By now you will have heard the incomprehensible ramblings - sorry, the Prime Minister's update - and will be none the wiser as to whether we can go back to work, or even out of the house.
In term of NTU, this update was published on Monday:
https://www.ntu.ac.uk/myhub/newsroom/2020/05/covid-19-updated-government-advice
If you are already working from home, then please carry on as you were. Just to make you aware, the university should soon be trialling a scheme where staff will be able to collect the equipment they need, on a timetabled basis. It's being trialled in a couple of departments to begin with, but once that has been completed and any issues addressed it will be rolled out to other departments. Unison don't have any further details at the moment, so in the first instance please ask your line manger for more information.
However, the update doesn't mention the situation about colleagues who are unable to work from home. As you may have heard, the furlough scheme has been extended to October, with the proviso that businesses start to 'share the cost' from August. We're not sure how this will affect furloughed staff at the moment, but we will be meeting with HR later this week and will hopefully have something more concrete for you then. In the meantime, please continue as you were.
In other news, today is International Nurses' Day. To support their hard work, UNISON are holding a free online rally on Facebook this evening, 6pm - 7pm.
Speakers from DENOSA (South Africa Nurses Union), NSWNMA (Australia Nurses Union), and the three Joint Presidents of America's biggest nursing union, National Nurses United, will join Lisa Clarke (nurse from Queens Medical Centre, the UK's largest teaching hospital) and Chris Jenkinson (UNISON East Midlands Regional Secretary). You'll hear about how the terrible pandemic has challenged Nurses across the world and, also, what the future might look like now for nursing globally and in the UK.
Please join Caroline Smith, UNISON International Committee Chair, as host for this event and be encouraged about how we can all support nurses, inside and outside the profession.
http://www.facebook.com/events/2275816122723305?scmts=scwspsdd&extid=6KlRybCpqNz4rBzs
Please encourage your work colleagues to join a union. During this time the workforce will need them more than ever. Signing up couldn't be easier - just visit https://join.unison.org.uk and fill in the form. Done!