On the back of UCU campaigning on casualisation at Lancaster University the employer has finally recognises that insecurity caused by the use of fixed-term contracts and casual arrangements is bad for business.

UCU North West Regional Office and Lancaster University UCU Branch have negotiated an entirely new policy to combat casual and fixed-term employment. The new policy delivers for UCU members:

• transferring current fixed-term contracts to indefinite
• treating research staff with parity, and removing time-limited funding as justification for the use of fixed-term contracts
• limiting the future use of fixed-term contracts to specific and exceptional situations
• making clear commitments to pay GTAs and demonstrators for all the work they undertake
• ensuring casual workers are provided with a contract, are paid on time, and that payment for ad-hoc work is made when the work is cancelled at short notice

This policy represents a significant improvement at Lancaster University, and would be a helpful exemple for other branches tackling casualisation in higher education. UCU branches can obtain a copy from North West Regional Office: henorthwest@ucu.org.uk