2006 Higher Education Pay Claim
Higher Education Regional Sector Conferences
Promoting Student Membership of Amicus
New Disability Watchdog
One day Conference on Sustainable Energy
Health and Safety News
Disability Discrimination Act
Friday 24 February 2006 is ‘Work Your Proper Hours day’
2006 Higher Education Pay Claim Amicus and the other unions representing professional, administrative and technical staff in universities met with the University and College Employers Association on 10 th January 2006 to discuss pay for 2006/7. Amicus has made it clear that members are looking for a settlement that will benefit all staff within the sector and pointed out that additional resources are being made available to Higher Education institutions through top-up fees and additional funding. The Amicus Higher Education National Industrial Committee (HENIC) agreed that the Amicus claim via PTAAS should be; a 35 hour week, £6 minimum wage, funds generated by top up fees be directed to address the pay gap in Higher Education as suggested in the Bett report and a year on year substantial increase. It was felt that this claim would go some way to address the very low pay and pay inequality that is endemic within the Higher Education sector at present.
Higher Education Regional Sector Conferences
Please see below the date, time and venue for the all the Higher Education Sector regional conferences. If you would like to attend the conference in your region and you work for an education institution in your region, please contact your regional office to book a place.
| Date | Region | Venue | Time |
| 18 January | North East | TUC Office, Newcastle | 10.00am |
| 25 January | West Midlands | Amicus Office, West Bromwich | 2.00pm |
| 2 February | London Region | Amicus Offices, Moreland Street |
10.00am |
| 8 February | Wales Region | Amicus Office, Swansea | 1.30 – 2.00pm |
| 14 February | South Eastern | Esher College | 10.30-11.00am |
| 15 February | East Midlands | Amicus Office, Derby | 2.30pm |
| 17 February | Yorks & Humberside | Amicus Office, Sheffield | 10.30-11.00am |
| 20 February | North West | Amicus Office, Prestwich | 1.30-2.00pm |
| 28 February | Scotland | Amicus Office, Glasgow | 10.30am |
| 1 March | South West | Amicus Office, Bristol | 10.00 – 10.30am |
| 23 March | Northern Ireland | Amicus Office, Belfast | 10.00 am |
Promoting Student Membership of Amicus
On Wednesday 18 th January 2006 , Amicus representatives were at the University of Westminster Careers Forum offering careers advice and promoting student membership of Amicus. Anna Burton, Amicus Organiser said, “the students were really interested in trade unions and what Amicus had to offer them. We were more than happy to share our knowledge and experience regarding the role of the union in the workplace. This was our opportunity to raise the profile of Amicus and student membership”. With large numbers of students working during their studies, the £10 a year special student membership offers full union support while in employment. The University of Westminster gave Amicus full support, access to the students and an excellent position at the Forum, if you are aware of similar events happening at your university please contact Anna at anna.burton@amicustheunion.org
New Disability Watchdog
Inequalities faced by disabled people are to be addressed by a new cross-government office – the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) in a move to a more concerted approach, the ODI will ensure disabled people are given priority across all Government departments. The establishment of the ODI was the key recommendation in the Prime Minister’s strategy report; Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. The work of the ODI will include; challenging Government from within, changing the way in which it engages with disabled people, influencing public perceptions of disability and providing a centre of expertise on disability. The ODI will also develop and support a new National Forum for Organisations of Disabled People and establish a Task Force for Independent Living as recommended in the report. The launch of the ODI coincides with a new campaign to encourage small businesses to make themselves more accessible to disabled customers and staff. The campaign explains how they may only need to take reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of disabled people and fulfil their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. For further information please go to www.officefordisability.gov.uk
One day Conference on Sustainable Energy
A key one day conference organised by the CBI and the TUC is to be held on Tuesday 28 February 2006 , 9am – 4.30pm at Congress House in London . The conference is designed for reps and officers who are interested in climate change, energy and the environmental impact of the Government’s energy policy. If you have an interest in the sustainable development agenda and would like further information, a copy of the programme and registration details, please go to www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-11053-f0.cfm
Health and Safety News
Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and anyone else interested in health and safety in their workplace. Until recently this was distributed by Amicus to some reps, but in future to receive this bulletin each week you will need to sign up for it at www.tuc.org.uk/newsroom/register.cfm the bulletin is highly informative and very useful for all lay reps. It is also worth visiting the health and safety section of the Amicus web site, there is a wealth of information on the site and also suggestions on how to use health and safety as a recruitment and campaigning tool. For further information and to view the site please go to www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=38
Disability Discrimination Act
From December 2005 over a quarter of a million people with serious health conditions have new legal rights not to be treated unfairly. People diagnosed with cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis (MS) will be protected for the first time under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005. This means that employers and organisations providing services to the public will not be able to discriminate against such people – for example, by sacking them from their jobs. In addition the Act ends the requirement that a mental illness must be ‘clinically well recognised’ before it can be regarded as an impairment under the DDA. Mike Robinson, National Officer commented, “the new law protects and supports people facing unfair treatment who are also having to cope with a severe change in their personal lives, this is to be welcomed and closes a significant loophole in the law”. For further information about provision under the new Act please go to www.drc-gb.org/thelaw/thedda.asp
Friday 24 February 2006 is ‘Work Your Proper Hours day’
This is the day when the TUC and Amicus will be asking members to stop working for free and ‘work their proper hours’. The TUC is urging people to take their proper lunch break, arrive and leave work on time and also to encourage Britain ‘s employers to acknowledge just how much they depend on the goodwill and voluntary extra work of their staff. Britain ‘s bosses are being urged to take their staff out for lunch, coffee or cocktails on this day, to say thank you for all their hard work and commitment. This campaign is a light hearted way of highlighting the very real problem of the extra hour’s culture in the U.K. For further information about the campaign and what you could do in your workplace please go to www.workyourproperhoursday.com
This bulletin has been produced by Janet Golds, Research Officer for the Higher Education Sector. If you have any news items you would like included in the e bulletin, please contact Janet Golds on janet.golds@amicustheunion.org