The Friday email: 17 May 2024

UCU Congress and sector conferences 2024

The union's supreme policy-making body is its annual Congress, which is taking place in Bournemouth from Wednesday 29 to Friday 31 May. Congress includes separate annual meetings of UCU's further and higher education sector conferences, where policies particular to those areas are decided. You can click here for more information and motions to be debated will also be available on that page.

Reclaim Higher Education updates

The UK higher education sector is facing unprecedented threats and attacks. Last week UCU launched its Reclaim Higher Education (Reclaim HE) campaign. You can view a recording of the live launch event here and the campaign video here.

A special higher education sector conference (HESC) is taking place today (Friday 17 May) to discuss further strategies. We will communicate the decisions that are made by elected representatives and branch delegates at HESC as soon as practicable.

Please support the following university branches where UCU members are continuing to defend jobs and education:

• Goldsmiths, University of London: in an escalation of industrial action at Goldsmiths, and in response to the employer's stated intention to levy punitive pay deductions for ongoing action short of strike in the form of a marking boycott, members are to take two weeks of strike action in the weeks beginning 17 and 24 June. Our members demand a withdrawal of the threat of over 130 redundancies (a quarter of academic jobs) in order to settle the dispute and an acceptance from management that there is no financial imperative for these proposed cuts. Information about the branch support fund can be found here
• University of Huddersfield: UCU vows to fight University of Huddersfield job cuts. Nearly 200 jobs are under threat as reported in BBC News
• University of Lincoln: a strike ballot opened on Tuesday 14 May; university management is targeting over 220 employees, including one in ten academic staff
• London South Bank University: the university is consulting on cuts of 297 jobs including 126 academics and 100 HPLs/sessional workers. It is also proposing a major reorganisation at the same time by combining eight schools into three colleges. UCU has put out a statement in response to recent events
• University of Portsmouth: Portsmouth UCU has launched a formal trade dispute with the university as the branch continues its campaign against compulsory redundancies (163 academic staff at risk). This follows a vote which saw 94% of members stating no confidence in the vice-chancellor
• Sheffield Hallam University: a strike ballot will close on Tuesday 14 May. The university has said 225 academic jobs will be axed, with up to 80 staff facing compulsory redundancy
• University of Winchester: Winchester UCU members voted to support strike action (79%) and action short of a strike (93%) following a successful industrial ballot that closed earlier this week (turnout 59%). The branch is considering the next steps in the fight to protect jobs and for a fair workload model.

UCU wins recognition at training provider South West Durham Training

This week UCU announced that it signed a recognition agreement with private training provider South West Durham Training (SWDT), which is a subsidiary of Bishop Auckland College.

The deal comes after years of organising by UCU members at the provider, including recruiting over half the teaching staff to the union.

TUC project on Black women's experiences of workplace sexual harassment

UCU is working alongside sister unions to identify and tackle sexual harassment, misconduct and violence in our individual unions, and across the wider trade union movement. Any woman who self-identifies as Black is invited to participate in this survey (deadline: Saturday 15 June), which will bring Black women union members together to share experiences.

Education for sustainable development webinar, 22 May

SOS-UK are inviting all UCU members to an Education for sustainable development (ESD) webinar on Wednesday 22 May (15:00-16:00) to celebrate 10 years of Responsible Futures (RF).

The event will include a panel discussion and case study presentations on ESD from participating RF institutions as well as the launch of the first ever RF impact report.

Ceasefire NOW!

UCU joins with many others in Palestine, the UK, and beyond to reiterate the demands for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, and the lifting of the siege of Gaza. 

We are very concerned by the sharp rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia across the UK and beyond since October. We restate our unwavering opposition to all forms of antisemitism and Islamophobia--hate has no place on our campuses or in our society.

UCU also has a dedicated 'Ceasefire Now' web area where you can find downloads, information and resources.

UCU's LGBT+ work

UCU LGBT+ is looking to engage in some research work about LGBT+ lives, issues and experiences within post-school education, both at FE and HE levels. If you are interested in helping realise this project, please complete this form before Wednesday 22 May.

Pride season fast approaches, with Birmingham being the first UCU has a stall at, on Saturday 25 May. UCU is looking for volunteers to help staff stalls. To find more information and express interest, please complete this form.

Personal Independence Payments consultation

The government is consulting on changes to the Personal Independence Payments (PIP) scheme as part of its 'Modernising Support' Green Paper where it proposes to remove the principle of ongoing financial support for disability related costs. This is a further attack on disabled people and an erosion of disability rights and we encourage you to respond to the consultation, which will close on Monday 22 July, as well as signing the current petition organised by Scope.