And De Montfort University!

Which other Nous-victims are there in #UKHE?

Text references Coventry University as the “canary in the coalmine” for wider issues affecting staff, students, and unions. Illustration of a caged small yellow canary in a coal mine tunnel. Includes warning signs for TUPE transfers, Subsidiaries, Fragmentation and 12 Intakes a Year. Caption reads: Coventry University: The Canary in the Coal Mine. What Happens Here Could Happen Anywhere.

Coventry University is the canary in the coal mine for UK higher education.
TUPE transfers into subsidiaries to worsen Ts and Cs.
12 intakes a year.
Erosion of national agreements.
Loss of Trade Union rights
It’s a blueprint.
If it happens here, it spreads.
#UKHE #UCU #JoGrady

How do we feel about future nottingham? "It feels as if we're all being made migrant here, constant changing of rules of engagement. I ask: who and what is a university for?" "We need openness and to use the knowledge of staff." "I have real fears about the data that's being used to make decisions, it feels unsafe." "It's the isolation of not knowing whether you matter, whether your aspirations matter." "We have to help the senior management to properly assess our financial alternatives. They really think they have the data and they don't." UCU IS FIGHTING BACK!

One of our members, Paula Sharratt, spent an afternoon asking staff, students, and community members for their thoughts on Future Nottingham. This is just a snippet of what they said.

📸: @tregenza.bsky.social

Branch AGM Tuesday 19th May at 3pm UK time: Zoom link in your inboxes. Update your diaries, folks!

Reduce Your UCU Subscription Cost by Claiming Tax Relief

As we’ve entered a new tax year, it’s a great time to remind #UCU members that you may be able to reduce the cost of your union subscription by claiming tax relief from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Click the link for more details.

A powerful message from three of our amazing SU officers on the damage being done to Goldsmiths by its management and why it matters. We’re forever grateful for our students’ support, an in awe of the incredible political work they do! www.goldsmithssu.org/news/article...

True consultation on restructures means staff and unions can shape the aims, timelines and criteria, and proposals can change substantially. If decisions feel predetermined and feedback is ignored, that’s not consultation – it’s rubber‑stamping.

Don't forget, folks - branch social tonight (Tues 24th) at 6pm at the Mitre pub in Greenwich!

While senior managers spent almost £14,000 on just one dinner, both unions, UCU and UNISON, continue to receive reports of professional but also academic staff resorting to food banks, especially towards the end of the month.

Senior managers spend almost £14,000 on attending awards dinner in Edinburgh.

The University’s senior personnel attended the Times Higher Education Awards on 13 November in Edinburgh. We wrote to the Finance Director, on 1 December seeking the full cost to the University of attendance at the event

Branch meeting! THIS Thursday 5th February at 16:00 UK time. Zoom link in your inboxes or message us on the WhatsApp group. Social at the Gipsy Moth in Greenwich after if you like. We'll discuss London weighting, post-92 contract & fractionals, & of course the ever-present merger. See you there!

QMUL's poster removal: Management threatens staff with disciplinary action over posters and stickers No clarity is given about what is deemed antisemitic Management reduces all Jewish colleagues to one position Possible precedent of repression & censorship .Management refuses to engage meaningfully Management repeats the same statement they issued in February 2024 when they broke into the union office Management claims this is an established policy though they escalate from previous practice

Colleagues were interviewed on BBC Radio 4 about @qmul.bsky.social's sudden escalation in taking down posters & threatening disciplinary action.

It is a great explanation of what's happening & its dangers.

Listen from 22min in: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... or clipped: youtu.be/SJGnCrDaCf0?...

Donate to Support University of Sheffield striking staff!, organized by Mark Pendleton I'm the branch treasurer for the University of Sheffield University and… Mark Pendleton needs your support for Support University of Sheffield striking staff!

Members of the administration at the University of Sheffield are threatening to lock out members of @sheffielducu.bsky.social who do not reschedule teaching lost to recent strike action. It's an incredibly damaging choice and a horrible precedent to set if it moves through.

Union condemns continued docking of staff pay following strike action at University of Sheffield The University and College Union (UCU) has today condemned the lockout and withholding of staff pay at the University of Sheffield following lawful industrial action

The University of Sheffield has stopped paying staff.

Not for striking but for refusing to work unpaid to make up for strike days they were already docked for.

