The Friday email: 14 March 2025

Stop the Cuts, Fund Higher Education NOW!

Higher education is in crisis. One in two universities is proposing cuts to staff or courses, and up to 10,000 staff are seeing their jobs threatened. This is devastating for staff, students and education. 

Last week we launched our Stop the Cuts campaign and here is how you can help:

1. Sign and share the petition: make your voice heard by signing and sharing the Stop the Cuts petition. Every signature builds our campaign and increases our voice
2. Sign Up for the rally and lobby: we have a rally and lobby of Parliament on Tuesday 18 March--we still have some spaces so check with your branch and get yourself booked in. This is a brilliant chance for you to set out our case to your local MP
3. Save the date for the national UCU demo in London on Saturday 10 May: please look out for more information over the coming weeks as this demonstration will bring members and supporters together across HE, FE, prison and adult education to make our demands across all sectors heard.

Click here for the full update on Stop the Cuts from UCU general secretary Jo Grady.

Strike action across UK universities

Newcastle University staff have continued their strike action this week; they began on Tuesday 4 and Thursday 6 March. The dispute is over management's threat to cut £35m, including £20m from its salary bill, equivalent to around 300 jobs. However, the university is looking to open a campus in India while making these huge cuts at home. You can find out more about the strikes and how to support striking staff by visiting Newcastle UCU branch's website.

Meanwhile, staff at the University of Dundee have continued strike action that began on Monday 24 February, over the university's threat to cut jobs including compulsory redundancies. This week Dundee staff were informed of the devastating news that management is cutting 632 jobs. You can read further updates from the Dundee UCU branch and send messages of solidarity via email.

Brunel University of London resumed strike action this week; click here for the full schedule. The dispute at Brunel arose over management's original plans to make 135 academic staff redundant. 

University of East Anglia UCU served notice of a day of strike action and continuous action short of a strike (ASOS) in a dispute over compulsory redundancies. UEA UCU want Wednesday 26 March to be a day to celebrate staff at UEA, to remind the employer that we are the university, that we matter, and that we have a clear and unified voice.

Finally, there will be strike action at Sheffield Hallam University on 24-25 March and 2-3 April in a dispute over the university's deferred implementation of pay increase.

New Deal for FE update

Last week a UCU delegation went to the Department of Education to present our New Deal for FE petition. The UCU submission to the cross-party inquiry into the further education (FE) sector was also complete. 

Almost 6,000 supporters signed the petition calling for a New Deal with pay parity with schoolteachers, national bargaining and action on workloads; the petition is now closed. Thank you for all you have done to encourage people to sign the petition. You can continue to support the New Deal for FE campaign by:

• presenting the petition to your college principal or senior management team
• taking photos of staff and supporters holding up our 'I support a New Deal for FE' posters and giant card petition props like our members at Hopwood Hall College in North West England and MidKent College
• holding a lunchtime meeting about the New Deal for FE campaign
• sharing campaign leaflets in your workplace.

Click here for the full update on New Deal for FE from UCU general secretary Jo Grady.

Industrial action ballots across UK universities

Industrial action ballots are ongoing at Cardiff University, University of Sheffield, Durham University and Keele University in disputes over job cuts.

There are currently over 400 members of staff at risk of redundancy in Cardiff, while at Sheffield plans from management are threatening as many as 1,000 staff with redundancy. Durham management plans to cut £20m from the university's staffing budget. Meanwhile, Keele University plans to make £2.25m staffing cuts in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Business School. If the plans go ahead it will be the first time in Keele's history that compulsory redundancies will be imposed.

University of Kent UCU members begin balloting in defence of jobs and workload protection on Monday 17 March. Kent has shed hundreds of jobs in previous years and there is a real danger that sections of our membership will be facing compulsory redundancies in the near future. This is unacceptable and Kent UCU members, as they have in the past, will deliver a resounding 'Yes' vote. We will update as issues develop.

The UCU branch at Birmingham City University is balloting for industrial action in a dispute over plans to put 36 posts at risk of redundancy and impose new performance targets that members believe are designed to set them up to fail. BCU vice-chancellor has said that anyone who does not buy into his vision can quit with a 'golden handshake' of six months' pay. Staff have until the end of March to apply for the voluntary severance deal or risk losing their job following more punitive performance management processes.

Finally, please support the following branches where UCU members in higher education are continuing to defend jobs and education, for example Bangor, Canterbury Christ Church, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Northampton, University of Sheffield International College and University of Sunderland.

