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What did you do during the COVID-19 crisis? On casualised workers, work and the pandemic

Published: 21st April, 2020

Engineering building with covid-19 image

In a year’s time, in two years, in five years, people will look back and ask of individuals and institutions: ‘what did you do during the COVID-19 crisis?’ The answers will shape behaviour, influencing decisions on where to shop and work – and study. The University of Leicester – like every other university, like every…

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Kind of Blue Monday

Published: 6th April, 2020

Letter all Leicester UCU members, Monday 6 April. As the University leadership team continues to develop and roll out its COVID-19 response, Leicester UCU continues to respond to members’ concerns. 1. Two Fridays ago (March 27) we reported on negotiations with senior managers regarding our suggestion that, in light of enormous goodwill University of Leicester…

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On Panopto, strike deductions, detriment – and other negotiations

Published: 30th March, 2020

Email sent to all Leicester UCU members, 30 March Phew! What a fortnight! And what more is to come? We don’t know whether the glimmers we see are sunlight at the end of the tunnel or the headlights of an oncoming train! Simply keeping up with the daily set of cascading emails has been a…

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COVID-19 – open letter to all Leicester UCU members

Published: 27th March, 2020

It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed since we returned from the picket lines a couple of weeks ago. Whilst we knew the threat from COVID-19 was serious, hence our revised activities and guidance on our final strike day, most of us did not anticipated a lockdown situation within such a short…

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Panopto and Blackboard Collaborate: Leicester UCU’s response

Published: 23rd March, 2020

Dear Edmund and Emma, (cc Nishan Canagarajah and Kerry Law) We are writing to respond to your request that Leicester UCU suspend its opposition to the use of Panopto lecture capture, at least for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide an amended statement, indicating our agreement to this suspension with some conditions. We…

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