This is punishment, not negotiation. And it’s completely reckless.

www.ucu.org.uk/article/1438...

Please take five minutes today to email your MP, share how these attacks are affecting staff and students, and ask them to add their name to EDM 2479 “Higher education pension cuts” in support of secure pensions and decent conditions in our sector.
​
2/2

Higher education pension cuts - Early Day Motions - UK Parliament That this House expresses its alarm at the growing number of higher education institutions deploying approaches which are having a negative impact on the pension schemes of academics and staff, including through fire and rehire proposals and other approaches tantamount to forcing workers onto worse contracts, terms and conditions; further expresses alarm that such actions have triggered trade disputes at institutions such as Southampton Solent and Northumbria universities, where staff are facing threats of dismissal and permanent pay freezes, respectively, unless they agree to pension cuts; insists that using subsidiary companies to circumvent employment rights and to undermine pay, terms or conditions is unacceptable behaviour that simply serves to negatively impact industrial relations further in a sector already suffering from mass redundancies and industrial action; calls on the Office for Students immediately to investigate institutions accused by trade unions of undermining pension rights to establish whether they are failing in their duties, including those relating to good governance and protecting the interests of students; and further calls on the Government to take urgent steps to prevent pension cuts and a race to the bottom in higher education provision, including through legislative change if necessary.

UCU members: MPs are considering an Early Day Motion on higher education pension cuts that condemns fire-and-rehire tactics, use of subsidiaries to undermine contracts, and threats of dismissal or pay freezes to force pension cuts. edm.parliament.uk/ea...
1/2

No guarantees for new employees from 1st August, when the contracts are signed, however.

Merger update: the VC has confirmed that current Greenwich employees can remain in their current pension schemes (TPS & Local Govt) and the post-92 academic contract. Kent employees will keep their terms & conditions through TUPE: www.acas.org.uk/tupe/advice-...

1 day left

Get out, get your ballot, get it in and tell your colleagues. We’ve got this.

Tomorrow is the last safe day!

Please sign this petition to register opposition to Northumbria University effectively stealing staff pensions by trying to forcibly move them from TPS to USS: this could create a terrible precedent (especially vital for UoG). Pensions are deferred pay & part of your agreement on working conditions!

Good news for our colleagues in Nottingham!

A reminder that industrial action can work, and universty management can negotiate with a union that represents their staff.

Today marks #DisabilityPayGapDay, the point in the year when Disabled workers effectively stop being paid.

This injustice can’t be ignored.
We need action to close the disability pay gap and deliver fair pay for all. ✊

At least, though, the joint VCs' statement finally concedes that it is indeed a merger....

Proposal to change legal name of University of Greenwich to 'London & South East University Group'. For 2026-27 academic year. If you wanted to change the name of a *single degree programme*, the deadline would be coming up soon. Someone in a hurry? www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications...

Good afternoon, folks! Feeling in need of an afternoon pick-me-up? Why not get out and post your ballot! Nothing energizes quite like knowing you're contributing to the best chance we have to change HE!

Celebrate with your choice of snack afterwards! #WeAreTheUniversity

National get the vote out

📣 National Get The Vote Out LIVE!
Join us next Thursday 6 November at 7PM as we go live from campuses across the UK 💪

Hear from members, branches and organisers as we make the final push to get every ballot posted 🗳️
Watch LIVE on UCU X and YouTube
#WeAreTheUniversity

Happy Friday folks! Whatever else you're doing this weekend, if there's a ballot paper sitting around in your house, fill it in (voting YES of course) and post it! Take a photo while you do so, and send it to us so others get inspired ✊

The importance of voting YES in the UCU national ballot.
📢some reasons:
The pay offer this year is a mere 1.4% but inflation is 3.8% which means our pay’s gone down since the recession of 2007-9 by 20-30% in real terms, depending on whether you use CPI or RPI measures.

More #UCU branches now added to our starter pack 💞 of formal branch/committee presences we've found (no individuals)

Please let us know if yours is missing (and sorry about the delay @ucugreenwich.bsky.social @brunelucu.bsky.social @ysjucu.bsky.social @uhiucu.bsky.social @ucuimperial.bsky.social!)

Don’t just take it from us- Richard Wild, branch co-chair at Greenwich, explains why he’s voting YES to change the future of higher education in the UK.
💌 Why are you voting YES? Let us know in the comments below ⬇️
#WeAreTheUniversity