oh the irony that as Northumbria announces its going to try ti push us onto USS because TPS costs too much USS costs are going to go up (salary sacrifice pensions will incur NI above £2k pa) @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social on.ft.com/482NXev

$1 trillion pack packages reflect an economic model which is broken and in urgent need of radical reform

SAVE GEOGRAPHY at Leicester University (UK) - We call on the University of Leicester to urgently reconsider the proposal to dissolve Geography. This is direct attack on the discipline of Geography at Leicester with likely loss of Geography staff. Please sign + share www.change.org/p/save-geogr...

Naw, that ain't it. Maybe if Northumbria hadn't built a stupid Space Center that we really don't need, it wouldn't need to be here. But freezing pay for SEVEN YEARS just because faculty don't want to downgrade to the shitty pension plan is a terrible look. www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/11/07/t...

After squandering millions on Castle Meadows purchase, University of Nottingham is now axing modern languages & music It also plans to cut its nursing programme Leaders of the bungleocracy continue to draw handsome salaries www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I find it hard to stay civil when employers suggest cutting DB pensions and replacing them with a DC, they did it at Durham for new staff on grades 5 and below which was a gendered attack on working-class people. It is cruel and nasty. Solidarity in resisting this!

From a @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social member: "it is wrong to frame this as saying staff will have options, when all options correspond to a significant reduction from the status-quo, and the status-quo corresponds to decades long losses in academic pay. This endangers the future of the UK academia."

From a @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social member: "it is wrong to frame this as staff will have options, when all options correspond to a significant reduction from the status-quo, and the status-quo corresponds to decades long losses in academic pay. This endangers the future of the UK academia."

This article has now been amended to include a statement from UCU.

Quite so. Or, indeed: hell yeah.

Put more accurately - it is pension cuts or pay cuts. That's the 'choice'.

Reform UK Council Grifter in Northumberland. Councillor Shaun Knowles turned up to a meeting yesterday for the first time in just under 6 months. This means he avoids disqualification by just a few days and keeps his councillor salary.

I am hearing that @uniofnottingham.bsky.social is suspending (i.e shutting down) *all modern language courses* in 2026-27. One of the largest departments in the UK. A shocking short sighted move that damages regional and national prospects @britishacademy.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social

Which one is more English?

Horrific, stupid news from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social — they are closing their music department. Apparently they all found out suddently in a meeting yesterday. It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There's still time to register for next Thursday's FREE online event: Autism and maternity: information for parents and supporters (6-7.30pm UK time). I'll be joined by 3 brilliant Autistic midwives: Karen Henry, Rebecca Warboys & Diane Fox. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/autism-and...

Dozens of staff stood up and displayed these signs at the beginning of today’s address by the VC to demonstrate their lack of confidence in him and his ability to impose such devastating staff cuts across the university.

We’re leading 5 days of industrial action at the University of Dundee. We’re calling on all our members to participate in this action. You can join us on the picket line or strike from home. You can legally join the strike if you aren’t a member of a union The people united will never be defeated.

Staff at Dundee University are taking action again next week to defend jobs and resist compulsory redundancies. A year after the university’s financial crisis, uncertainty still hangs over hundreds of staff. Solidarity with Dundee UCU members fighting for fairness and job security. ✊

🚨 BREAKING 🚨 18 months after we submitted a formal complaint, the charities regulator has told the IEA that it has to act on transparency and balance: https://goodlaw.social/8vmm

School pupils are to be taught how to tackle conspiracy theories, spot 'fake news' & root out misinformation. The Daily Mail, ajudged by Wikipedia to be an unreliable new source, is furious. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out why.

A Reform UK Facebook page has been blasted for posting an appalling AI-generated antisemitic image of Green Party leader Zack Polanski leftfootforward.org/2025/11/refo...

News that further job cuts are coming is just another shocking revelation in a year when staff have been told one thing only to be told something different over the number of jobs to be cut and the need for compulsory redundancies. DUCU co-president, Melissa D’Ascenzio news.stv.tv/north/dundee...

