серафими многоꙮчитїиDec 9, 2022

My rent has gone up by more than 14% per year over my adult working life since I started flatting, and 'core inflation' is ~ 8% this year, and we are being offered a 0% cost of living adjustment, plus losing retirement benefits.

Now, they would say "That isn't true! We offered 5% plus you losing retirement benefits" but that misses out the part where they have also said they see the 5% as a 'gift' which they have clarified they will not be giving to the 'unworthy' regardless of the contract.

Show threadсерафими многоꙮчитїиDec 9, 2022
Like, they have already said that at least 20% of staff who are covered by the offer will not actually receive the cost of living increase regardless of what the contract says, because they have a new legal theory that as long as there is some assessment framework, they can claim that contractual payment are actually rewards for meeting various levels of the assessment, and that this allows them to simply direct that people's grades be lowered in order to deny them the payments they are owed.
Show threadсерафими многоꙮчитїиDec 9, 2022
And like, this isn't the only thing - our vice chancellor has the position that her legal obligation to bargain with us in good faith is met by simply declaring that we must accept the contract that she has already drawn up and that she will not be entering in to negotiations - she illegally delayed for moths, and it took strike actions before she was willing to even pretend to come to the table (though her 'negotiating position' was still 'there will be no negotiations').
Show threadсерафими многоꙮчитїиDec 9, 2022
When we did more strike actions to try and get her to actually negotiate, she cut off contact and just refused, even when we escalated to things that disrupted the business of the university. Her position is 'I don't care if the university burns down, I won't negotiate with workers'.
Show threadсерафими многоꙮчитїи
I have a lot of thoughts about how this is the point of vice chancellors - a hereditary aristocracy (the 'senate') appoints a richo who is 'the right sort of people' to be in charge (the vice chancellor), and we (the workers who actually make the university into a place that is worth a damn) have no say in it. And none of the legal things we can do in negotiation will actually move the VC, because the VC dgaf about any of us, or the students, or anything to do with the university.
Dec 9, 2022 at 10:02amWeb
Show threadсерафими многоꙮчитїиDec 9, 2022
(Also like, the union lawyers were very clear that while the VC was brazenly breaking the law, we had no practical recourse, as MBIE was on the side of bosses no matter what the law or their theoretical mission says, and judges typically simply refuse to follow the law in cases where the law would benefit organised labour, and while you can eventually get a judge to partially follow the law, the judges would only do that in ways that didn't actually help us)