Dear Governor,
I am writing to you as the official of the University and College Union with responsibility for industrial relations at London Metropolitan University. I believe that we currently stand at a critical juncture for the University in its relationship with the Union and I wanted to express our views to you in advance of the 21st March governors’ meeting.
Since the resolution of the eighteen month contractual dispute in 2004-5, union members, and local, regional and national officials, have pursued a shared goal of re-establishing good working relations with senior management. Our objective is to work constructively towards the best possible future for the University, staff and students. Unfortunately, it seems that senior management at London Met are embarking on a process that will jeopardise the future of the University; that is, the proposal to de-recognise the academic trade union.
Last year, following extensive consultation, the process of merger between NATFHE and the AUT came to a conclusion. The University and College Union was created on 1st June 2006, and is now the largest tertiary education union in the world. We have 120,000 members across ‘old’ and ‘new’ universities, and across further education.
Recognition agreements between the two predecessor unions carried over automatically to UCU in every institution in the country. Initially, this appeared to be the case at London Met, and until October 2006 there appeared to be no problems. Senior management met with UCU officials at ACAS in August 2006 and produced draft documents changing the name of ‘NATFHE’ to ‘UCU’.
Since then, however, senior management have refused to meet and negotiate with UCU, and many important issues affecting staff are now in abeyance. For example, professorial contracts, the implementation of a new job evaluation scheme as required by the national Framework Agreement, and the process for converting the contracts of hourly paid lecturers have been outstanding for a considerable time. The lack of progress on these issues is already damaging the University’s position for the forthcoming RAE and its ability to retain staff. UCU stands ready to make a positive contribution to dialogue on these and many other issues. We could provide expertise on job evaluation, for example, on which UCU has extensive experience. Our offers have not been taken up.
In addition, senior management are trying to avoid implementing the agreements that were reached at ACAS, despite their being subsequently approved by governors, and are reneging on their word on issues such as holiday entitlement. They have refused, despite several requests, to meet at any time over the last six months to resolve the issues that remained outstanding after the ACAS discussions, even though they agreed to do so at the time.
This lack of engagement from senior management does not help to restore cordial and effective industrial relations. Neither does it assist in the development of the kind of constructive relationships that exist in other modern universities in the UK. Those universities that welcome the active participation of UCU are proving more successful than their competitors within the higher education sector.
Senior management at London Met now appear to be seeking to formalise their de facto position, and to de-recognise UCU. Even following correspondence and formal and informal discussion, the University still seems intent upon refusing to accept the position of every other university in the country.
UCU refuses to accept that hundreds of academic staff who make the decision to adopt the Union as their representative body should be disenfranchised in this way. Over the years, this Union and its predecessors worked hard to develop policies and practices which have made London Met the institution that it is today. If the decision to de-recognise UCU is taken, UCU will have no alternative but to mount a vigorous campaign of recruitment and publicity to expose the isolation and backwardness of London Met. We will be left with no option but to conduct industrial relations through the media and the tribunals and courts. This is in nobody’s interest, but neither could we accept de-recognition as an outcome. It is my assessment that staff of London Met, union members and non-members, would not understand this outcome either, and would join our call for its reversal.
As London Met would be the only university in the UK to de-recognise UCU, the ensuing publicity and controversy would damage the University’s reputation for years to come. The institutional effectiveness of the University would be undermined educationally, financially and politically at a time when it is already facing major challenges.
We urge the governors to continue to recognise UCU as the legitimate representative body for academic staff at London Met. Such recognition requires more than just a formal statement on both sides. Harmonious industrial relations require practical engagement, and UCU is willing and able to give the commitment needed to make it a reality. Although we acknowledge that there is much work to do to develop the positive working relationships that we would all seek, it has to be an attainable goal. To fail to try would be a devastating indictment of London Met as an employer that values its employees, and that seeks to develop mechanisms of staff engagement.
Yours faithfully,
Barry Jones
Assistant General Secretary
University and College Union
Egmont House
25-31 Tavistock Place
London WC1H 9UT