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Today @LancasterUni asked all staff to donate 2.5% of their annual salary to the university.
What may seem like a timely call for altruism, may be quite the opposite. All 3 campus unions have written to management to express our concerns and frustration....
What may seem like a timely call for altruism, may be quite the opposite. All 3 campus unions have written to management to express our concerns and frustration....
JUST TRUST US: Management cannot explain how they arrived at projected £66M budget shortfall & how it will be met through proposed donations. Decision to equally split cost-saving measures from capital projects, non-payroll budgets & payroll savings worth (£22M each) is arbitrary
PAYING TO BE MADE REDUNDANT: Management is already looking at redundancies, though no details yet. We believe the donation scheme will pave the way towards acceptance of redundancies when we ‘fail to donate generously enough’. Staff who donate could still lose their jobs.
WE ALREADY LOST PAY: Most UCU members have already lost 6% salary this year through strike pay deductions (which management refused to spread out over several months), saving the University around £0.8M. This is on top of a 20% real-terms reduction in salaries over last decate.
WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER: Senior managers on salaries of >£100,000 are giving the same percentage as other staff (lowest-paid full-time staff earn <£17,000). There are no proposals to address inequitable pay structures at Lancaster University.
The scheme places responsibility onto staff for COVID-19, AND or a decade of mismanagement associated with increasing debt, excessive pay for senior managers, dependence on international recruitment, building sprees and new campuses.
Our Branch is ready to engage, BUT this needs to not only appeal to our sense of altruism, but also involve evidence & assurances:
1. We need access to information that demonstrates the logic of how voluntary donations will help to address the shortfalls.
1. We need access to information that demonstrates the logic of how voluntary donations will help to address the shortfalls.
2. We believe that the payroll measures being proposed are premature, and it would make more sense to wait until September when student numbers are more certain and actual budget projections can be put in place.
3. We need a commitment and a strategy to actively avoid redundancies, not just vague words that don’t mean anything.
4. We need commitments that, if some staff cut their working hours to help the university save money, this will not result in greater workloads for colleagues.
4. We need commitments that, if some staff cut their working hours to help the university save money, this will not result in greater workloads for colleagues.
