10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery" Northumbria University will be hit with ten days of strike action from Thursday 12 February in a fight to save staff pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today

@georgeclarke.bsky.social UCU - 10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery" www.ucu.org.uk/article/14401

Vote for Regina, Sean Matt, Loes, Suzy, Christina, Simon, Cecila, Donna, Bee, Marion, Deepa, Grant, Rhian, and Lesley in the UCU NEC elections.

The good news is that #ucu is in great shape at branch levels. But we need to rebuild the union nationally. If you're a member please vote.

CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research To commemorate the centenary of the British General Strike and miners’ lock-out, Newcastle University’s Labour & Society Research Group (LSRG) is organising a conference that revisits the…

CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research, 7-8 May 2026 @newcastleuni.bsky.social
Deadline: 6 February 2026

More details:
@sslh.bsky.social

sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c...

sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Kindly supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk

#GeneralStrike1926 #GeneralStrike100

Colleagues doing very cool things! One for the labour, maritime and mining historians among you.

A bedraggled group of inadequate fascists wander through Newcastle with crosses and banners. Before being met by thousands of ordinary citizens who said they were not welcome.

There are more people in Newcastle waiting for Greggs to open of a morning than weird UKIP managed to get on Saturday's sad shambles.

What has Yvette Cooper’s proscription of Palestine Action done to this country?

Beyond absurd. It’s extreme authoritarianism. These police should be arresting rapists & crooks, not neglecting those duties to spend time arresting citizens standing against genocide.

It undermines police and the law.

My book, 'Wales in England 1914-1945. A Social, Cultural, & Military History', is currently available at a more affordable price (✨️58% off✨️). How ideas of Wales and Welshness influenced two generations of English soldiers & writers:
www.amazon.co.uk/Wales-Englan...

University satisfaction rising but still trails pre-Covid level Data from the National Student Survey suggests that Scottish universities are continuing to recover from a falloff in satisfaction in 2020.

Scottish NSS results: 'Overall satisfaction in Scotland for 2025 was 80.7%, up from 78.1% in 2024. Satisfaction levels began to decline in 2020, when the overall rate in Scotland was 85%.'

What Actually Counts as Interdisciplinary Research? A data-driven look at which funders support knowledge integration

Interesting bit of research from @ersatzben.bsky.social suggesting QR funding is really critical for supporting interdisciplinary research
johnsonb.substack.com/p/what-actua...

Edinburgh University want to impose £140m in cuts as part of their "more students, fewer staff" policy. Edinburgh staff and students say "an end to unethical university governance"

Come help our friends in the (slightly further) North!

Newcastle University goes from 'Raising the Bar' to a doom loop of redundancies, course closures and failure. It's hard to see any future for UK HE except as a narrowly-focussed credentialling arm of the tech sector.

The question is: Why (unless you're a schill for one of the big AI corps) you would advocate a UK industrial policy that slits the throat of its cultural industries (where it has an established global advantage) in favour of the AI sector where completion is intense and gains speculative (at best)

I'll be going through the process of making this open access, but for those who do have permissions through their libraries - this came out today.

Some thoughts on the history of disability benefits and where UBI sits in that lineage. 🗃️

bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...

A panel of five diverse speakers sit on a small stage in front of an audience at the Migration Museum. One speaker on the far right is holding a microphone and speaking, gesturing with his hand. The other panelists are listening attentively. The background features historical black-and-white photographs and a blue wall with the words "MIGRATION MUSEUM" in white text. The audience is seated facing the panel.

Are you working in museum collections, digital storytelling, or projects featuring migration history? Join us for the first event in the Migration Network series, focused on how digital tools are being used to document and share migration stories through collections work.

External shot of a crowd being addressed by a speaker

Trade Unions 4 Trans Rights event this morning @newcastleucu.bsky.social

Statement on NEC Meeting of 2 May 2025 On Friday, members of Unite UCU will be taking the final day of an unprecedented six weeks of industrial action. It is also the penultimate NEC meeting before Congress. One of the core principles o…

I stand by this. Solidarity with fellow workers is the first principle of trade unionism. An injury to one is an injury to all. reclaimucu.wordpress.com/2025/04/30/s...

Een vote amongst staff shows trust in the current leadership is incredible low.

University of Edinburgh staff balloted on strike action over £140 million budget cuts Staff at the University of Edinburgh are being balloted on industrial action in a dispute over the university’s plans to slash £140 million from…

Fight for every job! @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk

The results are IN for our industrial action ballot! On a 64.0% turnout (our highest ever confirmed %age), 72.2% of voters said they were prepared to strike, with 81.2% prepared to engage in action short of strike.

So what's next? Well. The employer knows where to find us. Time for a chat, perhaps?

Crossed the picket line that you couldn't visit then.

Vice Chancellor wants to avoid Senedd scrutiny on massive cuts programme Martin Shipton Former Education Minister Leighton Andrews has accused Cardiff University’s Vice Chancellor of seeking to delay an appearance before the Senedd’s Education Committee until after final d...

“This is an insult to the 1400 academic staff still at risk of redundancy."

nation.cymru/news/vice-ch...

Monday morning we continue to show our management we don’t accept their approach. Why would we trust them to get us out of this when they are the ones who got us in this? Join your pickets 8 to 11 am. Check your email or section WhatsApp for section days.

Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy.

"Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."

📣REMINDER FOR UEA UCU MEMBERS!
📣Our industrial action will begin with a day of strike action on Wednesday 26th March.
📣We will commence continuous action short of a strike (ASOS) from this date.
📣Further details to follow. #SaveUEA #UKHE

Graphic shares an open call for new board of director members

📢 Exciting news: Voice of Witness is looking for dedicated individuals to join our Board of Directors and contribute to our impact.

Interested in supporting community-based storytelling, oral history, and education for justice?

#Nonprofit #NonprofitBoard #BoardofDirectors #NonprofitLeadership

MASSIVE Solidarity

UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…

moneyontheleft.org/2025/01/16/u...

Can you work out the relationship between branch and national leadership? Because my branch has leadership can.

Well, we have people joining our branch. And I guess you'd describe our branch leadership as on the left. But let's see if your confidence is merited. I doubt it.