The return to campus meetings are underway, and we have a few updates for you:
Risk Assessments and DSE
Risk assessments are being produced, as the VC mentioned in his Q&A on Monday - they are 'live' documents, and they will be updated and amended as more guidance is released and we get closer to returning to campus. Please continue to give us your thoughts so we can feed them back in the meetings.
As working from home is becoming less of a temporary measure, proper DSE equipment is paramount. Staff have been separated into three risk groups and work has been undertaken to provide DSE as follows:
High Risk: Colleagues should now have been contacted by the Safety and Wellbeing team, to offer a specialist assessment.
Medium Risk: The Safety and Wellbeing team will have contacted line managers to make them aware they have staff who fall in this group, and staff in this group directly with an online form to complete.
Low Risk: The Health and Safety team have produced a 'Four Step Guide for Managers', which has been sent in a previous line manager communication and has been added to the Managers' Toolkit on MyHub.
If you need equipment then talk to your line manager in the first instance, but as always please make us aware of any issues.
Communication
We're working with the university on making communication as transparent as possible, but also to make it less 'top down'. Let us know if there's any issues you want to see addressed in future updates, or send us suggestions on how the university can better communicate with staff.
Equality Officer and Self Organised Groups
Unison have always been committed to championing equality, but the branch feel its more important than ever to recruit an Equality Officer. If anyone is interested in getting involved, then please let us know. Below is a bit more information about the role:
Equality Officer
https://www.unison.org.uk/about/our-organisation/activists/branch-roles/#heading-6
We also welcome any members who want to set up self-organised groups. There are four main self-organised groups:
- Black Members
- Disabled Members
- LGBT Members
- Women Members
As well as two equality groups:
- Retired Members
- Young Members (under 27)
They're a great way of getting involved with the branch, and it's important for the branch to get input from members who identify with these groups. Below is more information on the different groups and setting them up:
Self Organised Groups
https://www.unison.org.uk/about/our-organisation/structure/member-groups/
HE Pay
Finally, and update on HE pay. You may have seen the recent email to members from Unison, highlighting UCEA's decision to freeze the pay increase for this year. Unison are unhappy with this decision, and you can read their response here:
2020 pay freeze proposal
https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2020/06/employers-announce-2020-pay-freeze-proposal/
There are further meetings to be held this week, and updates to be sent to branches shortly after, so we will keep you updated on any developments.