Unions' response to Johnson's Schools & Colleges Reopening statement

 

Unions have responded to the Prime Minister’s statement that schools will reopen on March 8. (from Union News website LINK)

NEU general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: 

“Today’s announcement that all pupils will return to English schools on 8 March demonstrates, again, that Boris Johnson has, despite all his words of caution, failed to learn the lessons of his previous mistakes.

“Whilst cases of Covid infection are falling, along with hospitalisation rates, it remains the case, unfortunately, that cases are three times higher now than when schools re-opened last September. This fact, alone, should have induced caution rather than, in the words of Nadhim Zahawi an ‘ambitious’ school return which runs the risk of schools, once again, becoming, in the Prime Minister’s words on 4 January, ‘vector of transmission’ into the community.  This risk is greatly elevated because of the new variants of Covid which are significantly more transmissive.

“Why has the English government not taken the same route as Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland whose cautious, phased approach to school opening will enable their governments to assess the impact a return to the classroom will have on the R rate and to make necessary adjustments to their plans.

“A ‘big bang’ school reopening brings 10 million people back into crowded buildings with no social distancing and inadequate ventilation.  The wearing of face masks by pupils and staff in in secondary school lessons is a welcome measure but it is not, on its own enough.

“The government has had two months to put extra mitigations in place to stop the growth in infection in schools that was seen from September to December. Where are the ventilation units for classrooms? Where are the nightingale classrooms? Where is the PHE testing which school leaders could rely upon to give more accurate results? It is no good political parties talking about these safeguards when they know very well that they have not been put in place and will not be put in place by 8 March. Words are cheap. Actions are needed.

“The government must publish the science and the modelling which informs their unique school return plan. It should also make plans to protect vulnerable and older education staff who should be supported to work from home until their vaccinations take effect.

“While schools and colleges will, as always, go the extra mile, headteachers should have been given the flexibility offered in the other nations to plan for a phased school return.  It would have been far better to take that time to plan and implement a successful and sustainable wider opening – which today’s announcement does not, unfortunately, guarantee.”

The UCU said any wider reopening of college and university campuses from 8 March is irresponsible and risks undoing the country’s hard work to get Covid rates down.

The union called on employers to use common sense and keep teaching online wherever possible to reduce the risk of further Covid outbreaks. It said that for many courses this would mean there should mean no return to on-campus activity this academic year.

Where courses do require an element of in-person teaching, the union said employers must meet with UCU health and safety representatives to agree new risk assessments to protect staff, students and the wider community. It said assessments need to take account of a number of factors including the increased transmissibility of new variants, ventilation, PPE and how to support workers who need to shield. It also raised concerns over the potential use of unreliable lateral flow tests.

UCU said that where staff feel their health and safety is being put at risk, it will support members to fight to protect themselves, colleagues and students, including through industrial action ballots.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said:

 “The Prime Minister seems to be pushing ahead with an irresponsible reopening of schools, colleges and universities at the same time. Pushing students and staff back onsite increases the risk of more Covid outbreaks and threatens to undo the country’s hard work to get infection rates down.

“Lateral flow tests are completely unsuitable for testing on campuses. They are unreliable and incorrect negative results may give people a false sense of security, increasing the risk outbreaks. The government must not use them to reopen colleges and universities.

“We expect employers to keep teaching online wherever possible to prevent campuses from seeding the virus. For many courses this will mean no return to campus this academic year. UCU accepts that some university and college courses will need some in-person teaching but this needs to be very carefully managed to keep staff and students safe. Employers will need to agree new risk assessments with our health and safety representatives that take account of increased transmission rates of new variants, ventilation, PPE and how vulnerable employees will be supported to stay off campus.

“Employers must work with us to protect staff and student safety. If our members feel their health and safety is being put at risk, then we will support them to protect themselves, including through balloting for industrial action where necessary.”

UCU says government plans for a return to in-person teaching 'doomed to fail'

 The University and College Union (UCU) said  just before the New Year  that the government's plans for college and university students to resume in-person learning were "doomed to fail".

The union said after the recent drastic increase in positive cases and hospital admissions, all non-essential in-person teaching must move online at universities and colleges until Easter to help contain the pandemic.  

