With term starting we want to make sure that you have the resources you need.
Safety is central
UNISON reps across the country have been working hard to ensure that risk assessments have been carried out so that campuses are as safe as possible. This is vital for the staff that have continued to work on campus during the lockdown and those returning to campus for the first time.
You may have seen that UCU are calling for universities not to engage in any face-to-face teaching this term (autumn 2020). Some UCU branches are following this up with local discussions with their universities.
UNISON advice
We are committed to making sure that campuses are safe for all staff and students, and to protecting our members’ jobs and incomes.
Health and safety comes first, and that is why we have called for all universities to work with their campus unions on a risk-assessment based process covering everyone working in our universities.
We believe that those staff who need to work from home and who can do their job from home should not be forced to work on site. We are also concerned that those who may be at higher risk from COVID-19 should have their needs fully taken into account. UNISON is also aware that there are many concerns about job security, including worries that:
- university support staff jobs could, potentially. be at risk if staff are not on campus – some of our members’ jobs can’t be done remotely. The job-retention scheme ends at the end of October and UNISON branches want to ensure that jobs are not at risk.
- if universities have very few people on campus, that some front-line employees could face an uncertain future. This could particularly affect catering staff as well as other jobs on campus.
We have consistently called for universities to work with their campus trade unions on a risk-assessment based approach to ensure that staff and students on campus are as safe as possible.
Universities need to properly resource a safe workplace and learning environment, with full and appropriate sanitising facilities, social distancing measures and enhanced cleaning regimes and PPE where appropriate. UNISON does, however, remain very concerned that the current testing and the track and trace systems are inadequate and that, in some areas, infection rates are rising. We will continue to press government for adequate testing and an effective track and trace system for all.
Each university has a different profile of local, UK and international students, as well as different campus facilities and lay-outs, different local infection rates and lockdown situations. Universities will need to make appropriate plans to ensure that staff and student safety is prioritised taking into account all of these different factors.
So, make sure your university:
- has developed and consulted on a full set of risk assessments;
- has fully set up campus with the resources it needs to be as safe as possible (remember to use the UUK guidance as a reference point which includes consulting with trade unions – see below);
- has, and if not is calling for, access to sufficient testing and is working with the local health protection teams and local authorities on track and trace procedures;
- is protecting jobs and incomes for all staff whether they continue to work from home or whether they work on campus.
If you have members who are extremely clinically vulnerable or are at greater risk to COVID-19 then the template letter below can be adapted for use by members:
Download the template letter (Word)
The UNISON bargaining guide “Bargaining over workplace issues during the COVID19 pandemic” (PDF) covers a wide range of situations and gives advice over what to do if members believe that they may be facing a serious and imminent danger.
If you have examples of good or bad practice in relation to health and safety please do let us know by emailing education@unison.co.uk