The Friday email: 17 February 2023

UCU Rising: strike paused - campaign continues 

UCU today announced significant progress in negotiations with the employers in our HE pay and pension disputes. To allow our ongoing negotiations to continue in a constructive environment UCU has agreed to pause strike action for the next two weeks.

Ballots for our re-ballot of all members in the pay, equality, workloads and casualisation dispute and the USS pensions dispute (excluding Northern Ireland) will start arriving from Wednesday 22 February. It is crucial that members deliver a massive YES vote to keep the pressure on the employers. Make sure that your details are up to date on MyUCU now.

In anticipation of ballots arriving, we are hosting the biggest ever UCU Live event on Tuesday 21 February at 19:30. You can set reminders on YouTube and Facebook now and watch live on Twitter. 

We want to remind members that UCU has a national fighting fund and that many branches also have local hardship funds. You can find more details about the national fighting fund here. Please speak to your local reps for more information. 

Respect FE electronic ballot: get ready to vote YES

Members in further education (FE) colleges in England will be asked to participate in an electronic poll on whether you support a nationally aggregated strike action ballot on pay and conditions for FE staff.

Voting will open on Friday 3 March and close on Friday 24 March. Please make sure your contact details (email, mobile number and postal address) are up to date and encourage colleagues to do the same:

• update your contact details via MyUCU to ensure you receive our communications
• look out for your e-ballot email on Friday 3 March, click on the link and vote YES
• sign the Respect FE charter.

Strike action at Havant and South Downs College

UCU members at Havant and South Downs College (HSDC) will be taking strike action on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February in a dispute about pay. National Education Union (NEU) members at HSDC will be striking on the same days. NEU and UCU are working in partnership to win fair pay after a decade of below inflation pay increases at the college.

UCU national and Scotland elections 2023: use your vote

Elections for UCU officer and national executive committee (NEC) positions and elections for honorary treasurer of UCU Scotland and members of the UCU Scotland executive committee opened on Thursday 26 January. The election ballot will close on Wednesday 1 March.

If you have not yet received your postal ballot materials, please visit this page where you will be able to request replacement voting papers until Wednesday 22 February.

Redundancies at University of East Anglia

The crisis at University of East Anglia deepens. UEA UCU branch has passed a vote of no confidence in the vice-chancellor and senior leaders. Preparations to go into dispute are being made as demands for information about the university's finances and a coherent recovery plan continue to be met with little response. Supporters can sign this joint union letter and continue to send messages of solidarity to UEA UCU via Twitter.

Adult and community education briefing, 23 February

Join your adult and community education (ACE) colleagues to be part of this crucial briefing, which will take place on Thursday 23 February 14:00-16:00 at UCU head office, Carlow Street NW1 7LH and online.

UCU London regional office has called this important briefing to allow branch officers, reps and members working in ACE to come together and discuss where we are, and more importantly, where we want to be in 2023. There will be speakers from the Greater London Authority (GLA), Trades Union Congress (TUC), as well as UCU FE and ACE staff. To register, please email Alex Nightingale with your name, institution and whether you will attend in person or online.

UCU LGBT+ research conference

The UCU LGBT+ research conference will be a hybrid meeting taking place at the University of Manchester and online on Friday 19 May 2023. Call for papers is now open, proposals of no more than 500 words can be submitted here with a deadline of Monday 27 February.

UCU week of action against workplace racism 2023

The UCU week of action (22-28 February) is an annual event highlighting the need to fight racism in the workplace. Branches are encouraged to hold their own events around this year's theme. Materials this year are designed for members and branches to use on picket lines in support of the current phase of industrial action. Let us know what you are planning and we can add it to the week of action page.

Amnesty International survey on counter-extremism and human rights in the UK

Amnesty International UK are investigating the impact of the Prevent duty--part of the UK government's strategy for countering terrorism--on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association. Amnesty are conducting a short online survey and are especially keen to hear from those working in education, health and other public services that are subject to the Prevent duty.

UCU statement on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

UCU stands in solidarity with the people of Turkey and Syria affected by the devastating earthquake on 6 February. In order to support education union relief efforts on the ground, UCU has agreed to donate to the Education International (EI) solidarity fund. 

SOS NHS coalition national demonstration, 11 March

The SOS NHS coalition has called a national demonstration in London on Saturday 11 March to respond urgently to the NHS crisis and to bring striking workers from the NHS, different sectors and different unions in one big action. UCU is supporting the event and UCU president Janet Farrar will be speaking.