UCU was responding to a statement by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to the House of Commons on plans for teaching at colleges and universities next term. The union said plans to use lateral flow tests in colleges and universities would not work. It said that university students who do not need to return to their student accommodation must be urged to stay off campus to help contain the virus, and be released from accommodation contracts. It also said ministers must ensure that all students have the ability to learn remotely, so no one is left behind whilst being taught online. 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'We now seem to be hurtling towards a national disaster, with the NHS about to be overwhelmed, but the government is wedded to using lateral flow tests to get students back onto campuses. 

'Keeping learning online until Easter would help lower rates of transmission and ensure a consistent learning experience, but the government continues to be fixated on forcing students and staff into lecture theatres and classrooms.  

'The lateral flow tests, which the government is relying on for a return to in-person teaching in colleges and universities miss an alarming number of people with Covid. Plans to use them to return to in-person teaching seem doomed to fail. One or two tests at the start of term will not be enough, and a regime of continuous testing in every university presents far too many logistical challenges.  

'As it stands, the window for the 'staggered return' of university students is shorter than the window in which they moved to university in September - and that mass movement led to more than 50,000 cases. We will have another term of students being forced in and out of isolation and staff being put at risk while their teaching plans are constantly disrupted.  

'These half measures will not bring the virus under control. Given the escalating rate of Covid cases, the government needs to halt all non-essential in-person teaching at colleges and universities until Easter. It needs to urge all university students who do not need to return to student accommodation to stay where they are, and release them from their accommodation contracts. Ministers must also ensure all students have the resources they need to learn remotely so that no one is left behind.' 

UCU calls for submissions to the union's response to the Government's Prevent review

From the University and College Union (UCU)

The government recently announced that it would be carrying out a formal review of Prevent, part of which includes the duty on universities and colleges to have 'due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism' which was imposed as part of 2015 terrorism legislation.

A review of Prevent is something that UCU and others have repeatedly called for since the statutory duty was introduced and we want your views and experiences of how Prevent impacts on both staff and students across England, Wales and Scotland.

UCU has a number of objections to the Prevent duty, including its threat to academic freedom and freedom of speech, the risk that the broad definition of terrorism could stifle campus activism, damage staff/student relations and discrimination against BME and Muslim staff and students.

The specific questions being asked by the review can be found in the formal online Home Office survey but it will look broadly at the following areas:

• Is Prevent achieving its objectives?
• How effectively is Prevent being delivered at local and national levels?
• How effectively does Prevent interact with other safeguarding and vulnerability strategies?
• How effective is the statutory Prevent duty; and how effectively is it being implemented?
• How could Prevent be improved to respond to criticisms and complaints?
• What should the government consider in the development of Prevent over the next 5 years, as the threat evolves, in order to best engage with and support people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism?

If you have experience of Prevent in the workplace and would like to inform the UCU response, please send your views and examples to Will Pickering by Monday 18 November. We are also interested in hearing from members who are studying the impact of Prevent.

The review is also welcoming individual responses from those with direct experience of, or views on, Prevent. A summary of the review and questions can be found here and the full survey is here if you want to respond to it in person as well as through UCU.

Jo Grady
UCU general secretary

Green Party backs September 20th climate stoppages and strikes - 'we can win a fairer world and safer climate'

The Green Party has expressed its support for the University and College Union (UCU) motion to the Trade Union Congress (TUC) annual conference calling on affiliated unions, student unions at colleges and universities and politicians and community groups, to support the call for a 30-minute workday stoppage in solidarity with the global school student strike on 20th September.

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader, said:

The Green Party has been proud to support the climate strikes, and we’re proud to be the first party to formally support UCU’s call for a stoppage of work in solidarity with the general climate strike this September.

We call on all individuals, workplaces, companies and institutions to support this call, and stand in solidarity with climate strikers everywhere.

It’s amazing to see the teachers at UCU pick up the torch from their students, and take it straight to the core of the union movement. Workers are at the heart of the solution to the climate emergency.

When we transition to a zero-carbon economy in the decades ahead, we’ll put the whole country to work. A Green New Deal would unlock billions of pounds of investment in this transition, ensuring a good, green unionised job for everyone who wants one.

