ATUC sends another message of solidarity and support to UCU Aberdeen

Aberdeen Trades Union Council has sent a further message of solidarity to our colleagues in our affiliated union, the UCU who tomorrow will conclude 14 days of strike action to defend their pensions.

President Kathleen Kennedy, elected at the AGM on 14th March sent an email of support to Aberdeen UCU. Delegates at the AGM also pledged a donation of £100 to the UCU Aberdeen hardship fund.

The UCU Aberdeen website reports that more than 50% of Aberdeen UCU members responded to an informal consultation regarding the output of the ACAS talks between UCU and Universities UK.

Dr David Watts represented Aberdeen at the UCU HQ meeting which took place in London on Tuesday.

The branch had to react quickly and made every effort, given the deadline, to engage all members in forming a collective response. The position of the branch is that Aberdeen UCU rejects the proposal brokered via the Acas-mediated talks.

It should be noted this position is in keeping with that made public by many other branches.

STUC brings support and solidarity to UCU members striking to defend their pensions

The STUC brought messages of support to striking UCU members in Aberdeen today as their Deputy General Secretary visited picket lines around the city.

The STUC General Council held a special meeting in Aberdeen to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations for the Aberdeen Trades Union Council.

Deputy General Secretary, Dave Moxham, took the opportunity to visit the UCU Aberdeen picket lines this morning, bringing solidarity messages from all the General Council members and the hundreds of thousands of workers across Scotland that they collectively represent.

Aberdeen Trades Union Council would like to add our own message of solidarity and support to our colleagues in the UCU in their ongoing fight to defend their pensions and to pay tribute to their members for their solid backing for the 14 days of strike action.

UCU members in Aberdeen University win STUC Organising Award

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has presented this year’s STUC Organising Award are the University and College Union (UCU) Aberdeen Branch.

The efforts of University and College Union (UCU) members at Aberdeen University to fight against compulsory redundancies, while growing trade union membership were recognised by the STUC at their Congress on Tuesday 19th April.

UCU received the STUC Organising Award for their work in developing trade union organisation and structures within the academic staff at Aberdeen University that have the left the branch better placed to resist attacks on their members and at the same time raise the profile of UCU within the local trade union movement.

Holocaust Memorial Day 27th January 2016 - Don't stand by. Join the UCU event to reflect on its importance today

Come along to the Regent Lecture Theatre at the University of Aberdeen, on Wednesday 27 January 2016 from 12:30pm – 2:00pm and join the UCU-sponsored event on Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 to reflect on the contemporary importance of the Holocaust.

Professor Alan Marcus (Chair in Film and Visual Culture, University of Aberdeen) will be introducing and screening his film The Cemetery (2010, 30mins).

Engaging with the presence and absence of Kafka in Prague’s ancient Jewish quarter, The Cemetery explores the relationship between the contemporary urban setting and the impact of the Holocaust. Set against the backdrop of mass tourism to sites such as the oldest Jewish Cemetery in Europe and the oldest synagogue, where Kafka had his bar mitzvah, the film presents a visual and aural meditation on the intersection of the banal and the sacred. As the narrative unfolds, we learn the interlocking fate of Kafka’s three sisters and the tragedy of Terezin.

PETITION AGAINST THE THREAT OF COMPULSORY REDUNDANCIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

Aberdeen Trades Union Council is encouraging all our members and affiliates to back the University and Colleges Union (UCU) and to sign the petition to urge Aberdeen University to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies and to seek alternative, more progressive methods for placing itself on a sustainable financial footing.

Click here to sign the petition.

The campaign is supported by Aberdeen Defend Education Cuts (ADEC); Aberdeen Students Against Cuts (ASAC) and Aberdeen University Students Association (AUSA).

The union is saying NO to compulsory redundancies because:

·         Through the Voluntary Severance Scheme, the University has already saved the £5.4 million they lost from funding cuts

·         The University has also generated an extra £3.2 million in additional surplus

·         It wishes to make a further £1.9 million - not due to funding cuts but for additional surplus

·         The University has refused to rule out compulsory redundancies in pursuit of their goal

·         It is highly likely that staff will be placed "at risk of redundancy" from January 2016

Say no to compulsory redundancies at University Aberdeen - sign the petition

Aberdeen Trades Union Council, at its meeting on 13th May, pledged support to Aberdeen University and College Union to fight Aberdeen University's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of its plan to axe 150 jobs.

UCU members at Aberdeen University are currently being balloted for industrial action to stop planned job cuts including compulsory redundancies and you can sign the petition calling on the university to find more progressive ways to save money here.

ATUC is urging members of all our affiliate unions and associate groups to sign this petition in support of our UCU colleagues.