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Solidarity to Nottingham UCU.

Bangor gets it.

In case anyone was still in any doubt about government’s complete lack of understanding about the realities of those working and studying in #UKHE. And why we need to make sure they talk to someone who’s not in a thinktank of consultancy, for once.

Disastrous. Our @ucu.org.uk members in prison education do amazing work. What even is this government doing.

Our members have no confidence in the VC & CFO, as they pursue the same failed cuts they used against @leicesterucu.bsky.social Spending £1.4 million of additional Welsh Gov funding on unplanned spend while making staff redundant was a disqualifying lack of judgement nation.cymru/news/bangor-...

NEW: Our members at the University of Bradford will begin 10 days of strike action on Monday in a fight to protect jobs. Time for management to listen to staff, rethink the cuts and rule out compulsory redundancies. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1418...

Every decent politician should be ‘disturbed’ by Tommy Robinson’s fascist march in London and Musk’s calls for violence on our streets. Every decent politician should stop claiming this horror is an expression of ‘free speech’. It’s vicious, racist incitement. DO something about it.

And now: an email in my inbox providing me with an update about te planned compulsory redundancies (1 in 4 employees btw) at my university Join a union

Sometimes solutions are easy @drjogrady.bsky.social & @ucu.org.uk Let’s sit down and talk without conditions or threats that damage everyone. It’s time to resolve this dispute. Our statement, with support from the following branch committees:

The ballot is *NOT* just on pay. It is on: 1. A national agreement to protect jobs & subjects 2. Protect national T&Cs agreements 3. Pay uplift: at least RPI+3.5% or £2500 on all pay points @ucu.org.uk @unitecommunity.bsky.social @unison.org.uk @gmb.org.uk @eisunion.bsky.social @ducu.bsky.social

This is the best thing anyone working in UK Higher Education can do today, particularly if you're at Kent or Greenwich. As a union we're stronger together. Support your local branch.

This situation is an extreme case, of course - and full solidarity to Claire & every other colleague in Kent and Greenwich - but I feel Claire's post is a perfect encapsulation of a very broad problem: it's so hard to do your best work for people who regularly show they hold you in utter contempt.

Kentwich was an insult Marlowe used in one of his plays

Absolutely astounded that the UCU and Unison branches at Kent and Greenwich were not consulted, and that staff only found out about the merger this morning via BBC news and Kent Online. Solidarity to all colleagues.

"Edinburgh Uni lecturers walk out on first of five days of industrial action"

Drafting a more extensive response, but for now we think that (1) @uniteucu.bsky.social rock [branch position, voted on in motions], (2) that this is no way of treating staff [union position, voted on in Congress], and (3) everyone should read this blog: uniteucu.wordpress.com/2025/09/04/u...

As the branch gears up for a new term, we're also preparing for the steady flow of warnings about teams in crisis following the "voluntary" severance scheme for PS colleagues to become a flood. Seems like a good time to remind everyone that university spending is determined by political choices.

More pictures of our determined picket lines! Keep them coming! #UCU #StopTheCuts

On strike with a great turnout at eca. I am on strike as a result of University of Edinburgh’s refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social

100% deductions for ASOS is inhumane and destructive. We thought we had the backing of our own national union on this point. To see them implement what is a draconian policy (and not yet fully tested in the courts) against the colleagues who keep our branches running is devastating.

Enjoy Pride, Ric!

Why is our trade union emulating the worst behaviour of our employers towards UCU staff? How many of our letters, motions, attempts to bring motions from lay members pressing for resolution have been ignored now? Solidarity with all @uniteucu.bsky.social #UnionStrong #ReclaimUCU

We are calling on the UK Government to not introduce a levy on higher education provider income from international students, reduce visa costs to attract global talent, and to review higher education funding to create a sustainable model www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/58...

This is completely unacceptable intimidation. Every visa holder is already nervous about their visa, every university. is already draconian about visa compliance. This is just harming students to score headline points with the far right. Stop playing games with our students.

