The Friday email: 26 July 2024

Reclaim Higher Education

Across the HE sector we are facing an increasing number of universities choosing to attack staff, threaten job cuts, and close departments.

Last weekend the Sunday Times covered the crisis on their front page - you can read the full article here. Our short-term demands of the new government are simple: provide emergency funding to underwrite any university that is experiencing genuine financial hardship, and intervene to call a halt to all redundancies.

You can help us keep up the pressure by writing to your local MP and asking them to get in touch with local HE employers on your behalf as their constituent - you can access an updated template letter to help with this.

Read a full update from UCU general secretary Jo Grady.

UCU has also responded to today's government announcements on freedom of speech regulations and reforms to the Office for Students (OfS), saying that the regulator's first priority must be to ensure no institution goes under and that it needs funding that can be used to support any university at risk. 

News that proposals for free speech fines have been dropped by the new government were also strongly welcomed. Jo Grady said, 'These plans were always a Trojan horse for stoking the culture war and it is right that Labour has dropped them.'

You can read our full response to today's developments here.

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

• Goldsmiths, University of London: staff at Goldsmiths will strike from Monday 23 to Friday 27 September 2024 in a long-running dispute over a brutal redundancy programme. Click here for the full story and the boycott of Goldsmiths remains live
• Leeds Beckett University: LBU UCU members are currently voting in an industrial action ballot in a dispute with management over job cuts; the ballot will close in September.

Meanwhile members at the University of Portsmouth are furious at the university's plans to stop new staff from being able to access the Teachers Pension Scheme, in effect creating a 'two-tier' workforce. The branch is declaring a dispute meaning the university is now facing potential strike action. The punitive change comes just months after the university put almost 600 staff at risk of redundancy.

BTEC reprieve

UCU has welcomed Labour's decision to pause and review the defunding of BTECs. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said, 'BTECs are especially important for widening participation, as Black and Asian students are more likely to use them to get to university. Educators will now be able to contribute fully to the review which we hope will recommend that colleges keep their existing BTEC provision and build upon it, rather than scrapping these crucial qualifications.'

Prison education: Unlocking Futures

As part of UCU's prison education campaign we are asking prison education members that work for either Novus, Milton Keynes College or Weston College to write to their local MPs and ask for their support in backing the New Fair Deal on Pensions for prison educators. We believe that now further education colleges have been reclassified as part of the public sector, members' pensions should be protected under the New Fair Deal on Pensions in any change of provider such as when the new Prison Education Service contracts come into effect.

'Without access to education, children are at risk of losing their futures'

On the eve of Education International's 10th World Congress in Argentina the British and Irish Group of Teacher Unions (BIGTU), of which UCU is a member, has denounced the fact that 75 million children worldwide will have their education disrupted this year by war, conflicts or natural disasters. The group called on all governments to increase efforts to combat the catastrophic effects of climate change and to bring an end to the destruction of education systems in several countries.

You can read BIGTU's full statement here.

Covid-19 inquiry

The Covid-19 pandemic affected each and every one of us across the UK, and working people were particularly impacted. The TUC has launched a survey to capture the experiences of working people during the pandemic and ensure that these experiences are heard through the Covid-19 inquiry.

The First Covid Inquiry report has been published and it confirms the impact of austerity on the UK preparedness and resilience. The report further confirms what unions have been saying that public services were under strain well before the pandemic and austerity left the UK underprepared. The report also found that inequality put certain communities at disproportionate risk during the pandemic: Module 1 Report - The resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom - UK Covid-19 Inquiry

Survey on artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence technologies are already being used within HE and FE impacting on your working lives and the education of students. It is crucial we shape the impact of these technologies on education in a way that works for both staff and students, mitigating the risks they could pose.

The future of work in post-16 education working group is considering the threats and opportunities of these technologies and has created a survey which we are asking members to complete. Your responses will help them to understand from your perspective the uses, benefits and threats of AI-driven education technologies.

UCU training programme on branch leadership

'Branch leaders: a strategic approach to branch building' is a residential course designed for those who wish to take on a branch leadership role. The course concentrates on techniques and strategies for developing a sustainable branch with active member involvement. It will also look at how to negotiate/consult with management, develop collective agreements, and communication with members.

The residential course will take place on 30 September, 1 and 2 October 2024 and then on 28 and 29 November 2024, at the GFTU Quorn Grange Hotel in Loughborough. Click here for more information and to register.

Oppose the far right: support the counter demonstration against Tommy Robinson

Members are encouraged to join the protests in London tomorrow, Saturday 27 July, against a planned appearance by Tommy Robinson.