Dear colleague

Every year I send out an email as we come closer to the Christmas holiday and every year I have to acknowledge the struggles that we have faced. It also seems that every year things seem to get a bit worse and this year is no different. We have faced numerous disputes, both local and national, threats to our ability to organise through new trade union laws, increased threats to our funding and general increases to workloads that make being a trade union rep on top even more difficult. On behalf of the Regional Office I would like to thank every one of you for the hard work that you have put in this year supporting our members, whether through casework or collective bargaining, standing on picket lines and juggling large workloads with a commitment to the trade union role. You are all awesome and you are very much appreciated.

I have to say that next year looks like it is going to be fun too and you can expect the regional office to be in touch over possible local claims on pay in FE, supplementary claims on gender pay and casualisation in HE, and recruitment everywhere. If we are going to tackle all of this then we need to grow our membership and develop our activists and the regional office will support you in all of this work.

On a positive note, these last few weeks have seen the start of a new black members’ network in our region and training for our retired members so that they can assist us with casework particularly in branches with little structure or organisation. Keep an eye out for future training too as we roll out a new course looking at supporting members over disability discrimination with a specific focus on hidden disabilities and mental health.

If you are working in either HE or FE you also might be interested in the presentation given at the Regional Committee by our Regional Secretary Pete Monaghan on the changes to apprenticeships and how they will impact on both sectors. It was eye opening for reps in both sectors, particularly as we see the development of degree apprenticeships in HE and changes to assessors roles in FE. We need to get organised on this early in order to make sure that we protect our members and if any branches would like Pete to come and speak on the matter then do please get in touch with him at PMonaghan@camre.ac.uk. Pete can also be contacted on any matters relating to the Regional Committee and if your branch doesn’t send a rep to those meetings then it might be worth your while talking to him about them to find out more.

For information, the UCU office will be closed over the holidays between 23 December and 3 January, reopening on the 4 January. As usual I will be on call over that period and if you need to get in touch for emergency support then text my mobile on 07989 439499. This number is only to be used over the holidays for emergencies. Once the office is open again then please use the eastern@ucu.org.uk address as usual if you want to get in touch with the regional office.

Please note that I will not be checking emails and if you need some urgent advice than texting me is the only way that you will be able to get hold of me. Fingers crossed that no-one gets too drunk at a Christmas Party and ends up needing urgent union representation, but it has happened before….

So, once again, thank you. Everyone at the Regional Office wishes you a Happy Christmas and a brilliant New Year and a sincere wish that you get a proper break and the ability to re-charge your batteries.

Best wishes

Lydia