Defend Max Watson, Jawad Botmeh and Steve Jefferys

See here and here for more information about the suspension of UNISON NEC member and London Met branch chair Max Watson, London Met UNISON activist and elected staff governor Jawad Botmeh, and UCU activist Steve Jefferys.

Senate House Branch has sent the following message of support to London Met UNISON and UCU as well as a donation of £100 to the campaign for their reinstatement:

Dear London Met UNISON branch and London Met UCU branch,

Please accept the full support of our branch in defence of Max, Jawad and Steve. We are appalled that spurious disciplinary measures are being used in this way to victimise trade unionists.

We have a great deal of admiration for trade unionists at London Met and the fight you have put up over the last few years against privatisation, outsourcing and the most appalling attacks on the terms and conditions of London Met workers.

At our AGM the branch voted unanimously to support the campaign in defence of all three and we will be sending a donation in support. We will also continue circulating details of petitions and lobbies to our members.

We have also written to Malcolm Gillies to protest the treatment of Max, Jawad and Steve and to urge their immediate reinstatement.

In solidarity,

Josephine Grahl

Branch Secretary

UNISON Senate House

We also wrote to London Met Vice-Chancellor Malcolm Gillies to urge that the three be reinstated:

Dear Professor Gillies,

I am writing in support of Max Watson, Jawad Botmeh and Steve Jefferys and urge you to abandon the disciplinary action against them.

None of the three suspended has done anything wrong and Jawad has already suffered greatly from a miscarriage of justice.

For London Met to continue this spurious disciplinary action against trade unionists can only bring the university into disrepute and damage its reputation nationally and internationally.

I hope this situation can be resolved as soon as possible without any further action being taken, and that all three will be allowed to return to work.

Regards,

Josephine Grahl

Branch Secretary

UNISON Senate House

If you haven't yet signed the petition in support of the three you can do so here.

Branch elections - think pink!

Ballot papers for Senat House Branch officer elections were sent out today by first class post. You should use the prepaid envelope provided to return your vote to the UNISON regional office by 5pm on Wednesday 6th March.

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO AN ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR TWO SETS OF BALLOT PAPERS WERE ISSUED. ONLY THE PINK PAPERS ARE VALID – VOTES CAST USING THE LILAC PAPERS WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

You can find a longer guide to casting your vote here (pdf). Once this has been translated, Spanish and Polish versions will circulated.

If you do not receive a ballot paper by Monday 18th February, please call the ballot hotline on 020 7535 6654 to request one.

Please use your vote – this is your chance to have your say about what the branch should be doing.

Election of Senate House branch officers

Ahead of the 2013 AGM, a postal ballot will be held for election of Senate House branch officers.

The contested posts and candidates are as follows (candidates in alphabetical order of surname):

Branch Secretary                              Josephine Grahl

                                                                Catherine Morrissey

Branch Chair                                      Allison Franklin

                                                                Danny Millum

Vice Chair                                           Sonia Chura

                                                                Simon Meredith

Communications                             Matt Mahon

                                                                Simon Meredith

Education Officer                            Allison Franklin

                                                                Catherine Morrissey

International Officer                      Henry Chango Lopez

                                                                Marta Gryc

                                                               

Women's Officer                             Alice Stevens

                                                                Rubby Thakur

The ballot papers and election statements will be sent out to members on Tuesday 12th February. You will receive a freepost envelope to return the ballot paper to the Regional office.

The ballot number for anyone who doesn't receive their papers will open from Monday 18 February to Friday 1 March – we will confirm what the number is nearer the time.

The deadline for return of ballot papers is Wednesday 6 March at 5pm  and the results will be announced at the branch AGM on Friday 8 March.

If you think that UNISON may not have the correct address details for you, you can update these online at http://www.unison.org.uk/help/ (you will need your UNISON membership number to register). Alternatively you can call UNISONdirect on 08453550845.

Please use your vote! This is your chance to have your say about what the branch should be doing.

Ballot papers will also be sent to any new members whose membership forms are received by the Regional Office by 10am on Friday 1st March.

Branch Annual General Meeting – 8th March 2013

All members of the Senate House UNISON branch are invited to attend the branch’s Annual General Meeting which will take place on the 8th March 2013 from 12-2pm in Senate House, Torrington Room (Room 104).

Please try and attend – this is your chance to elect officers, hear about the branch’s achievements over the last year, and to have your say about what your union branch should be doing. Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, will be the guest speaker, and a sandwich lunch will be provided.

For Balfour Beatty Workplace, London Deanery and University of London employees, your employer has agreed that you may take one hour of the AGM as paid work time and the other hour as your lunch break – subject to confirmation from your line manager. Please contact your local steward if you experience any difficulties getting time off to attend the AGM.

Please find a nomination form for officer posts attached as well as a draft agenda. The deadline for nomination to officer posts is the 18th January 2013 – please return any forms to the Branch Secretary (josephine.grahl@sas.ac.uk). A list of stewards and officers and their contact details is attached.

We look forward to seeing you there!

AGM invitation

AGM agenda 2013 (draft)

Get involved

Current stewards and officers

Officer nomination form

Living Wage uplift for contracted workers at the University

BBW steward Henry Chango Lopez speaking at the branch's June 30th Fiesta to celebrate the implementation of the London Living Wage.

Senate House branch is mentioned on the Unison website after the University agreed to bring in the London Living Wage uplift (from £8.30 to £8.55 per hour) five months earlier than it had to - staff working for Balfour Beatty and Aramark should receive this in their December pay packets, backdated to the 1st November 2012.

Good news for our colleagues at London Met too who have secured a similar deal from their management.

TODAY - outsourced workers campaign meeting

MP John McDonnell speaking at the June 30th social to celebrate the implementation of the London Living Wage.

At the last Branch Committee, the Senate House Unison branch took a democratic decision to fully support the ‘3 Cosas’ campaign. We agreed to approach Balfour Beatty as soon as possible to open negotiations about the 3 issues that are at the heart of the campaign – sick pay, holiday pay and pensions – and we now need to plan the next campaigning  and media activity.

We want to ensure that your negotiators are clear on what resolving these issues would mean to you and which of the issues are the priorities. We are therefore holding a meeting of all UNISON members in Balfour Beatty where you can have your say. The branch also agreed to seek to protect, unchanged, the terms and conditions of those BBW workers employed under terms and conditions resulting from the TUPE transfer of University employees.

Meeting: Tuesday 4th December, 6-8pm

Lecture Theatre (L1 floor) IALS 17 Russell Square WC1B 5DR

Guest Speaker – Roger Mackenzie UNISON Assistant General Secretary

Living wage week

The first ever UK wide celebration of the Living Wage & Living Wage Employers is taking place this week, 4-10 November 2012.

You can see full details of how the Living Wage Foundation intends to mark the week here - http://www.livingwage.org.uk/living-wage-week.

Meanwhile the Boris Johnson has announced the new LLW rate - £8.55 / hour - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/05/boris-johnson-london-living-wage.

As I'm sure you all know, the University of London became a LLW employer this July - and are committed to implementing this and future increases for all employees, including outsourced workers.

Do get in touch if you'd like to know more about the LLW and associated campaigns - danny.millum@sas.ac.uk.