Labour's idea of 'free speech' is freedom to make trans people feel unsafe on campus, but not the freedom to criticise Israel.

Our branch just passed a motion in solidarity with Unite UCU. It's not just the right thing to do to treat those working for UCU with the same respect we demand from our own employers, it's a matter of maintaining the moral authority of the union itself.

Haven’t we been there a few years ago? Academic salaries in the UK are not particularly generous compared to other countries, and a reasonably good pension scheme (already way less generous than when I started) provided some degree of compensation.

The same answer that has been attempted again and again, grind staff harder and reduce working conditions and you'll have profitable universities. Doesn't account for the fact the the limited pool of skilled labour running degree level courses won't accept being treated in this way. Try again.

Entirely correct move. More of this please and stay available to journalists to describe just how *bad* the whole process of arrival at this judgement was. Don't let it settle as accepted narrative.

Solidarity with striking staff at Unite UCU. It's shameful that the dispute is still not resolved. Please consider donating to their strike fund, here: unite-ucu-strike-fund.raiselysite.com

We deeply regret our strike action which begins today in our Campaign for A Safe and Professional Workplace. With our dispute now a year old we remain resolute that the toxic bullying culture, racism and victimisation that our members and officers are experiencing must end. uniteucu.wordpress.com

Our branch offers full solidarity to Unite UCU 💪. UCU's senior management need to engage meaningully and settle this dispute. We encourage members of our union to consider donating to the Unite UCU strike fund 👉 unite-ucu-strike-fund.raiselysite.com bsky.app/profile/unit...

Solidarity to @uniteucu.bsky.social - standing up for its members in the face of huge pressure. As everyone who has ever taken IA knows, those with power often control the narrative & this makes it even harder but I know that every member of the Unite Committee wants to resolve this dispute.

Solidarity @uniteucu.bsky.social who are starting 20+ strikes given ongoing dispute with employer (UCU). Our union (UCU) is in an ongoing dispute with their own staff. Embarrassing to say the least. Awful to see same tone & messaging VCs use vs us when we strike used to undermine striking UCU staff

In this exchange last week, the interim Principal at Dundee University can’t recall if anyone on UEG or Court thought that the idea of a £200k Transformation Director was a bad idea. Douglas Ross MSP “You’re saying that we got rid of the incompetent ones, and the ones that are left are fine.”

For the first time ever, the Scottish Parliament is considering compelling witnesses to attend a meeting of one of its committees. These are clearly unprecedented times, caused by the executive leadership at the University of Dundee. www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/...

Solidarity to striking staff at Dundee! This is a tragedy on a massive scale

The staff that they plan to sack are in no way at fault for the mess the exec has created. There needs to be accountability. And Scot gov should step in to make sure staff, students and the city of Dundee are not ruined by the (criminal?) Financial mismanagement of others

Today, Shane O’Neill, our interim Principal announced the University of Dundee needs to cut 632 jobs to be financially sustainable. Also there are 237 vacancies (in part due to the recruitment freeze since Nov). That’s 870 colleagues from 3200. OVER A QUARTER! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Solidarity to @newcastleucu.bsky.social as their strike to protect jobs starts today. We at @ducu.bsky.social stand with you in the fight to protect our universities and our communities from the impact of these devastating cuts.

Spotted on campus this morning. Thanks to the person who posted this.

Resolution of the dispute between @uniteucu.bsky.social and UCU (as employer) is now far beyond urgent. Reading these testimonials (linked in post⬇️) from UCU staff is heartbreaking & reading the recent 'management instruction' excerpt v unnerving, esp in the wake of the Hon Treasurer's resignation.

Statement signed by 15 HEC members listing all the resolutions passed at our meeting last week in context. UCU members wishing to know the totality of what was decided at HEC last week, please read. drive.google.com/file/d/1tfVJ... Feel free to share with others.

For info. This 👇 is the full text of one of the motions that was carried at last week’s HEC (text in Alt text). Note that it is clear that the union is not now balloting on this year’s pay & that it uses words such as “prepare for” and “potential” in relation to any future decision to ballot 1/4

Today we have added Ocxford Brooke’s #UCU - @brookesucu.bsky.social - to the #UCU branches + committees starter pack.🦋🦋 Please let us know if your branch or other formal committee joins and we will keep adding them! go.bsky.app/H8xiSXj

'Simply obscene'. UCU comment on Stirling Principal's 40% £119k pay rise over 2 years making him highest paid VC in Scotland on £414,000 plus benefits. Salaries like this when we're facing funding challenges and redundancies across HE are unconscionable www.scotsman.com/education/th...

Join the @PSCupdates Trade Union Solidarity Webinar 🚨 ⏰ 29 Jan, 6pm 🔗Register: palestinecampaign.org/events/psc-webinar-trade-unions-taking-action-for-palestine-in-2025/ Hear from trade unionists and find out how you can support Palestine at work.

