For the sake of all staff at Durham, you need to vote in this ballot. So do your colleagues.
We’re in very hard circumstances, but any way you look at it, Durham staff are in the best position if all the HE unions currently balloting succeed in beating the anti-union turnout thresholds. We stand the best chance of stopping further cuts to jobs, disciplines, conditions, and pay by standing together with the other unions. This mandate gives us leverage, both on matters negotiated nationally and in our ongoing dispute on matters negotiated locally. Employers need to know they can’t get away with making us pay for tough financial times. They need to join us in demanding funding reform and prioritise us above vanity spending.
Here is a list of 26 reasons you and your colleagues need to vote in this ballot. You might share some of these arguments with colleagues. The single best way to ensure we get a strong turnout is for members to talk directly to other members they know. Ask if they’ve voted, and if not, hear their concerns and make the case for why this ballot matters. If you can confirm any votes, email here to quickly get this recorded. If you can help with wider Get the Vote Out efforts in your department or another department, email your presidents and branch admin/organiser. You can also recruit a non-union member colleague to join and vote (if they join by 5pm on 20 November).
Key ballot dates, links, facts
- Last date to send completed ballots: Wed 26 November. (Earlier is safer.)
- Form to request replacement ballots. Open until Sun 23 November. Still not working/other issues? Email your presidents and branch admin/organiser.
- How to log that you have voted – any of these:
- Email voting@durhamucu.org.uk
- Tell a Durham UCU rep or Get the Vote Out volunteer
- On Godric (creating an account and confirming your vote is quick and easy)
- Why we log votes:
- Experience since the anti-union 50% threshold became law has shown that branches can cross the threshold if they do dedicated Get the Vote Out activities and log who’s voted. If they don’t, they can’t.
- Memberships that are eligible to vote: Standard + Standard Free. You can update your membership (provided you’re eligible) on My UCU or email your presidents and branch admin/organiser.
- Last day to join UCU or update details in order to receive ballot papers and vote: Thu 20 November, 5pm. (If your update of details was just to update your address, you also need to use the form to request replacement ballot papers.)
- National UCU page on the dispute, what it’s about, info about the joint union claims and negotiations that the unions are balloting in support of.
- The core demands are:
- a national agreement to halt redundancies at all universities and prevent course closures and cuts to academic disciplines
- protection of existing national agreements over terms and conditions
- a fair pay offer following UCEA’s derisory pay award of 1.4% (real-terms pay cut of 2.3%-3.0% depending on inflation measure).
- Leaflets/posters (Durham-specific and national) about this ballot. Direct conversations with members are the most valuable Get the Vote Out tool. Leaflets/posters are really valuable alongside/supplementing this.