"University still pays off – even in lower-wage Britain"

“It’s time for a wealth tax. And to start making big businesses and giant multinationals pay their fair share.” — Christina McAnea, UNISON general secretary. Ahead of the budget, UNISON says taxing the wealthiest will fund services and grow the economy. unsn.uk/3JsANy7

Oh hi! Intimidation, power games, university’s best interest much lower on the list of priorities than petty fights: sounds familiar. More of these deep dives that expose the mess that passes for “governance” in #UKHE, please. You could do one of these on each uni: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Nigel Farage currently railing against Parliament being full of "professional politicians". He founded UKIP in 1993 and was first elected as an MEP in 1999, twenty-six years ago. Less than 5% of current MPs (31 to be precise) have a longer career in politics than Farage. ~AA

You laugh, but this is how the exododus went extinct

Not ours, or anyone committed to a decent, fair society. Minimum wage too high? Think you mean fat-cat profits, shareholder dividends, and holdings in tax-free, offshore accounts, pal.

Get ready, academics. We’re about to go from the mid semester doldrums to end-of-semester EVERYTHING IS DUE AND EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE!!!

Nigel Farage, who has so far registered a total of £280,500 for four hours a month as a "brand ambassador" for a company selling gold bars, thinks a £10 an hour minimum wage for young people is too high bylinetimes.com/2025/11/03/n...

Trump throws a tacky Gatsby-themed Halloween Party, while pushing millions into starvation. Our podcast, by contrast, at once rereads & reclaims Fitzgerald's text in the name of democratic social provisioning.

"China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show"

Mischaracterised by university leaders as financial ‘saving’, austerity is in truth vandalism. It ravages decades of training, accrued and accredited knowledge, and publicly funded research.

@unison.org.uk and @ucu.org.uk working together to get the vote out! Please share widely.

Our #MegaphoneUK petition now has over 400 signatures! Are you going to help us get to 500? Support @thinkuhi.bsky.social staff by signing today ✍️ www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/save-uhi-stop-the-cuts #SaveUHI #ThinkUHI #StopTheCuts #UCU #UCUScotland @ucu.org.uk @ucuscotland.bsky.social

Nigel Farage is coming for our human rights. My piece for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social. www.tribunemag.co.uk/2025/10/farage-is-coming-for-our-human-rights

“Increasing the minimum wage will just push the prices up of everything.” My brother in Christ, I don’t know where you have been for the last 5 years, but they have done that anyway whilst minimum wage has remained the same.

Be like Scott and post your ballot in the @UCU national ballot today! Let us know how YOU want to fight back against the pay cuts and redundancies plaguing OUR universities! #StopTheCuts #SaveHE

GB News presenter and Reform supporter Matt Goodwin got humiliated on #BBCQT leftfootforward.org/2025/10/audi...

The importance of voting YES in the UCU national ballot. 📢some reasons: The pay offer this year is a mere 1.4% but inflation is 3.8% which means our pay’s gone down since the recession of 2007-9 by 20-30% in real terms, depending on whether you use CPI or RPI measures.

One resounding message from last night’s live: we are stronger together. 💪 Don’t give up, every conversation, every ballot, every action matters. What’s your one message to other members as we head into the final weeks of the ballot? #WeAreTheUniversity

😱 Travelling miles for near-minimum wage while agencies profit – a horrifying nightmare too many supply teachers face. This system is broken. Teachers deserve pay that reflects their skill and dedication. #StopTheAgencyRipOff ✍️ Write to your MP and demand change 👉 bit.ly/4777aKx

Fire and rehire tactics have no place in 2025 ❌ We stand with Tetrosyl employees in Rochdale - workers deserve certainty, fairness and respect.

@unison.org.uk and @ucu.org.uk working together to get the vote out! Please share widely.

Quite; all that and second breakfasts.

It’s spooky season… 🧟‍♂️ Don’t feed the zombies. Support diamond open access! The zombie poster is back! #DiamondOA #OpenAccess #Halloween