UCU: Fighting punitive ASOS deductions

Motion

Motion text: Congress notes:
1. Employer threats to make punitive deductions for ASOS;
2. The need to respond robustly through industrial, political, and legal means;
3. The important campaigning and legal work carried out by branches in challenging deductions;
4. The decision by many members to decline to declare their participation in industrial action when faced with such threats;
5. The support shown by the union to Queen Mary members through the fighting fund following the implementation of deductions;
6. That the punitive ASOS deductions will have a disproportionate impact on all UCU members employed on casualised contracts
Congress resolves:
a. To develop a legal strategy to challenge deductions which extends beyond breach of contract to incorporate arguments about human rights, trade union detriment, and blacklisting;
b. To commit to provide strike pay to members in branches who receive 100% ASOS deductions, on a comparable scale to that provided to Queen Mary members in 2022.
c. To work with the TUC and other trade unions to campaign for a change to the law to prevent such deductions, including lobbying government and opposition parties
d. To give the maximum financial support possible to UCU members on casualised contracts during their participation in ASOS