With workers standing with school strikers and activists, we can win a fairer world and a safer climate.

Green Left , an influential Eco-Socialist group within the Green Party (GPEW)  also backed the strike.

Green Left said:

The struggle against Climate Change is taking mighty steps forward in the UK with three Trade Unions, University and College Union (UCU), Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) and National Education Union (NEU).

The Unions are both declaring support for the Youth Climate Change protests and strikes and are now taking a motion to the 5.6 million strong Trade Union Congress (TUC) asking for solidarity action on the day of the next Global Strike on the 20th September 2019.

Ordinary people, including workers are the ones who will be most impacted by Climate Change and we need to take action to defend ourselves.'

The motion is a call for workers to show support in a work stoppage for 30 minutes on the day as well as other actions.

A model template is available for local union branches at the CACCTU site HERE

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Cries of 'Teach the truth on climate change' ring out at the Department for Education, London

Teacher's used their half-term break yesterday to support the action of school students in the #youthstrike4climate movement and made their own demands on the Department for Education to make the ecological and climate crisis an educational priority in a protest organised hy Extinction Rebellion and others. (See previous posting).

There were speeches from NEU and UCU members, school students who have been taken part in the Friday strikes and individual teachers.

Damian Hinds, Seceretary of State, was not available to take delivery of their letter or respond to their demands, so instead teachers and students delivered a series of powerful speeches which can be heard in the video.

In a disquieting way the warm and sunny February day was itself a testimony to changes in the climate.

GJA: Time to get angry about air pollution

From the Greener Jobs Alliance

The Greener Jobs Alliance gives a response to the Government Air Pollution Plan published in July 2017 and identifies how union and community activists can respond.

No one can say that the Government hasn’t been given a chance to get this right. We’ve had 3 court cases since 2011 all pointing out that the UK is in breach of its legal duty. In May 2017 a consultation document where the overwhelming response was that more needs to be done. Finally, on July 26th, we got the publication of ‘The UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide emissions’. LINK


Not surprisingly the ‘plan’ has been panned for failing to tackle this public health emergency. By not adequately addressing what should be done now, rather than in 23 years time, the Government has condemned thousands of people to a premature death. Advocating a ban on petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 is all well and good, but we needed a clear framework for the urgent implementation of clean air zones before 2020. Other shortcomings are highlighted in articles published following the launch of the report.

Five things you need to know about Gove's air pollution plans - Energy Desk

FoE Latest on Air Quality Plan

The government's air pollution plan is a beautiful smokescreen - Guardian Environment

We agree with Client Earth’s James Thornton’s observation that “it is little more than a shabby rewrite of the previous draft plans and is underwhelming and lacking in urgency. Having promised to make air quality a top priority, Michael Gove appears to have fallen at the first hurdle.”

What happened to the ‘polluter pays principle’?

The Greener Jobs Alliance called for specific duties to be placed on businesses. In our submission to the consultation, we pointed out that ‘There should be a legal duty on large businesses to carry out an emissions assessment. For example, a single employer may be responsible for generating thousands of vehicle movements every day by their staff and suppliers. They need to provide evidence that they have a transport policy in place to bring their emissions down within clear time limits’. 

  It is part of a system that fails to make oil, gas and coal companies face up to the wider social costs inflicted by their products. In fact, they end up getting massive subsidies. For example, earlier this year files were leaked showing £4.9 billion provided to fossil fuel firms in export finance by the government since 2010. LINK


Far from setting out any obligations on employers, the Government plan advocates the exact opposite. We are told in Para 47 that ‘The UK government is clear that any action to improve air quality must not be done at the expense of local businesses’. So much for the principle of the polluter pays. Most air pollution is generated by work-related activities and yet the individual and the state pick up the bill. The need for a focus on employer’s responsibilities makes it even more important that trades unions start to get serious about air pollution. This is a workplace issue and must be treated as such.

Mandatory Clean Air Zones needed

Defra’s own evidence makes it clear that charge zones are the most effective way to tackle pollution. Yet local authorities don’t have to produce plans until December 2018. Implementation could take much longer and cash strapped councils will find it hard to comply. A campaign is needed urgently to turn CAZs that charge or ban dirty vehicles from a last resort to a first resort measure. They must be coordinated and funded by central government. This is a national public health crisis and requires a national response. Who should pay for this? Large businesses that fail to show effective measures for reducing their distribution/supply and travel emissions.

