Women's Views on News |
| Stamp out casual contracts: day of action Posted: 23 Nov 2016 01:12 PM PST
This year’s ‘stamp out casual contracts’ day of action will be held during UCU’s national recruitment week on 24 November 2016. The University and College Union (UCU), represents over 110,000 academics, lecturers, trainers, instructors, researchers, managers, administrators, computer staff, librarians and postgraduates in universities, colleges, prisons, adult education and training organisations throughout the UK. UCU believes that high quality education and fair working conditions depend on contracts that give staff stability and continuity of employment. Casualisation is bad for staff and bad for education, yet it is endemic in our colleges and universities: 46 per cent of universities and 60 per cent of colleges use zero hours contracts to deliver teaching and 68 per cent of research staff in higher education are on fixed-term contracts, with many more dependent on short-term funding for continued employment. Stamp Out Casualisation is UCU’s campaign to win continuity of employment and fairer contracts for casualised staff. And the campaign against casualisation is one of UCU’s national priorities. Shockingly, the UK’s elite universities are the worst offenders when it comes to employing academics on precarious contracts reveals new analysis released today. Three-fifths (59 per cent) of academics at the research-intensive Russell Group of universities are employed on insecure contracts, compared to an average of 53 per cent across UK higher education. A report by the UCU last year found that almost a fifth (17 per cent) of university staff on insecure contracts said that they struggled to pay for food and a third (34 per cent) said that they struggled to pay rent or mortgage repayments. A similar amount (36 per cent) said that they struggled to pay household bills like fuel, electricity, water and repairs. UCU said the current figures do not tell the full story because the paucity of data does not reveal what types of contracts the staff are on, which it says universities have exploited to play down the issue. The union used the latest data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to work out the percentage of staff employed on fixed-term and ‘atypical’ contracts. However, as HESA does not collect data on the length or type of contracts, or on the use of hourly-paid staff or those on zero-hours contracts, universities are not forced to report their data in a consistent or helpful manner. And as students take on record levels of debt, universities should make public where this money is going – and part of this should be how many staff they employ on insecure contracts and what percentage of undergraduate teaching is undertaken by non-permanent staff. It obviously will have a huge effect on the quality of the teaching the students are paying for and indeed aiming for themselves. The UCU’s general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “For too long universities have relied on an army of insecure workers and our most elite institutions are the worst offenders. “For thousands of staff precarious contracts are a grim reality where they don’t know if they’ll have a job next year or even what their income might be next month. “Great teachers need great support to thrive, yet some of the world’s most respected universities are treating their staff little better than Sports Direct,” she pointed out. “Students taking on record levels of debt have a right to know if they are being taught by full-time secure staff, and staff have a right to dignity at work. “Universities can’t hide any longer on this issue. “They need to make public the data that shows how much undergraduate teaching is undertaken by non-permanent staff and they need to work with us to create better jobs for their hard-working staff.”  |
| Consultation on NI policies: join in Posted: 23 Nov 2016 03:01 AM PST
The Women's Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) is holding a meeting in Belfast on 1 December 2016 to discuss responses to the Northern Ireland Executive’s Draft Programme for Government, in order to contribute to a consultation which ends on 23 December. Last month the WRDA released an initial summary of all references to women or gender inequality made in the Draft Programme for Government – and there are not very many. The summary points out that first Draft Programme for Government Framework document, released in May, notably did not contain the word 'women' anywhere within its 114 pages. The new document, agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive and released for a consultation period ending on 23 December, mentions women 3 times. And there is some extra detail regarding baseline gender differences in health and well-being as well as planned actions to address gender inequality. As is common within government data, the summary continues, the gender disaggregated data contains only categories for 'male' and 'female' and does not include any outcomes measurements for transgender or gender non-binary people. There is no overarching acknowledgement that women – over half the population – are still experiencing inequality across all areas of life compared to men. However, the consultation document notes the need to equality impact assess all the delivery plans for the Programme for Government (PfG) and makes the following commitment: 'We want to make a clear commitment to addressing key inequalities, particularly those experienced by the Section 75 equality groups, through this Programme for Government, and to tracking progress for these groups in relevant PfG population indicators or associated performance indicators, wherever the data permits.' Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 was intended to be transformative. Its aim was to change the practices of government and public authorities so that equality of opportunity and good relations are central to policy making, policy implementation, policy review and service delivery. Of the few issues that WDRA found across a range of Outcomes that contain specific references to women, 'females', girls, or gender inequality, three are: Health inequality (Outcome 3): The figures on Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) show that deprivation has more of an impact on women's health than it does on men's. The gap in HLE between the most and least deprived is 14.6 years for women whereas it is only 12.2 years for men. Underemployment (Outcome 3): The document states that women are more likely to be impacted by underemployment than men. It highlights that, 'for many people who are working part-time and who consider themselves underemployed there are structural barriers that can make it difficult to work full-time.' Health in Pregnancy (Outcome 4): This new consultation document provides more detail in terms of the evidence base and actions than the previous Draft Programme for Government Framework. For example, a commitment is made to implement a Healthier Pregnancy Programme including a core pathway for antenatal care. However it is extremely disappointing that this indicator still makes no acknowledgement of the impact of pregnancy and childbirth on women's physical and mental health. The only mention of maternal health is as a factor influencing the birth weight of babies. In the face of growing public concern about women's reproductive health and rights in pregnancy, WRDA concludes in its summary, ‘the lack of care options for women facing diagnoses of fatal foetal abnormalities, and the growing need for post-natal mental health services, this is a missed opportunity to address an area of women's lives that has a huge impact on our health and well-being.’ With over 800 responses to the initial PfG framework consultation, Northern Ireland's Assembly Ministers have urged those who want to make a positive contribution to the future to engage further with the Executive during the consultation process. Refering to the consultaion, Northern Ireland's First Minister, Arlene Foster, said: "This is a new way of doing government in what is a new era for politics in Northern Ireland. As an Executive we are determined to work as one, and with wider society, to create a better future." Chance of a lifetime then. Please either contact WDRA with your suggestions, go to their meeting on 1 December, or comment here as an individual. To see the whole Programme for Government document, click here. For more information about the WRDA event or for tickets, click here.  |
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