Restructures treat departments as interchangeable boxes on a chart, but staff hold deep local knowledge, research networks and community links that can’t be ‘reallocated’ overnight. Once that’s broken, it’s hard to rebuild. That’s why staff must have a real say in any changes.

Restructures often hit precarious, disabled, migrant and racially minoritised staff hardest – the very colleagues already carrying the heaviest burden. Before any changes, management must publish equality impact assessments and act on them.

True consultation on restructures means staff and unions can shape the aims, timelines and criteria, and proposals can change substantially. If decisions feel predetermined and feedback is ignored, that’s not consultation – it’s rubber‑stamping.

Demanding that university leaders stay 'neutral' while our sector faces a jobs crisis, course closures, and creeping marketisation is not neutrality — it's complicity. Staff and students need leadership with a spine, not a regulator that protects the powerful.

Tomorrow - Lunchtime social Step away from your desk and have lunch with other BUCU members. All welcome 12-1pm Cafe Aroma, 1st floor, staff building.

The market model in UK HE means crises at one institution can ripple across the whole sector. Solidarity with colleagues at branches fighting redundancies and course closures this week – your fight is our fight.

AI in our workplaces must be negotiated with staff, not imposed on us. We'll be encouraging UoB management to engage with this framework — members' expertise and job security must be protected. #AcademicSky

Universities don't need to appease populism — they need to demonstrate genuine public value. That means fair pay for staff, accessible education, and genuine community engagement.

This is a deeply concerning pattern — using TUPE as a mechanism to erode terms and conditions while avoiding statutory protections. Birmingham UCU stands with Coventry UCU. This is why every member counts. ✊

Durham UCU nailing it. Academic freedom means nothing if it only applies when it's convenient for management. UCU members at Birmingham and across the sector will keep speaking truth to power. #AcademicFreedom

Solidarity with our colleagues at Northumbria UCU Branch fighting to protect their pensions! Northumbria management is trying to force staff out of the Teachers' Pension Scheme — an attack on workers across the whole post-92 sector. ✊ 1/2

V-C says the quiet but out loud

Consultants tell management: unbundle teaching, outsource services, chase high‑fee markets, financialise the estate. Staff and students are just “costs” in a value chain to be carved up.

UCU, Unison, Unite, GMB and EIS have now submitted the joint HE pay and conditions claim to UCEA for 2026–27, covering pay, redundancies, casualisation, workload and equality pay gaps. ​ Negotiations start on 31 March

UCU is running an anti‑casualisation webinar on unpaid labour, ableism and gendered cultures in academia on Wed 25 March (12:00). If you’re BUCU on a fixed‑term, hourly paid or GTA contract, Send a DM and we’ll send you the registration details.

Tomorrow - Lunchtime social Step away from your desk and have lunch with other BUCU members. All welcome 12-1pm Cafe Aroma, 1st floor, staff building.

Potential College restructure at UoB will affect academic staff, professional services, students and our wider civic role. Birmingham UCU will be actively gathering members’ thoughts, questions and concerns over the coming weeks to inform our position in any formal consultation.

REF and workload are inseparable. If the university wants staff to produce submissible research outputs, the workload model has to guarantee the time to do that – not just in principle, but in enforceable practice.

The university has announced a major restructure of the college system. Details are thin, but the potential impacts are not. BUCU is collecting information and concerns from members – how do you see this affecting your area?

Draft Code of Practice for REF29 is out, and the university is seeking feedback. BUCU is coordinating a branch response – if you have concerns or suggestions, now is the time to feed them in.

Looks like we are not the only people to take issue with the V-C's reported comments on funding for students who lack a-levels

We recognise management’s right to review structures, but any major restructure must be genuinely co‑produced with staff, trade unions and students from the earliest stages – not presented as a near‑final package. That is the standard Birmingham UCU will insist on.

BUCU General Members’ Meeting this Wednesday 11 March, 12–1pm (online). We’ll be discussing Congress motions, the new REF29 Code of Practice, and the university’s proposed major restructure. All members welcome.

On International Women’s Day and every day, we stand with Women Against the Far Right, Birmingham Black Sisters and all who organise against fascism and gendered violence in our city.

Tomorrow - Lunchtime social Step away from your desk and have lunch with other BUCU members. All welcome 12-1pm Cafe Aroma, 1st floor, staff building.

Birmingham UCU met with the Provost on 6 March to hear early plans for possible changes to the College structure at UoB. We’re engaging members now so your views shape our response from the very start. We will be inviting members and non-members to an open meeting in the coming days

Midlands Together Against the Far Right International Women's Day 🗓 Sunday 8 March, 12:00 📍 Assemble: Victoria Square, Birmingham Bring colleagues, friends, placards and banners. Let’s show that our campuses and communities are united against misogyny, racism and the far right.

