DISPUTE AT COLLEGE of NORTH WEST LONDON

From: "Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary"
To: "Mr P Murry" Dear colleague,

I am writing to urge you to support your union and to make your voice heard at College of North West London. I know you have faced a series of issues with your employer over the last year, including its continued failure to implement the nationally agreed 8 point pay scale, redundancies and now an attempt to worsen your contractual terms and conditions.

I wanted to write to you to express the national union’s support for you and to urge you above all to remain united.

What does unity mean? It means firstly, that your union advises you not to respond to the employer’s offer to you on an individual basis. Instead, I would urge you to ensure that the employer only hears one voice, the voice of the union united.

So, secondly, I would urge you to do everything possible to attend your branch meeting this Wednesday, where the employer’s offer is the only subject of discussion. The meeting will take place at 5.00pm on Wednesday 9 June in the Willesden Centre, Lecture Theatre E101. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard and to make sure that your employer gets a clear message from the union as a whole.

I know that your local and regional representatives are working hard to resolve this current dispute and have made a revised offer to the employer on 26 May, a fact that I understand has not been communicated to you by your employer.

Finally, I would assure you that you continue to have the support of the whole union, and at UCU Congress held last week delegates were united in sending you their solidarity.

I am sorry that I can’t be with you on Wednesday, but I wish you well. Please do everything you can to attend the meeting and make sure that your employer hears one, strong united voice from the UCU.

Best wishes

Sally Hunt
UCU general secretary