are part of a wider Facilities team, that ensures the University Campus is clean and safe for all staff and students who are currently on campus, or occasionally have to come on to campus for various reasons.
The daily routine cleaning University buildings, including the Library, laboratories and the Pre-School etc., continues, however, additionally all touch points (e.g. door handles, banister rails and light switches) and work surfaces have to be sanitized frequently. We would like to encourage all members of staff or students can also play their part by wiping down surfaces after they have used them. This ensures the University is as safe as it can be for everyone to live and work.
Gloves and aprons are regularly worn for their work, but now extra PPE (masks and face shields) is the new norm, hopefully reassures people who see us at work. Social distancing involves not cleaning while anyone else is in a room (staff or students), so we aren’t being rude if we ask you to leave. It does mean fewer opportunities to get to know colleagues in other roles and students who come from all parts of the UK and from far too many countries to name individually.
Phillip Demmen – Workplace and Health & Safety Rep