The Friday email: 07 May 2021

Global boycott of University of Leicester begins

As part of UCU's fight against redundancies at University of Leicester the union has announced a global boycott of the institution. This rarely used sanction of greylisting comes as Leicester staff also begin a marking and assessment boycott. UCU is asking its members, other trade unions, labour movement organisations and the international academic community to support colleagues at Leicester by disengaging from the university.  

Use #boycottLeicester on social media to help spread the word and increase the pressure on Leicester's management. We'll be collating as many as we can on our wall of support.

UCU members fighting back

UCU branches across the UK are fighting to defend jobs and conditions and you can read our roundup of local disputes here including a dispute at University of Hull over cuts to language subjects and the sacking of our branch president.

#RebuildFE: invest in our staff, invest in our recovery, invest in our communities

Online voting closes today in many college branches in a consultation over whether further education members are prepared to take action over pay. This is part of our campaign to #RebuildFE which is about addressing low pay and underfunding of our colleges as reported in Tes here.

Protect the arts in higher education

UCU has responded to the Office for Students consultation on recurrent grant funding for higher education in 2021-22, criticising plans to cut funding for arts and creative subject and remove additional funding to support London institutions. UCU raised concerns about the impact these plans would have on widening access and participation, student choice and job security of staff. You can read the full response here.

Higher education pay negotiations

There is an update on the final New JNCHES meeting of the 2021/22 pay negotiations on our website here. 

Kate Green MP pulls out of university event due to course closures and job cuts

Shadow Secretary of State for Education Kate Green MP has given UCU members a boost in their fight against cuts to jobs and courses by pulling out of an event organised by Aston and London South Bank University who are both planning to close courses.