ARPS members of UCU make up around 10% of the membership, yet unlike academic colleagues, they are often dispersed widely across each University and membership density varies across ARPS departments and functions. It can be hard to find allies under these circumstances and to make ARPS voices heard in branches. If you’ve ever shouted ‘it’s not just a lecturer’s union’ at the tv or radio then read on, because there is a way of trying to counter this, raise the profile of ARPS members and carve a place for them in your branches.
The University of Sheffield’s ARPS group was born out of picket line conversations during the 2018 strikes which discussed these very issues. Isolation, confusion over ASOS and the difficulties of striking dominated the inaugural meeting, which attracted around 40 members from a wide range of ARPS roles. These included Heads of Service, Learning Developers and Library staff, amongst a wide range of others. The meetings provided a space to talk through issues, to discuss approaches to industrial action and to better understand the range of experiences across the University.
Over time the group developed a sense of community, one which is still going strong today, though meetings are currently online. This community of ARPS staff has been important in building confidence both to take action and to become more involved in day-to-day branch activity. Common to many branches, Sheffield whole branch meetings are large and busy affairs, there is not always time to talk about issues that members may perceive as niche or not affecting many of them. By bringing ARPS members of staff together specifically to raise their own concerns, Sheffield UCU aimed to give these staff a voice but also to use the meetings to gain information about university practices and build up a picture of conditions across the organisation.
Similarly, at The Open University (OU), an Academic-related staff member group was formed in 2021. As over 50% of OU UCU members are Associate Lecturers on precarious contracts, formal and informal branch meetings regularly centre around topics which relate to this staff category. Due to this it was agreed by the OU UCU Branch Executive Committee that developing a new Academic-related group would be beneficial so that the non-academic voice from faculties, units and across the UK was better heard.
As the OU is a large distance learning provider with staff based at regional offices or at home, use of online meetings is vital in branch activism. It is common for members to only engage with branch activity remotely due to circumstances such as geographical location. Providing members with a range of options in which they can connect and contribute to the branch is important in ensuring that all member issues are addressed, and a sense of shared cause and belonging is built.
The OU’s Academic-related group is a small team of members who perform different roles and are located across the UK. The first Academic-related group meeting was in September 2021. To help inform the direction and strategy of the new group, it was agreed that an all academic-related staff UCU member online meeting should be organised. The meeting took place in November and members from around the UK participated. Early feedback has been positive, with Academic-related members more confident that OU UCU is there to represent them as well as academic members:
Although I joined UCU several years ago, I was never entirely sure until recently that it was for me as it felt like only academic matters were considered important. The Academic-related members group has been an important part of this change.
The Academic-related group is scheduled to meet regularly in 2022. It is also planned for further all academic-related member meetings to be organised.
From our experiences in developing ARPS groups at two unique universities, the more opportunities staff have to air grievances and share experiences the better. At Sheffield, we found that case work issues emerged from these meetings, usually initiated by a tentative broaching of a subject in a supportive environment. Sometimes these issues were situations that had been going on for many months, without support or resolution. At the OU it is hoped that the Academic-related group will improve how non-academic related issues are addressed by the Branch Executive Committee as well as increasing branch activism in areas of the university which have been historically hard to reach.
Starting your own ARPS group doesn’t have to be difficult or onerous. Whether you take the Sheffield approach of plunging into all-member meetings or set up a smaller working group like the OU, your branch committee will almost certainly be delighted to hear from you and be supportive. The following thoughts might help to organise in the first instance
- Get together a small group of ARPS members who are keen and speak to your branch committee or executive to see what support they can offer. It can be useful to have a member of branch committee/exec to attend meetings to answer questions.
- Decide what type of meetings you want to run and offer to run them – they don’t have to be formal or time-consuming, think about what will work for your branch.
- Promote through branch channels, reps, email and social media.
- Keep meetings regular and encourage members to be in touch in between or if they can’t attend. Ask members for agenda suggestions to make sure nothing is missed, offer to voice concerns yourselves if members don’t feel comfortable talking in meetings.
- Have someone to take notes (especially at all-members meetings) to feedback to members and branch committee/executives.
- Report in when things have made a difference – ARPS issues are discussed at branch committee/more ARPS members raising things at branch meetings etc.
Collective action works if members feel like they have a voice. ARPS member meetings can help balance the voices in branches and ultimately make them stronger. Good luck!
Amy Ryall and David Conway, Open University