Academics need to see how their own labour relies on exploiting others. International fees, violently accumulated endowments, & closest to home on the suppressed/precarious wages & cut pensions of the low paid staff who keep uni's running. We can't accept that contradiction - we have to fight it.

We've written to Bridget Phillipson to express our concern about the current situation at the Open University with management’s plans to fire and rehire staff. Read the letter from @drjogrady.bsky.social here 👇 Solidarity @oubucu.bsky.social ✊

And it needs to work for the places in which universities exist - is a university a good neighbour, how does it help a town or city to thrive, does it make the lives of the peope, who live there better or worse? All hard questions 4/4

Its good that HSE is looking at this; they'll be thorough and fair But much more radical change is needed to create a more sustainable sector. Sustainable needs to mean for the individuals in it - staff and students, academic and professional services - as well as financially sustainable 3/n

Pleased to see employee assistance programmes being called out as insufficient to address workplace stress. They're such an individualistic response to systemic problems within universities, and are close to victim blaming.

Our mandate is renewed. Time for senior management to listen and act so we don't have to use our power and walk out again.

Time for the employer to get its act together. We're not a tiny minority nor factional operators. These issues are real and we're tired of the lack of respect shown to our colleagues and our union.

🚨Ballot results are in🚨 Our members have today overwhelmingly voted YES in our Campaign for a Safe and Professional Workplace Culture industrial action reballot. 75% of members voted to strike & 82% for ASOS on a 69% turnout #ReclaimUCU

Universities should be on notice. But staff should also remember that excessive workloads are a systemic issue. Let’s not resort to keeping track of whether your colleagues are pulling their weight. That’s capitulating to capitalist divide and rule!

And alpacas. Don’t forget the alpacas. The atomisation underlies the harm. That HSE already highlights that the retrospective access to support isn’t an adequate answer is hopeful.

Alma mater’s at it again. Good on Birmingham UCU for doing this. I’m so sick of University senior managements utterly disregarding the health of their staff, papering over the cracks with lunchtime yoga, individualising systemic failings in duty of care.

Coventry is the one that has been searching for £100 million for a year. For their management to blame that on tuition fees and international students is simply disingenuous. They shouldn’t be allowed to keep getting away with this deflection of responsibility. www.bbc.com/news/article...

A very thorough critique of UCU senior mgmt's planned restructure from the recognised union of UCU staff. It will also be of signfiicant concern to members. As UCU staff+Unite member, I've also read some of the employer's perspective. It's much vaguer & includes no salient points not addressed here.

After our employer refused to pause their restructure until the agreed Organisational Review is complete, we produced a critique of their plans based on members’ feedback. This includes initial analysis of the impact on delivery of support for UCU members. drive.google.com/file/d/1QNf6...

“I do not think further correspondence will be sufficient.” The cackle I did at that line. Merry Christmas, Adam Tickle! And Birmingham, you beauties. Sorry at the state your university is, but grateful for your tenacity. May 2025 bring relief from all this.

The second paragraph applies to so many universities. Well done Birmingham UCU for bringing stress at work to the attention of the HSE.

Here's to hoping this is the beginning of a reckoning about workloads and treatment of staff in HE. Solidarity with UoB colleagues - brilliant work from the Union branch to push this. Universities have been taking advantage of staff for much too long.

The UK's HSE in its reply to the University of Birmingham SMT's response to Birmingham UCU's complaint: 'I do not consider that your reply provides sufficient assurance that work-related stress is being suitably managed by the University'. 'we will be inspecting the University [..] in the new year'

Open University and Coventry both announcing Fire & Rehire in the same week. Totally normal. Not at all something a government should urgently ask questions about. Sort. This. Labour.

European colleagues are researching the disappearance of language teaching. In our list we have particular targeting / removal of languages in: 🗯️Coventry 🗯️Aberdeen 🗯️CCCU 🗯️UCLan 🗯️Hull 🗯️Plymouth 🗯️Lincoln 🗯️Northumbria (ish?) 🗯️QMUL 🗯️Sheffield Any we missed? #UKHE

I'm not a member of @uculeft.bsky.social but fully endorse this as an accurate account of yesterday's HEC meeting uculeft.org/hec-votes-fo... Members deserve to be told the whole story.

The Open University is threatening to fire and rehire lecturers who won't accept a reduction in working hours and pay - having previously promised those staff 'no detriment' as part of their new contract. PLEASE sign and share the petition opposing this move: www.change.org/p/stop-the-u...

For clarity, UCU HEC agreed a package of measures on Thursday to fight for fair pay and conditions and against job cuts. Only one of these has been announced to members so far with inaccuracies in that announcement. 1/2

Staff are worried and angry. Transparency, democracy & integrity are key to good uni governance! 💡 Well done @ducuuo.bsky.social, the @unison.org.uk & @uniteunion.bsky.social Dundee branches for getting over 1000 @dundeeuni.bsky.social staff members together for this afternoon's Townhall meeting.