JNCC report – 29 May 2025 meeting

Action Log

Since the start of the new year, our negotiations have included the introduction of an action log to track negotiation items between the university and BUCU. The tracking system indicates the lead (someone named by management, either on the BUCU or University side), indicative timing for progression or completion, and some notes.

Items that are on our current rolling action log include:

• terms of reference for Workload Working Group;
• snapshots of data to be provided in relation to the Voluntary Leavers’ Scheme;
• meeting to discuss the University’s financial data;
• academic lead for the occupational health advisory data;
• BUCU members to be consulted on August pay date; and
• separate session to be arranged to go through MEQs.

Progress is often slow on these items. A feature of trade union negotiationsis the “slow-rolling” by the University on items that the University might be reluctant to address, for any number of reasons. Deadlines are not ironclad, but they are a goal for both sides. For example, the Terms of Reference for Workload Working Group deadline was initially set for February 2025, then pushed to 12th June, and now we are in the second half of June. However, the Chairs of the Workload Working have been appointed and we are supposed to have a first meeting scheduled this summer to discuss the Terms of Reference.

HSE

At our last negotiation meeting on 29th May, we spoke about the HSE inspection. BUCU requested that the University share the details of the HSE visit with BUCU, and likewise BUCU committed to sharing information regarding BUCU workplace inspections and workload surveys with the University as well as the HSE.

VLS

On VLS, the University shared some overarching data on the VLS. While the data is confidential, we can say the number of acceptances in each of the Colleges and University departments does seem roughly proportional to the staffing levels of those units. UoB also provided some data on gender and ethnicity. Because the gender and ethnicity proportions in each of the Colleges can be quite varied (for example, only around a quarter of the academic staff in Engineering and Physical Sciences are women), the overall university data on gender and ethnicity is not meaningful for assessing the EDI impact on local areas. Thus, we have asked for the gender and ethnicity breakdown for the Colleges, which we are still awaiting.

Workload

On Workload issues and negotiations, BUCU presented a snapshot of our qualitative analysis of the Workload survey, with a focus on academic staff. Management’s response was that they questioned the representative reliability of our sample size. They maintained that our survey results did not correspond with the University findings in their “Have Your Say” survey. Our view is that it may be that some of our members might be choosing to disclose their experiences and perceptions of organisational work culture to BUCU, precisely because of the problems members point out in the survey. Management science supports our view: studies show that in fear-based workplace organisations, “employees constantly look over their shoulders and try to avoid the finger of blame and humiliation; even when they know how to help the organisation, they are often afraid to do it.” (Robert Sutton, The No Asshole Rule, p. 35). In other words, due to the fear-driven culture that is intrinsic in certain academic departments and schools, academic members are likely more reluctant to report on problems and mistakes to their managers than to the union, or they have reported these issues to their managers, only to have their concerns ignored.

One important function of our union is to actively listen to the concerns and issues raised by our members, collectivise and represent these concerns to management, and make suggestions to management about how workplace culture can be improved.

Equalities

On equalities, we asked the University to issue a more inclusive statement for our transgender and non-binary staff and students. On 9th May, our branch unanimously passed the Defending Trans Rights motion, calling for the University to be a vocal ally to transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and gender diverse staff and students. When we queried this at the negotiatingmeeting, the University’s explanation for its failure to do so was that other universities who had done so had “gotten into trouble”. While management may have been thinking about the fine imposed by the Office for Students on the University of Sussex for the University’s policy on curriculum content, we note that other Universities have issued inclusive and affirming statements since the interim EHRC guidance with no detriment at all. Therefore, we think that UoB’s claim is dubious. We asked whether the university will engage in the EHRC consultation, and they said that they would not, noting that the UUK would submit a consultation.

The University indicated that they need to balance between “freedom of speech” and “trans rights.” We recall the VC’s statement on this when he was at Sussex in response to Kathleen Stock’s resignation; BUCU’s position is that the human right to have dignity at work should never be in contradiction with free speech. The University’s failure to affirm allyship and that trans rights are human rights has left staff and students vulnerable to harassment by those who would take advantage of the government’s and EHRC’s scapegoating. We note that this conundrum that the University articulates arises from extending the protection for “beliefs” from protection for someone merely because they have a belief (*a belief “worthy of protection”) to absolve them from legal obligations with respect to all acts (including speech acts). Our view is that the protected category of “religion’ or ‘belief’ (to use its proper term) should not be viewed as a shield for lawbreaking including breach of the Equality Act or Human Rights Act.

Sharing Financial Information

BUCU’s President, Vice-President, and a forensic accountant specialising in Higher Education research had a meeting with Erica Conway regarding the financial situation at the University of Birmingham earlier in the year—and at JNCC it was agreed that regular meetings of this nature would take place. There is a need to ensure that there is some confidentiality with these meetings, to build trust between the institution and the negotiationteam—but we will share and utilise information within our campaigns as necessary.

Redundancies

The University stated that compulsory redundancies were not on the horizon, at the moment, though this could change in the autumn. Management indicated their view that Universities which had imposed compulsory redundancies had done so in a poorly managed way, and that UoB had no intention of following poor management tactics. Nonetheless, BUCU points out that compulsory redundancies have been done by stealth through structural reorganisation. VLS has had a greater impact on certain smaller departments, and we raised issue with the impact on the workloads this would have on the remaining staff starting this summer and autumn.

Sector Challenges

UoB has been able to meet its admissions targets for both home students and international students. They indicated that the international student bans in the U.S. could have a positive effect on international student admissions in the U.K, but that the outcome was not yet clear.

Drama and Theatre Arts

This item had been introduced on the agenda by BUCU, but other discussions meant that we ran out of time to discuss. The branch continues to engage the Head of the College of Law and Arts in discussions on the suspension of the single honours Drama programme and the proposed closure of Selly Oak Drama facilities and the move to Edgbaston campus, and will bring this item to future JNCC meetings as required.

Office for Students, Condition E6

Management reported how they plan to respond to Condition E6 by the Office for Students. The headline is that intimate relationships between staff and students are not allowed; if any occur, they need to be declared to the University. All intimate relationships between staff members also need to be declared to the University. We raised concerns regarding GDPR and the right to privacy. The exact details of all this are currently being worked on by the University.

Any Other Business

We raised the issue of promotions under AOB and queried whether there was a “one-point max” for promotions. Stephen Jarvis said that there is no such thing. Management’s reply suggested that there was no consideration for a points-equivalent for what’s stated in the Individual Circumstances (IC) form, which academic staff have the option of completing. The IC form is for consideration of the number of outputs. We have asked to pick up this item again in our next JNCC.