What should trade unions do?

Union members measure air pollution outside and inside the workplace

Currently, the UCU is the only union with national policy on tackling air pollution. Every union needs to draw up plans for involving their safety reps in making this an occupational health priority. Indoor and outdoor pollution are often linked. Toxic air kills whether a worker is exposed inside or outside a building. It is also an area that lends itself to cross union engagement through trades union councils linking up at a city and regional level with community activists. Unions also need to get involved in consultations over the introduction and implementation of Clean Air Zones. In addition to London, there are 28 other local authorities in England that are required to take local action in ’the shortest possible time’. These are referenced on Page 31 of the report. Unions need to check this list and prioritise how they will respond.

Support CNWL strikes to defend sacked UCU rep Indro Sen

From UCU London Region

Please support the London Region UCU Day of Action *this Wednesday 28th June*  to show solidarity with all those branches in the region who are in dispute.

Ø Support College of North West London – on strike *THIS WEDNESDAY* to Defend sacked UCU Rep Indro Sen!

Ø Support Lewisham and Southwark College – lunchtime protest *THIS WEDNESDAY* against massive job cuts!

Ø Support Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College - on strike *THIS THURSDAY* against redundancies!

What you can do:

·      Visit picket lines, send delegations and banners to branch protests

·      Send messages of support to CNWL: Colin.Purkey@cnwl.ac.uk,
 Lewisham & Southwark: Pascale.Herreman@lscollege.ac.uk and Ruth Fishman
Ruth.Fishman@lscollege.ac.uk, EHWLC:  Matthew Cookson m.cookson@wlc.ac.uk

College of North West London

  - You will recall Sen addressed the UCU congress and informed you then  that the Branch was then in the middle of an ERS ballot. We are happy to inform you that following a favourable ballot with 83% prepared to take strike action under the new draconian law, union has called our branch for two days strike action in support of Sen. This is despite our member  having to face uncertainties over their jobs due to the impending merger planned to take place on 1 August 2017, subject to ministerial approval.


  - We will be striking on Wednesday 28th  June 2017 and Saturday (enrolment day) 1 July 2017. The addresses for picket lines on the 28 June are College of North West London, Brent NW10 2XD ( nearest tube Dollis Hill  ( main campus) and at Wembley Park , HA9 8HP. For 1 July picket will only be at Willesden Campus.

  - This will be the third and fourth day of strike action that members  have been called on to take strike action in support of Sen. Members remain  resolute despite receiving threatening and intimidating letter from our Principal Andy Cole.

  - Following Sen's address to Congress, we would like to thank all those  Congress delegates who has supported our campaign by signing our petition and making donations at the conference which was over £500.

You can support us further by:

·        Signing the petition, which is now 1238  strong at : https://www.
change.org/p/college-of-north-west-london

·        Sending messages of Support to our branch Chair Colin Purkey, at:
Colin.Purkey@cnwl.ac.uk

·        Donations from your branches can be made at :
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/isabelle-rah-1

·        Sending messages of Protest to : the Principal,  Andy.Cole@cnwl.ac.uk and copying it to Sen at senkingsland@hotmail.com and Colin at Colin.Purkey@cnwl.ac.uk You may find some of the comments put down
by the petitioners useful in deciding what to write.

·        Hold lunch time demonstration in support of our fight and send us pictures that we can then pass on to our members.

·        Send delegates to our picket lines on the strike days to College of North West London Brent NW10 2XD and let Colin Purkey know if you can send a delegate on either of the days.

CNWL lecturers threaten action to achieve an independent investigation into college fraud

University and College Union (UCU) members at the College of North West London are calling on the college's Governing Body to put into abeyance public consultation on the possible merger with Westminster College, pending an independent inquiry into a fraud carried out at the college by a subcontractor and the publication of its findings. LINK

The union has given notice that if guarantees are not forthcoming by Thursday March 2nd they will seek Regional Office support for the declaration of a trade dispute with the college.  The branch express the hope that if a trade dispute is declared that it could be resolved through negotiations without having to resort to lawful indistrial action.

