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Desperate times: the UCU survey found that 20 per cent of those on casualised contracts had difficulty paying for food
About a third of university staff on fixed-term or casualised contracts struggle to pay their rent or mortgage and household bills, a survey of just over 2,500 University and College Union members suggests.
A fifth of those in non-permanent posts in higher education had difficulty paying for food, and 16 per cent found it hard to pay off loans, according to the UCU report, Making Ends Meet: The Human Cost of Casualisation in Post-secondary Education, published on 21 May.
Some 6 per cent of the university sector respondents to the survey claimed working tax credits and 7 per cent child tax credits, it adds.
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About a third of casualised staff (32 per cent) said that they had struggled to get a mortgage given the precarious nature of their employment, the report says.
鈥淚 have given up trying for a mortgage and am resigned to the fact that I will always be in rented accommodation,鈥 said one university lecturer who responded to the UCU poll carried out between January and April.
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Another lecturer reported 鈥渟truggling [to gain a mortgage] because of the end date of my contract despite being at the university since 2010 on a series of full-time contracts鈥.
Many more university employees also said that they had never tried to get a mortgage given the short-term nature of their posts. About a third of academics and almost 70 per cent of those on research-only contracts are employed on a fixed-term basis, the report says.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 try to buy a house if you don鈥檛 know where you will be living and working in two years鈥 time,鈥 said another lecturer.
It鈥檚 grim out there
The study, which covers about 1,800 employees in higher education and about 700 in further or adult education, reveals the 鈥渉arsh reality of life in our universities and colleges鈥, said Sally Hunt, the UCU鈥檚 general secretary, who will highlight how the 鈥渆xploitative use of casualised contracts breeds insecurity, anxiety [and] stress鈥 in her keynote address to the union鈥檚 annual congress in Glasgow, which takes place from 23 to 25 May.
鈥淪taff starting their career today are more likely to have a casual contract than a permanent one and the personal impact of this lack of security is profound and long lasting,鈥 she says in the report.
鈥淚t means that people often don鈥檛 know how they will make ends meet from one week to the next鈥nd the next big life decisions like buying a house or having children must be indefinitely postponed.鈥
Universities and ministers should stop trying to defend casualised contracts as 鈥渇lexible鈥, Ms Hunt adds, saying 鈥渇lexibility is not a two-way street鈥 and 鈥減eople who want security and a proper contract should be able to secure one鈥.
About 55 per cent of all respondents were on fixed-term contracts, while 20 per cent were on zero-hours contracts, the report says.
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On pay, 14 per cent of the university staff surveyed had a gross monthly pay packet of less than 拢500, while another 16 per cent earned between 拢500 and 拢999 a month. One in 10 also claimed that their working hours were so irregular that it was impossible to say how many hours they typically worked.
Other academics revealed that they had been forced to undertake an excessive amount of teaching, which had taken a toll on their personal lives and their health. 鈥淢y career is in tatters at the moment, with the huge number of hours needed to make ends meet impacting on my ability to research and publish,鈥 said one lecturer.
The joy of flexibility
However, the Universities and Colleges Employers鈥 Association said that the number of permanent/open-ended contracts had risen in recent years, up by about 8,000 since 2009-10 to 95,515 in 2013-14.
鈥淗igher education institutions use 鈥榟ours to be notified鈥 casual contracts for genuinely unpredictable work such as cover for specialist demonstrators and teaching assistants,鈥 a Ucea spokesman said, adding that many professional staff enjoyed flexible contracts if they were employed elsewhere at the same time.
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鈥淗igher education institutions cannot simply provide full-time or open-ended employment to everyone who wants it; like all employers, they will always have variable and temporary needs,鈥 he added.
Ucea has been working with the five unions involved in higher education over the past year on the issue of casual staff and a joint report on best practice will be published next month.
Special conferences: union members attempt to rein in proliferation of 鈥榰ndemocratic鈥 gatherings
Too many costly and 鈥渦ndemocratic鈥 special conferences are being called by disgruntled University and College Union activists seeking to overturn executive decisions, the union鈥檚 congress will hear.
While most of the UCU鈥檚 policies are decided by delegates at the union鈥檚 annual congress, which takes place in Glasgow this year from 23 to 25 May, there are concerns that a growing number of key decisions are being taken at special conferences to address specific issues.
Several special conferences, each of which must have the backing of 20 UCU quorate branch meetings to go ahead, have been held in the past 12 months to address pay and pensions issues. But some delegates in Glasgow will call for their use to be curtailed because they are poorly attended and driven by small factions within the union.
The University of the West of England鈥檚 UCU branch has tabled a motion seeking a review of how the meetings are called. Each one can cost 拢20,000 or more, it says.
鈥淗olding these meetings with just two or three weeks鈥 notice means lots of people can鈥檛 go to them because they cannot rearrange teaching or meetings,鈥 said Harriet Bradley, the branch鈥檚 secretary.
鈥淧eople with caring responsibilities or childcare commitments are also excluded 鈥 it is very undemocratic,鈥 she added.
The meetings are often dominated by delegates from universities close to the venue, whereas the May congress allows time for all branches to send their representatives, Professor Bradley said.
鈥淚f they are held in Manchester, it tends to be those from northern universities who attend; if it鈥檚 London, then representatives from the capital are there,鈥 she said.
Many of those behind the special conferences are those unhappy with decisions made by the UCU鈥檚 national executive committee, who are elected nationally by members, Professor Bradley said.
鈥淭hese meetings shouldn鈥檛 be called just because people are a bit fed up by the NEC,鈥 she added.
Sean Wallis, president of University College London鈥檚 UCU branch, said that the 20-branch rule should be amended because branches covering fewer than 1,000 members could force a conference.
But he believed that the right to call special conferences to challenge executive decisions should remain, saying that 鈥渞ecall and accountability is the cornerstone of any democratic organisation鈥.
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鈥淯ltimately this argument is between those who think democracy should be convenient and occasional, and hopefully not get in the way of business, and those who think the union should be democratic from top to bottom, however inconvenient this may be,鈥 he said.
Jack Grove
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