Checklist for those who are a union representative in a committee, board or similar

Union representatives in Uppsala University's various bodies are important links between the board's work and what happens in different parts of the university's operations. As a union representative, you ensure that Saco-S has insight into the university's operations and you are responsible for updating the board on what is said in these bodies. You also monitor the decisions made in these bodies and participate in discussions to provide a broader employee perspective on many issues. As a union representative, you usually have the right to attend and speak, but without the right to vote in these bodies.

Pre-work

1. You as a union representative receive a summons from a committee, board or similar.
2. The documents are often located on a meeting page on the staff portal. (Please make a pdf of the documents.)
3. Send the summons and the documents to saco-s@uu.se.
4. Read the documents and inform the board if you have seen anything in the summons that is extra important to monitor from a union perspective.
5. The board also reads through the documents and provides feedback on whether there is anything on the agenda that is extra important to monitor from a union perspective.
   1. If there is something on the agenda that is extra important to monitor from a union perspective, you and the person from the board will agree on how we should handle the issue. Different ways of dealing with the issue can be:
      1. The board or you as a union representative inform the employer before the meeting that this is an issue that probably needs to be negotiated before a decision is made.
      2. As a union representative, you raise the issue during the meeting if it is an issue that does not need to be negotiated.
      3. Contact the chairperson of the meeting and flag that an item needs to be negotiated before it is decided on.

Work during the meetings

1. You participate in discussions where a union and/or employee perspective is needed.
2. If something needs to be negotiated, announce it at the meeting. Note that sometimes issues arise that did not seem to be of union interest in advance, but where the need for a union input and/or an employee perspective emerges during an ongoing meeting.

Post-work

1. Send a short summary of the meeting and meeting records to saco-s@uu.se.
2. If you have thoughts about something, feel free to contact the board and ask questions.
3. If the board has thoughts about something, someone from us can contact you.
4. You are also always welcome to attend our board meeting and tell us what is going on.

EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT NEED OR MAY NEED TO BE NEGOTIATED

1. Business plans always need to be negotiated.
2. Strategic documents governing:
   1. How much employees should work with something, e.g. teachers' research or teaching.
   2. Employee rights, e.g. doctoral students' right to work space/supervision when their funding runs out.
3. Reorganizations such as:
   1. Change of premises, new premises.
   2. When activities are moved from one department to another.
   3. When a business is closed down (this may mean that someone is not allowed to keep their job).
   4. When new activities are added, e.g. centre formations.

Examples of things that usually do not need to be negotiated

1. Recruitment matters - which professor is proposed to be hired.
2. Course syllabi (as long as it is not about a major change that means that employees are laid off).
3. Minor changes in the budget, such as new money from the government for a specific purpose.
4. Plans for different types of investigations do not usually need to be negotiated, but then we may need to negotiate if changes in the activities are proposed based on the results of the investigation at hand.