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TRADE unionists in Scotland’s higher education sector have warned that this year could be even more trying for workers, calling for a cautious return to in-person learning.
The UCU Scotland called for more robust guidance to protect university staff during their online education conference yesterday, where they discussed the impact of Covid-19 on teaching across the country.
The seminar saw the union’s Scotland vice-president Jeanette Findlay call for urgent action to protect staff as the academic year begins.
She said the workload currently facing staff is “simply unsustainable,” and urged a more cautious approach and robust guidance to avoid the pressures on staff to worsen.
There were also warnings that there has been no union involvement in how teaching takes place, warning that emergency responses — currently being made normal working arrangements — are not in the best interests of workers.
Ms Findlay said that moving online has massively affected workloads.
She said: “Everybody here knows universities didn’t stop working, we just worked — by-and-large — from home.
“If principals and lobbyist groups had had their way, the guidance would contain fewer safeguards. We need to be aware of and to be standing up to that.”
UCU general secretary Jo Grady also said that Britain is not out of the woods on Covid-19, and major mitigations must be put in place to make universities safe places to work with transmission remaining high.
Ms Grady said that the union will back any branch which wants to carry out a Covid-19 health and safety ballot.
She said: “Although employers are demonstrating they have learnt nothing, the UCU has.
“We are still ready and willing to escalate if employers don’t give us the protections we need.”