Dear Colleague,
I’m writing to you to urge you to use your vote in the QMUCU industrial action ballot. I’d also like to explain why I am supporting your branch’s call for a ‘yes’ vote to industrial action.
Many institutions around the country are, like yours, trying to restructure themselves in the new environment of higher education. UCU’s job, as a union, is to protect our members and to ensure that management are listening to the voices of their biggest asset, their staff.
As part of its ambitious restructure, your management has embarked on several rounds of job cuts, making use of crude retrospectively-applied metrics, leading your branch to conclude that it no longer has confidence in the college’s commitment to avoiding redundancy. Queen Mary’s management is also proposing to impose a new performance management system with more simplistic targets for staff, without negotiation, contrary to both the agreement between UCU and the college and the provisions of your contract of employment.
Your branch officers have tried to persuade your management to negotiate constructively to resolve our differences, but without success. If your union is to make any further progress, it’s time for members to show that they support the position we’ve taken.
Please make sure you use your vote. Every vote counts, not least because your management will be watching the ballot result closely. It’s no exaggeration to say that the future development of industrial relations at your workplace will be shaped by the result of this vote.
Your ballot closes on Friday 28 September. To ensure your vote is counted please post your ballot by Wednesday 26th. Please support your union. Vote yes to action.
Yours sincerely,
Sally Hunt
UCU general secretary
qmucu.org 