My university hasn’t reached this level of clarity yet. Managers tell themselves it’s all going brilliantly *because* they’ve sacked so many people.

It's incredible how these awards master doublespeak. Accredited for success, as a reward for failure.

This kind of stuff, beloved of University HR departments, is approx the Uni system's equivalent of the globally popular sportwashing. I call it "Wellbeing-washing". Also widespread in the NHS.

carewashing

Thousands of Essex staff are currently suffering anxiety and sleepless nights at the hands of a disinterested senior management team. This award is a slap in the face to us all. If the #UniMentalHealthCharter means anything, it should be condemning Essex SMT, not giving them awards.

The closure of Southend rips away jobs, education and the lifeblood of local businesses. The rationale? Barely fills an A4 page. In Westminister Yesterday MPs & union reps handed a vote of no confidence in Bowen to education minister Jacqui Smith.

This week over 400 members of the University community met at a joint union meeting to consider the motion below. 97% voted that they had no confidence in VC Frances Bowen and her leadership team. Staff demand accountability. www.ucu.essex.ac.uk/2026/04/17/v...

FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY???? How on earth does one run an institution with such depleted capacity? Massive solidarity with @ucu-ulster.bsky.social

now, obviously the current governing party these MPs belong to has an enormous responsibility for the crisis the entire HE sector is in at the moment… however, this was a really fun letter to read first thing this morning

What is needed now is not managed messaging but honesty.” Relieved to see politicians recognise & call out the terrible managerial practices so many have been gaslit in accepting. No, behind-closed-doors tickbox conversations aren’t consultation. No, evidence-free decisions aren’t acceptable. #UKHE

Southend MPs @bayoalaba.bsky.social and @davidbsampson.bsky.social, and city council leader Daniel Cowan, calling out our VC Frances Bowen's dishonest and dismissive managed messaging 👏

The Cookie Cutter University which NOUS is imposing upon everyone simply cannot attract anyone. They're just making 17-year-olds pick their future on the basis of the prestige of a couple of centuries-old places, rather than the content of their studies & research. #UKHE

Essex used to be one of those places where you wouldn't mind working.

Day 3 of striking Thank you to all members who came along and to whose who struck from home (they also strike who simply do no work) Thank you to visitors: @drscottarthurmp.bsky.social @katenevens.bsky.social Unite, other branches, dogs, dinos and ❤️students❤️ for bringing joy & Solidarity🔥

The voluntary redundancy deadline hasn't even passed yet, and we're already hearing stories of distraught students who have just had their courses closed. Students put their trust in us when they sign up to study here. It's really not a good idea to betray that trust.

During our demonstration against the planned 400 job cuts on Monday, Essex UCU reps were invited to meet with three members of the University Council. This is the first time we'd been able to meet with key decision-makers - all thanks to the pressure we've been putting on management. ⬇️ Summary:

SMT promised that our pay uplift would come in February, but it didn't. We asked them why, and they responded - a full 17 days after payday! - that they were deferring it again. A clear breach of UCEA's requirement to consult trade unions *in advance* about any deferrals.

What is a 'number' anyway? If you think abour it... 🤔 Point is we're firing a bunch of you and forcing the rest to seriously consider resigning in disgust over our corruption and incompetence.

Being part of this protest meant a lot to me. I felt the power of our collective, every single person out there was standing up for justice. #ProtectEducation #SaveJobs

What better way to end your weekend than by co-signing this petition in support of @ucuessex.bsky.social calling out the devastating cuts which their management is making. Let their governing body know managers may not care about the wider public, but the wider public sure does care. #SaveHE

📣 PROTEST AT UNIVERSITY COUNCIL MEETING 📣 🚨 Monday, 9am, outside the Albert Sloman Library 🚨

Nothing reassures staff that they "are at the heart of everything we do" like telling languages and cultural studies staff in LINCS to dismantle their own jobs by instructing them to delete the courses and programs they work on. Where is the concern for staff welfare? #Heriot-Watt #UCU #LINCS

Compulsory redundancies, 400 job losses, a campus closed. The justification has always been: we have 2612 staff. This is the number the VC has used repeatedly to justify this unprecedented attack on our jobs. But the latest financial figures from the uni say that we actually only have 2273...?