Backing the unanimous decision of his branch members for an independent inquiry, Indro Sen, suspended Branch Secretary, said.

When students are 10 minutes late, managers instruct the class teachers to monitor their attendance. When teachers do not dot the "t) and "i" in their marked work, they are monitored by their managers and some end up under capability procedures, but when a fraud as large as £356K can take place under the very nose of SFA auditors, borough police chief, Governors and senior management teams, who monitors their performance?

Only an independent public enquiry can get to the bottom of this. Can any students' life chances be said to be in safe hands unless each and every sub-contractor is thoroughly checked out on the Government declared Sub contractor list and those checks are made public for students to see what they are getting into. Until such time, Mr. Boles should consider putting the levy scheme into abeyance.

Sen, a popular maths teacher awaits a decision of the dismissal panel into his fate. Two of his students had this to say about him and are  attending the Public meeting on Friday 24 February 2017 at Willesden Library at 6pm. Speakers include Hank Roberts the Copland High School whistleblower:

Hello Sen,

I am sorry to hear that you have suspended for helping others. You are great teacher and we are with you on this difficult moment. I will be coming to the meeting on Friday and also my colleagues are coming as well. I will see there .
With kind regards
FH

Hi Sen,

You probably dont remember me, your classes were always so rammed with students! But I certainly remember you and your teaching style, you helped me make sense of so many concepts that surpassed my understanding in school. I was in your weekly evening adult maths classes almost 4 years ago, you gave me a chance to retake my maths GCSE when most other collages turned me away. I passed because of your teaching. And due to that; I'm now a specials needs teacher in Harrow. I love what I do, and I'm eternally grateful to those that helped me get here - you being one of them.

I'll be there to support you on Friday, I stand by what your doing and respect the fact that you refuse to back down. It must feel like it'd be so easy to give up the fight - but don't. The world needs teachers like you.

My thoughts are with you

NN

I can reveal that the sub contractor concerned. Keyrail,  also had contracts with Focus Training and Development of over £100K  but my enquiries came to dead end when it turned out they had gone into voluntary liquidation on November 29th 2016.  It appears that there is no way to find out if a similar fraud was perpetrated on them. This puts the spotlight on the SFA, who holds all records, and could investigate any potential fraud.

Defend Sen Campaign - Public Meeting Friday 24th February

We would like to invite you all to public meeting organised by DEFENSENCAMPAIGN and against trade union victimisation of Sen, a life long committed maths teacher and a trade union activist. This is not the first time this has happened. The public meeting follows the second strike action taken by his branch in protest at his continued suspension. The platform also includes Grunwick40 and hopes to connect the past with the present. Sen led a number of campaigns and strikes in the College situated near what used to be the site of Grunwick.

Sen was suspended for representing two ex- colleague support staff members sacked by the College at an employment tribunal, who could not afford to hire costly barristers. The allegation is that he took unauthorised leave. His union believes that this was a pretext to get rid of him. One of the sacked member is of Afro Caribbean origin and the other member he was representing suffers from five set of disabilities. The College had never refused him unpaid leave before but did so this time.

Sen led a very suscessful campaign resulting in stopping a merger taking place between City of Westminster College and his College in 2013, the only College to have fought of a merger trough joint union action. Following his suspension on the 10 October 2016, the two College again took a decision to merge.  He remains suspended and decision with regards to his continued employment will come out on the 24 February or soon thereafter. Your intervention through appearance at the Public meeting or public support may have a significant impact on the decision.

Even whilst suspended, he has satisfactorily concluded a number of cases involving his members to their satisfaction.

Cheers
DEFENDSENCAMPAIGN

Apprenticeship schemes under scrutiny as CNWL alleged fraud raises more questions

The Institute of Fiscal Studies Report on apprenticeships LINK raised a number of key issues: I draw particular attention to the highlighted issue of concern to us in Brent over the College of North West London alleged fraud by a subcontractor which led to 78 students missing out due to a non-existent course LINK:

• Although the apprenticeship levy increases taxes on large employers, the new subsidies for employers to train apprentices mean that employers will have to pay nothing, or at most 10%, of off-the-job training costs for apprentices, up to certain price caps set by the government. This will increase the incentive to employers to hire apprentices, particularly those aged 19 and over for whom employers paid at least 50% of training costs prior to 2017.