@julietterowsell.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @chrishavergal.bsky.social We are planning to get some words to you soon in response to V-C Tickell's reported comments about "bad risk" students "not really capable of graduating"

Today’s @theguardian.com piece reports our VC suggesting a review of student loans for people entering HE without A‑levels and saying some are “not really capable of graduating”. This is a dangerous way to frame students. ​

UCU is joining the Together Alliance national demo on 28 March in London. Trade unionists, community activists, faith leaders, musicians — all marching together against the rise of the far right. Coaches from Birmingham

Public talk on accent bias in HE, led by Christian Ilbury from the University of Edinburgh, at the University of Birmingham, UK, at 6pm on 29th April. I have long been aware that our students (and staff) who speak with local accents experience discrimination. www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/tackl...

📢 Birmingham UCU members – the Employment Rights Act 2025 is now live and it’s a big shift for us in HE. Key points for staff at UoB: Unfair dismissal: qualifying service will fall to 6 months and the cap on compensation is going, increasing the risk to employers who sack staff unfairly. 1/4

In the 2025/26 People & Planet University League, the University of Birmingham scored zero for trade union involvement in sustainability governance. Staff voice is missing. BUCU is calling for a joint union–management sustainability group so workers have a real say

Tomorrow - Lunchtime social Step away from your desk and have lunch with other BUCU members. All welcome 12-1pm Cafe Aroma, 1st floor, staff building.

We have written this evening to the VC requesting urgent clarity on how UoB is protecting staff and students at the Dubai campus during the current crisis. We’re calling for: • up‑to‑date risk assessments and evacuation plans • clear options for relocation or remote working

IRON LADIES at MAC Sunday 15th March : film + Q&A on the women at the forefront of the 84–85 Miners’ Strike, from Scotland to Kent, whose organising reshaped working-class political activism. ​

UCU is part of the Together Alliance mobilising a national demonstration against the far right on 28 March in central London. There’ll be a UCU bloc with flags and banners. Trade unionists, students, communities – let’s march together and stop the far right. ​

BUCU Members - Did you know you’re entitled to reasonable paid time off and proper facilities to carry out any union role and attend UCU training? Despite what your manager or HR might tell you - this is the law.

“When I began teaching, I joined UCU because the people in the union seemed cool – and because I quickly realised I needed to organise with my peers. If you’re feeling isolated or precarious at UoB, BUCU is where you’ll find your people.” Betsy Porritt - BUCU Anti-casualisation officer ​

Tomorrow - Lunchtime social Step away from your desk and have lunch with other BUCU members. All welcome 12-1pm Cafe Aroma, 1st floor, staff building.

Being a UCU member at UoB means refusing to accept casualisation, unsafe workloads and attacks on the integrity of higher education – it means getting organised with colleagues to change them.

Being part of UCU means you are not facing the crisis in higher education alone – you’re part of a collective willing to stand up and fight for fair, safe workplaces where staff and students can flourish. Dave Watton BUCU Health and Safety Officer

UCU NEC and officer elections are now open, with ballots closing 2 March. Check candidates’ addresses on the UCU elections webpage and make sure you use your vote – union democracy matters.

Across the UK, UCU branches are fighting job cuts and compulsory redundancies at Stirling, Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt, Essex, Solent, Leicester, Nottingham and London Met. Same story: cuts, overwork, and attacks on education. We stand with every branch in dispute. ​

Your PDR is your PDR You have the right to: ✓ Request an alternative reviewer ✓ Raise structural/workload issues ✓ Set objectives for YOUR development, not just promotion Questions? Get in touch with BUCU.

📢 Can you help with casework? We've dealt with nearly double the casework volume this year - members need support with flexible working, reasonable adjustments, bullying, harassment, dismissal & redundancy. Casework training: 23 April 2026, 9:30am-4pm, Online DM for more info

💰 Did you know you can claim tax relief on your UCU subscription? Members can offset 67% of their union subs against tax paid. You have up to 4 years to claim back for previous tax years, so there could be money waiting for you! Full details:

General Members Meeting at 1pm today bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/8956359352... Agenda: 1. Workload principles 2. UKRI Funding changes 3. PDR changes 4. Redundancies 5. Casework This is your opportunity to have your say in how the branch responds to these pressing issues

🚨 The University has imposed changes to PDR without agreement, breaching our recognition agreement. Key issues: Removed opt-out option (a negotiated right) No space for structural issues like workload Links to BACF promotion criteria We cannot allow UoB to ignore its agreements.

Our next General Members Meeting is tomorrow at 1pm on Zoom bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j... This is your opportunity to have say on how the branch does next on redundancies, workload and stress.