LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES UNION

LSE UCU

When is a payrise not a payrise?

When the pay rise offered is so low that it does not even keep up with the increased cost of living.
Read the full message on pay deflation from the UCU general seretary.

UCU is taking industrial action to improve the pay offer from 1.1%

We also want to address pay erosion, pay inequality and increasing casualisation. To support this, in addition to the national strike, the Higher Education Committee (HEC) has agreed

an instruction to members to work to contract with effect from 25 May 2016. Full guidance will be issued on what you should and should not do.
to make preparations for further action aimed at student admissions and at the setting and marking of students' work should the employers not improve their offer.

Finally, outside the action, the union will also be appealing to all members to resign, giving due notice, from currently held external examiner positions and not to take up new ones until the dispute is settled.

Below is more information and strike material:

To get involved contact your department or division rep or the branch office on ucu.secretary@lse.ac.uk

How to join:

To join the UCU, you must join your Local Association. Please join online or contact the membership secretary or ucu.secretary@lse.ac.uk.

There is also information about the benefits of membership on the national UCU website. Joint membership is possible if you are already a member of certain other unions. Details are here.

How to get involved:

Our branch committee members, reps and case workers are all volunteers who give of their own time for the benefit of the members, and there is often more work than we can handle. If you want to get involved, contribute to a campaign or become a branch rep get in touch with us at ucu.secretary@lse.ac.uk or come along to one of our branch meetings. We are particularly short of people willing to do case work, so if you are interested in this satisfying and rewarding role please get in touch. Training and support is available.

Branch officer roles: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/4790/Branch-officer-roles

Being a rep: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/4897/A-brief-intro-to-being-a-rep

How to contact us:

The best way to contact us is via email at: ucu.secretary@lse.ac.uk. The UCU Branch Secretary is currently Veronique Mizgailo.

Our branch administrator, Isabel, will be in our office at OLDG.16 every Tuesday. She cannot offer specialist advice but will be able to direct your query, give information on how to join, and what the union does. Do feel free to drop by and say hello.

Whilst we will endeavour to give you advice and help, or point you in the direction where you might obtain it, our resources are limited and our main aim is to serve and represent the interests of our members. For that reason, unless you are a member we will be unable to represent you in the event of a dispute or a problem.

Officers and Reps

Chair: Mr Dave Morris

Vice Chair: Dr Shaku Banaji

Branch Secretary: Ms Veronique Mizgailo

Branch Administrator (Part time): Ms Isabel Holroyd

To contact our other officers and departmental reps, listed below, please email ucu.secretary@lse.ac.uk.

Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Health & Safety Officer, Fixed Term & Hourly Paid Staff Officer, Equality & Diversity Officer, Research Staff Officer, Casework Officer, Pensions Officer, Environment Officers, Fellows Rep.

We have reps in the following academic departments: Accounting, Anthropology, European History, Geography, Government, Health & Social Care, International Development, International History, International Relations, Language Centre, Law, Library, Media, Philosophy, Social Policy, Sociology, Statistics.

About the UCU

The University and College Union (UCU) represents more than 120,000 academics, lecturers, trainers, instructors, researchers, managers, administrators, computer staff, librarians and postgraduates in universities, colleges, prisons, adult education and training organisations across the UK. UCU is the largest post-school union in the world: a force working for educators and education that employers and the government cannot ignore.

We negotiate salaries and conditions of employment for our members, as well as seeking to represent their views on professional matters affecting all aspects of higher education. Negotiations take place both nationally and through Local Associations in individual institutions.

Things you ought to know

UCU subscriptions are tax deductable

In broad terms, UCU members can get tax relief against their national subscription, excluding the political fund element. However, this eligibility may vary according to your individual circumstances, so please check with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

more details

This makes your membership even more of a bargain.