• This zero or near zero cost of training poses considerable risks to the efficient use of public money. Employers will have little incentive to choose training providers who can provide training at a lower price. Employers will also have a big incentive to re-label existing training schemes as apprenticeships.

• The target of an average of 600,000 new apprentices a year in this parliament is a 20% increase on the level in 2014–15. This large expansion risks increasing quantity at the expense of quality. Although the government is trying to increase the quality of apprenticeships, the Institute for Apprenticeships may come under pressure to approve new apprenticeships quickly. Ofsted will take on an expanded (and welcome) role with respect to inspecting training providers and employers. However, it has already expressed serious concerns about the quality of apprenticeship schemes, particularly those created more recently.

• The apprenticeship levy will put downward pressure on wages. The Office for Budget Responsibility assesses that it will reduce wages by about 0.3% by 2020–21. While only 2% of employers will pay the levy, at least 60% of employees work for employers who will pay the levy.

• The government has set every public sector employer with at least 250 employees in England a target that 2.3% of their workforce must start an apprenticeship each year. This takes no account of big differences between organisations. Unless existing employees start apprenticeships, the targets imply around one-in-five new public sector hires must be an apprentice. Such a blanket policy cannot be an efficient way to improve skills in the public sector. It risks costly reorganisation of training and inefficient ways of working. These targets should be removed.

• The government has also failed to make a convincing case for such a large and rapid expansion in apprenticeships. In seeking to justify these changes, it quotes statistics that show a collapse in employees’ training. However, better measures of training show a much more modest decline. The government also makes wildly optimistic claims about the extra economic activity or earnings such investment in apprenticeships could generate (with quoted benefit-to-cost ratios of over 20:1). While there is a clear need for a better-trained workforce, this cavalier use of statistics risks undermining what might be a perfectly sensible case for a gradual expansion of apprenticeships in areas where quality can be assured.

I can reveal that the company involved in the alleged apprenticeship scheme fraud at the College of North West London was  Keyrail Training Ltd/Keyrail Training Solutions Ltd, an Approved Apprenticeship Training Agency listed at the Skills Funding Agency.

Interestingly this notice was posted on the Companies House site revealing that it was dissolved in May 2016.

However the company remained on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA)  Declared Subcontractors List in September 2016 with an entry of £256,000 for the College of North West London. It was removed from the list in January 2017. The entry for May 2015 had been under the name of Keyrail Training Ltd and was for £100,000 for the College of North West London.

The alleged fraud was  uncovered in the summer of 2016 and the removal from the list may have followed the result of that investigation being reported to the SFA.

The extent of the alleged fraud clearly  supports the IFS concerns but also raises the whole issue of governance of the FE sector, monitoring and audit arrangements, the role of the SFA and risks associated with the privatisation of the sector and the lack of democratic accountability. There is also concern that Indro Sen, the UCU representative at CNWL who assisuously pressed for a full investigation into the issue remains suspended by CNWL management.

It reminds me of the whistleblowing by Hank Roberts, ATL representative at the then Copland High School when he uncovered a fraud at the school.

It is unclear what action has been taken by the police but it is perhaps noteworthy that Mark Gallagher, Brent Borough Commander, is on the governing body (Corporation) of the College of North West London.

Support builds for Indro Sen in CNWL dispute

The London Region of the UCU passed a motion of Indro Sen and the CNWL union branch at their meeting on Saturday. Indro Sen, UCU representative,  is currently suspended by the College of North west London. A meeting to express solidarity will be held at Willesden Library at 6pm on February 24th with an open invitationto students, parents, trade unionists and community activists.

The resolution states:

Motion to Support Sen and CNWL UCU – 28.1.17

London Region sends it solidarity to Sen and the Branch in their campaign against victimisation.

The LR resolves to:

1) Support the next strike day and join Sen and his colleagues on the picket lines 

2) Encourage branches to support a day of action in support of Sen on the next day of strike action. Eg taking solidarity selfies.

3) Encourage members to attend the public meeting on 24 February in support of Sen. 

4) Request that Sen’s campaign is publicised through UCU's national networks including Campaign news.