This last week has been full of management cock-ups on Southend. A particularly egregious one: many Southend colleagues were told they were no longer at risk of redundancy last Friday, only to be told that they were *back* at risk of redundancy on Monday. Unbelievable display of callous cruelty.

In yet more shocking news: the University forgot to give us our pay uplift for this year (which they had already unilaterally deferred to February). Hundreds of staff have applied for voluntary redundancy, and had their redundancy pay confirmed based on their salary. What does this mean for them?

Today, we're shining a spotlight on Language & Linguistics - one of the founding departments of the University of Essex, and a very strong department on the national scale, and - as part of a cynical and short-sighted cost-cutting exercise - a department slated for 50% cuts by VC Frances Bowen.

Today, in a branch meeting with unprecedented attendance, Essex UCU overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in our VC Frances Bowen and her senior management team for their appalling handling of the current financial shambles.

good morning, happy monday! later this week, we will be escalating strike action. since the last wave, management has not shown that alternatives to CR are taken seriously or provided a clear rationale for current cuts (aside from: ‘we need to save’ — which we all agree on, the question is HOW?)

The VC has planned to cut 400 jobs, close the Southend campus, demolish the Essex Pathways (foundation year) department, and decimate other departments like language & linguistics, maths & stats and business. She met us for an all-staff meeting on Thursday. It was... fascinating! Let's fact-check.

400+ redundancies, Southend campus closed, the foundation year department closed, other departments decimated... ...not a popular plan, it seems! Our tireless picketers have been chatting to hundreds of staff and students a day, and we've secured loads of new UCU and Unison members and supporters ✊

UCU Essex supports the crucial work @samaritans.bsky.social do. Our students and staff include a number of proud Samaritans volunteers 💚 Julie Bentley, CEO of Samaritans, sits on our University Council - which has just approved 400+ redundancies. We went to raise awareness at Sams HQ today.

Sending support from Kent! The South East coastal regions need universities.

Comrade Frances joined us on the pickets today! Well, she passed by while jogging. But she took a moment to blame us for not telling members just how seriously management are taking our proposals. Apparently we should be working together 🙏 This is the most we've seen of her since Christmas btw 🥰

Have any of your colleagues recently been made redundant by a UK university? Have you? Do you fear losing your job? What has been the effect of redundancies on departmental morale? We are keen to hear your views

‼️TEACH-OUT TOMORROW‼️ 1pm - Wivenhoe Bookshop Shed - Wivenhoe High Street - Poetry and Protest: from Raworth to YOU! Bring poems if you'd like to have an open mic! 🖊 🪶 ✒️ 🎤

IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE CAMPUS CAT IS IN SOLIDARITY WITH @ucuessex.bsky.social. If you chose destructive marketisation, you disappoint Pebbles. And you don't want to do that. #CatsAgainstCasualisation

Students continue to be brilliant: confirmed. Someone please obtain or leak (1) which agency led the search for the new VC at Essex, (2) what their criteria were, (3) what expectations of the new VC coming in to ruthlessly was already part of the negotiation last Spring. #SaveHE #UKHE

Our incredible students have written a letter of support to the VC and are asking students to co-sign their petition - a few extracts from their Instagram post here, and links below! ✊

Great turnout! 🙌 Thanks to @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social for joining the rally against closure of the Southend campus at University of Essex ✊ Thank you to the local community for your support. We go again next week 💜

Just a few of the incredible scenes on our pickets and at our joint rally with @unison.org.uk - thanks to all our members and supporters! See you all on Monday ✊

good morning, #linguistics 🐦🐦 pals the University of Essex wants to cut 50% of our Language & Linguistics department, close our foundation programme & our Southend campus, + cut 400 jobs academic departments and professional services jobs across all depts join us in the fight against these cuts!

I wouldn’t be here without my foundation year. It opened up my world to a career in HE. Essex UCU is fighting for the soul of our sector, and we should give them our unequivocal support.

We're still facing 400+ job losses, the loss of a campus, the closure of our foundation year department, and many more departments cut to the bone. Please sign our petition to help stop the cuts, save jobs, and defend our students' education!

Management want to cut 400 jobs, but we know a better university is possible. We've posted our ballots - have you?

Just one act of vandalism after another at Essex right now - a university firmly embedded in a community that really needs it. Solidarity with everyone there, and hopes for a better future than this.

Meanwhile, in Sheffield: