Campaign to Kick Zero Hours Contracts Out of London Met.

From a motion to my union branch:

(Steve Dawe, London Met UCU & Oxfordshire Green Party)



Motion for Londonmet UCU Branch AGM

Campaign to Kick Zero Hours Contracts Out of London Met.

1. This meeting notes:

a. The claim by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development that up to 1 million workers in Britain could be working on zero hours contracts.

b. That these contracts leave workers without guaranteed regular hours, sick pay or holidays and, particularly within the context of Higher Education, opportunities for professional development. These conditions are reminiscent of Victorian employment practices.

c. That these contracts are not just the preserve of employers in the private sector like Sports Direct (20,000 workers on zero hours) and McDonald (82,000) but are also common in the public and voluntary sectors. The Higher Education sector is now the second most 'casualised' sector in the UK with an estimated half of Britain's universities using Zero hours contracts. According to research carried out by UCU nationally permanent contracts are most likely to be awarded to those 'who's face fits within the existing culture of an institution' while female lecturers, black staff, lesbian and gay workers are disproportionally likely to be employed on 0 hour contracts.

d. At London Met 0 hours contracts are increasingly used to replace permanent, full-time staff. HPLs at London Met are treated as second class employees with no job security, proper facilities, professional development or holiday pay and many have no access to sick pay. We do not have the statistics but it also seems likely that the disproportionate representation of women, black staff, lesbian and gay workers and disabled people amongst those on Zero hours contracts is reflected at London Met.

f. The recent success of UCU members at Edinburgh University in forcing management to stop using Zero hours contracts.

e. The growing furore in the national media about Zero hours contracts.

Information and press releases (press ctrl and click to follow link)

The Guardian has found that Universities were TWICE as likely to use zero hours contracts as other employers: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/05/universities-colleges-zero-hours-contracts

The THE has also picked it up here: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/ucu-homes-in-on-widespread-use-of-zero-hours-deals/2007035.article#.Uigx8JyqtXQ.facebook

Here it is in the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/colleges-favour-zerohours-contracts-says-lecturers-union-research-8798967.html

And the Herald: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/universities-slated-over-staff-on-zero-hours-contracts.22066158
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2. This meeting believes:

a. That Zero hours contracts are unfair, exploitative, discriminatory and unacceptable.

b. That the current growing concern regarding Zero hours contracts and the success in kicking them out in Edinburgh indicate that now is the time to campaign to scrap them everywhere.


3. This meeting therefore resolves:

a. To call upon the national executive committee of UCU to immediately launch a fully funded campaign across HE and FE to urge the scrapping of Zero hours contracts.

b. To launch a campaign within London Met to urge management to stop using Zero hours contracts.