Graph showing how adjustment to the local @ducu.bsky.social subscription rates makes trade union membership fairer for all salary bands.

@ducu.bsky.social new local subs have hit. We are now leading the sector in working to make TU membership subscriptions less regressive. Now all of our members are paying subs more equitably. Well done, branch, for recognising the unfairness & voting to do something about it! #UCU

Get your votes in for two casual NEC member positions, one UK-wide and one for those of us in the North East!

This is a really, really, good letter. Absolutely *destroys* the transphobes without ever once using rude, aggressive, or other language that could cause handwringing.

Feeling rather salty about university research funding at the moment.

The answer is my place’s strategy. No new staff are employed by the university itself: this avoids pension costs. Most students will be in franchises: pure profit for the university, no qualified staff required beyond the ‘quality’ unit. Students will get nothing.

These two stories are not disconnected: bsky.app/profile/anna... it’s not as if UCL students (and staff!) are going to have a good time of it. Where exactly are they going to have accommodation? How is teaching going to remain involved? Who will mark all those assignments? Who supports pastorally?

Anyone who cares about casualisation and working conditions should be up in arms about this. There are going to be so many jobs with terrible T&Cs created at the last minute.

100% this. There is no way to satisfy the "protestors" because what they want is for a problem which doesn't exist to go away. Either the government points out they can no more satisfy these people than they can hand out free unicorns, or they allow the pressure to build. They have chosen option 2.

This was an inevitable consequence of the students as consumers model. Even a very academically enthusiastic 18 year old doesn't have the context to judge by teaching & research, but they know whether a place looks prestigious or not.

And the winner is …. UCL that increased its u/g offers by 65%. Where are you going to put all these students, UCL?!

HE members we are calling on you to vote! 🗳️ UCEA's offer of 1.4% not only fails to stop the decline in salaries, it’s yet another real-terms pay cut. Haven't received your e-ballot? You have until 12 noon TOMORROW to request a replacement: yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/ucu-he-re...

Solidarity to all the UCU branches dealing with further cuts and 'reorganisations' while also trying to do some actual work during this month! Extra solidarity to those UCU case workers and negotiators who are all doing their damnedest to keep jobs and support our colleagues. #AcademicSky

Great to see a UCU banner here!

Also, tell me you've never read Marvel comics without telling me etc etc etc.

Standard response here: is "someone might be alarmed or distressed" PMfAaLA in any other context? Can providers exclude Muslims from their toilets because other uses might be Islamophobic? Can they exclude gay men from changing rooms because they make homophobes uncomfortable?

Not a new complaint from me but so very tired of reactionary updates of migration measures on BBC news. Drop fed moral panic by the same media which will then - again- report migration is one of top public electoral concerns.

It’s almost like there’s a group of people whose careers are built on moving from institution to institution reorganising things and then moving on before the effects are felt. Universities don’t work for anyone without Professional Services staff.

Please share this CFP for a special issue dedicated to the work of my late colleague Simon J. James.

Take this from a theorist of (non)knowledge: this is not 'failure', this is a very deliberate set of omissions/exaggerations/interpretations that have a clear political goal, which is to make sure the (still mostly white) Brits are fighting asylum seekers, rather than their own ruling class

"controversial or unpopular opinions" is such a stupid phrase to include in a piece of legislation relating to academic free speech. because it encompasses both "hard truths that people don't want to accept" and "things that have in fact been proven incorrect numerous times by research".

We've been putting together some graphics ahead of the coming term, and the next round of pushing back against unnecessary staff cost cuts, and the inevitable implications of same. We simply refuse to accept it'll be business as usual with so many valued colleagues gone.

📢 Have your say on the 2025/26 pay offer. Your voice matters. Don’t leave it to others. VOTE NOW!

Can't wait to read this! Things are bad right now, and all signs are that they're liable to get worse. Already we're seeing uni after uni, in the UK as well as the US, showing us their instinct when dealing with the far-right is to protect the money, rather than students and staff.

More members voting YES & YES for a Safe & Professional Workplace.