Northern Ireland FE update

UCU declared a formal trade dispute with all six college employers in Northern Ireland after they failed to honour the terms offered to members in the 2023/24 pay settlement. A commitment to achieving full pay parity with schoolteachers, as well as an agreement to address all terms and conditions and workload of academic staff, has been reneged on. The employers have failed to respond to union correspondence and requests for meetings. Northern Ireland FE members are being balloted for strike action now.

Coventry University staff and students hold alternative open day in protest against fire and rehire cuts

Coventry University staff and students will hold an alternative open day in protest against the fire and rehire cost cutting exercise that vice-chancellor John Latham has embarked upon.

The alternative open day will be held in the Yard in Coventry (CV1 5RU) from 10:00 to 13:30 on Saturday 15 March. Speakers include Zarah Sultana MP, UCU general secretary Jo Grady, UCU president Maxine Looby, Coventry poet laureate John Bernard, university students and staff, local artists and activists, as well as live music and a party atmosphere.

Even if you can't make it to our alternative open day, you can still help Coventry UCU's campaign by signing the petition demanding Latham is removed from his government appointed non-executive post on the board of the Department for Business and Trade. The petition now has almost 4,000 signatures, and you can add yours here.

BIMM Brighton UCU recognition!

Staff at BIMM Brighton, a private higher education provider, have just won a statutory recognition ballot that will enable UCU to bargain for better pay, terms and conditions. 100% YES vote on an 80% turnout was a magnificent result made possible through the hard work and dedication of UCU members at BIMM. This is just the first step in our plan for recognition at all the BIMM locations.

Calling all UCU prison educators

If you are a prison educator, we want to hear from you! UCU has commissioned two research projects. The first will seek to understand the health and wellbeing of prison educators. We are asking you to complete a survey with additional opportunities to take part in focus groups. Further information is available here.

UCU is also partnering with Professor Nicola Rollock to explore the motivations; experiences career aspirations and strategies for navigating the role among Black prison educators. We are asking you to take part in an interview. This project is open to past and present prison educators.

In addition, UCU gave evidence at the 'Rehabilitation and resettlement: ending the cycle of reoffending' inquiry on 11 March. You can watch the Justice Committee session on Parliament TV.

Teachers' Pension Scheme: delays in delivering McCloud Remedy

There are ongoing delays in delivering the McCloud Remedy for eligible members in the Teachers' Pension Schemes (TPS) in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These issues are not delaying members' retirement, but in Scotland and Northern Ireland members are not yet being given their McCloud choices before they retire but will receive them at a later date. Further information is on the TPS pages of the UCU website.

Message for associate lecturers at the Open University

Many Open University staff also work for a second higher education or further education employer. The Open University UCU branch is asking UCU members with multiple HE or FE employers to check your details on MyUCU and ensure all relevant employments are listed as 'additional memberships'. Doing so will support branch organising and consultation on the Open University's restructuring programme, which is currently offering voluntary severance to all staff.

UCU's LGBT+ work

The UCU LGBT+ research conference will take place at University of Manchester, and on Zoom, on Friday 16 May. You can register here.

UCU is also updating the Pride and Prejudice in Education report about LGBT+ experiences in FE and HE (2016). We are inviting you to complete a survey by the deadline of Friday 21 March. Please do share the survey as it is for all LGBT+ FE and HE staff and students/learners. The chief investigator is Dr Kieran Higgins based at Ulster University.

Climate and ecological emergency: annual SDG Teach In

The 8th annual SDG Teach In is taking place from 1 to 31 March 2025. Pledge to take part in the 2025 SDG Teach In by embedding one or several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into your educational practice.

The Teach In is open to all educators, trainers and facilitators around the world in all types of (in)formal education.

Opportunities to tailor the Teach In to your educational contexts are endless--from stimulating student learning with artistic prompts about human rights to clean air, to organising mock climate conferences, and creating case studies about local biodiversity. All approaches to the Teach In are welcome.

We need student leadership for sustainability!

Join us on Wednesday 9 April (14:30-16:30) to learn from students across the world on how they are contributing to sustainability at their universities and colleges.

The first ever Student Sustainability Showcase, hosted in partnership with the University of the West of England and the Students' Union, will feature selected presentations by students from Responsible Futures institutions on their innovative and changemaking initiatives for sustainability. There will also be time for questions from the audience.

Click here to register. Everyone's invited--let's work together to make our universities and colleges greener and more sustainable!

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, 25 March

Tuesday 25 March marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and UCU will be hosting a special webinar that day (18:00-19:00).

The webinar is entitled 'Education, reparations and justice: the legacy of slavery in post-16 learning'. Our keynote speaker is Dr Leona Vaughn, academic and researcher in the field of equalities and social justice, and the webinar is hosted by UCU president Maxine Looby. Please click here to register.