Campaign for fair parking at the University of Hertfordshire
May 2021
talks are still ongoing with Estates regarding the charging for parking at the University. Meetings are planned for the end of this month.
Jan 2020
Dear colleagues,
In 2019 Unison consulted with its members, and wider University staff, regarding changes to University car parking policy and charges. In December, Unison submitted a formal response and options for alternative charges. Further meetings and discussions were then held. C-19 arrived and this impacted on resolving this matter. In June 2020, UH Unison were advised that the proposals had been rejected by our University’s Chief Executive Group.
Unison, and UCU colleagues, met with car park contract managers in a meeting held on 23rd June 2020 and made clear our disappointment and continuing strong concerns.
Following announcement of permit renewal on 27th July 2020, discussions are ongoing but Unison is not supportive of all current arrangements. We will provide a further update to our members when we can but please do not hesitate to contact us, should you have any queries: unison@herts.ac.uk
UH Unison branch Executive
Prices are frozen until Jan 2021. Therefore this year's charges should be the same as for Jan 2020.
December 2019
Unison are still talking to the University to find an acceptable agreement for future increases to onsite parking charges.
24 October 2019
Initiate an urgent review of the cost, equity and sustainability of the current staff parking policy.
SIGN OUR PETITION TODAY. This is the link to the petition
Why is this important?
Staff at the University have noticed an unequal increase in parking charges across different pay bands. They are frustrated with large annual increases in charges, and a decline in availability of parking spaces.
Dont forget to send your email of complaint too.
See the suggested letter below.
30 September 2019
UNISON do not support the current staff car parking policy at the University.
Our members have rightly expressed anger over the costs and unequal nature of the parking system. Unfortunately, the University has pushed forward with the introduction of charging from the 1st of October. Consequently, we must advise our members to pay the charges to avoid incurring fines.
But this isn't the end of the matter. UNISON has already won some concessions this year that will help low paid staff. We are now stepping up our campaign to make parking at UH both fair and affordable for all. We remain in discussions with senior management, but we also need your help.
Three things you can do right now:
Sign our petition:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/campaign-for-fair-parking-at-the-university-of-hertfordshire
Send an email of complaint to Tracey Russell and ask her to press for further changes (a suggested email is written below). Please note, Tracey may not be able to respond in person to all emails on this subject. t.1.russell@herts.ac.uk.
Vote to take action on staff pay and get some of that parking money back! See: https://www.unison.org.uk/at-work/education-services/about/higher-education/pay-now-higher-education/
UNISON has heard our members' voice loud and clear. Watch this space for news on the campaign, branch meetings, etc. Updates will also appear at http://uhunison.org.uk
Suggested text for email of complaint:
Dear Tracey,
Further to your email giving details of staff parking charges for the year 2019/20, I am very concerned about the unequal application of these charges across the range of pay bands. After studying the cost for each band, it is clear that lower paid staff are required to pay disproportionately more. For example, an employee working at band H (£52,001 – £61,000) is facing a 11% increase in charges, whereas an employee working at band A (Up to £5k) is facing a 500% increase. In addition, I understand the University will be charging blue badge holders for the first time in 2019/20. As a result, blue badge holding staff face an unexpected charge of over £300. This is a very unreasonable way to introduce such changes.
As well as the issues raised above, I want to express my frustration with the overall parking policy at UH. The cost of car parking has increased significantly and yet University staff see a service which has declined. I frequently find myself unable to park because spaces are occupied by students' cars. Issuing fines is a retrospective measure and does not prevent unauthorised parking. It is not an effective deterrent, and clearly a fine does not prevent a space being taken up in the first place. How can the University justify outsourcing it's parking service to Securitas when it has led to a poorer service and a financial deficit? As a customer what improvements will I see to follow the increase in charges?
I would urge the senior management team to initiate a wide reaching and meaningful review of the car parking service at the earliest opportunity.
Kind regards,
xxxxxxxxx
5 September 2019
UNISON continues to have concerns regarding the equity and sustainability of University car parking management and charging.
We welcome the recent review by management, which address some of our members' concerns but issues remain regarding the impact of charging on our low paid and part-time members.
We will continue to work with UCU colleagues, car park contract managers, and the University Secretary and Registrar to achieve a fairer outcome for our members.
Further updates will be posted on this page.
19 August 2019
Your Unison and UCU representatives met today (Monday) with car park managers and University Secretary and Registrar, Sue Grant to discuss the recently announced increases in car park charges.
Unison welcomes the feedback we have received from our members, wider Professional staff and academic colleagues too. We were able to make good use of this in our meetings. Members and non-members have provided us with excellent feedback and comments regarding how the proposed increases impact on them personally and made it absolutely clear what they thought of the increases.
Unison was able to submit 40 pages of accumulated individual comments. As academic colleagues return to UH and appreciate how the increases will impact on themselves, we expect the number of comments to increase further. Jo Horridge, Unison Equality Officer, pulled together the feedback and a summary of the key issues which had been highlighted and these were well received by management and UCU colleagues. Follow this link to see the key issues highlighted by staff
We had an open conversation with University managers and agreed on the following:
to review the proposed increases and delay the implementation until this review has occurred
to review the impact of the charge increases on part-time staff
to consider additional charge bands to address impacts on low paid staff
to review communication to University staff of how car parking is financed and managed and why there is a deficit
acceptance that a charge increase is required but that this must be equitable
that deferring implementation may require staff to pay for parking over 11 instalments, rather than 12
University managers agreed to undertake this review urgently. Unison will issue a further update when we have received a revised proposal
Neil Allen : Branch Chair
Jo Horridge : Branch Equality Officer
13 August 2019
University senior managers have agreed to Unison's request to meet to discuss the recently announced increases to car parking charges. We will meet on Monday 19th August. This meeting will now also include UCU branch officers..
The Unison Chair and UCU Branch President have met to discuss our members concerns and will collaborate in our meeting with management.
Please continue to share your thoughts regarding the increases in charges, with Unison (unison@herts.ac.uk)
or UCU (Contactucu@herts.ac.uk)
2 August 2019
Unison called an emergency Branch Executive Committee meeting this morning (Friday) to discuss the increases to car parking fees and the feedback that we have received both from Unison members and wider University staff.
The announcement from UH, of the increase in charges, included the following: “The Unions are also aware of the changes”, this statement requires clarification. Unison and UCU attended meetings to be briefed on the proposed changes and had an opportunity to feedback comments to management regarding how the changes would impact on our members, particularly our colleagues employed on lower UH grades or who work part-time.
To be clear neither Unison nor UCU have agreed to these proposals.
We have requested an urgent meeting with Sue Grant and Tracy Russell to discuss this further. We will also be working closely with UCU colleagues.
Unison will be holding an Extraordinary Branch meeting of our members (and concerned non-members) at some stage in the proceedings – please continue to visit this page for further information and updates.
Comments are welcome on UNISON@herts.ac.uk
Neil Allen, Branch Chair;
Pat Bridges, Branch Secretary
31 July 2019
Unison-University of Hertfordshire Branch has received the notice of increases in car parking charges at the University. These increases ignore the issues which Unison has previously raised with UH managers regarding this issue.
We are collecting feedback from across the University and would welcome hearing from our members and non-members alike. We need your opinions and thoughts on this, so please email unison@herts.ac.uk
There is a selection of frequently used words, sent in the emails we have received so far. in the image at the top of this page.
Our Branch Executive Committee are meeting on Friday morning to discuss this and will place updates on this site in due course.