Just a friendly reminder: History shows us that, more often than not, employers place profit before people. Workers need to fight for fair treatment. Industrial action is our most effective tool, but anti-union laws mean we have to win a mandate to use that tool. VOTE! #WeAreTheUniversity

Power struggles at the management level? And who’s picking up the pieces? We need to stop these toxic people from making terrible decisions. Again, and again. Vote Yes!

The #UKHE mess is never going to be solved without a change in governance practices alongside a change in the funding model. And our overlords aren't going to change themselves. We need staff back in the room, we need a mandate. Vote YES.

This is an amazing victory for our colleagues at Nottingham. Full solidarity in their continuing efforts to hold their management to account. It's also a very timely reminder: industrial action WORKS.

The fabulous team @ducu.bsky.social outline in this blog 26 good reasons for voting YES in the ballot: durhamucu.org.uk/26-reasons-y... Let's get staff a seat at the table again, because it's clearly not working without us...

For the morning crowd: we released some graphs last night about the scale of our real-term pay cuts since 2008. We might have lowballed the severity of the situation, actually, as was pointed out: cuts of 20% require a pay rise of 25% to reverse, even before taking inflation into account.

Even more petitions popping up. Doesn't make for a great endorsement, does it? Please sign, spread the word, and help us push back against the constant undermining of our university: c.org/MwqdpHLCnZ c.org/Q6pTJXz87F c.org/sGNYk5yGpM

Note that optically that’s also the gentle presentation of the numbers … a 10% reduction requires an 1/(1-0.1) = 1.111 => 11.1% pay increase to restore. For a 22.1% reduction that’s a 1/(1-0.221) = 1.284 => 28.4% pay increase to restore.

With a national ballot live regarding a number of pressing issues in UK HE, including the seemingly ever-worsening pay situation in the sector, we thought we might throw together some graphs on where we are. Headline result: it isn't great! 1/3

University workers stand together for better pay!

Hey, @durham.ac.uk #DUBS colleagues, let’s show @aomconnect.bsky.social that UK Business School staff are different! @ucu.org.uk is balloting right now for the #WeAreTheUniversity campaign. Join us! @ducu.bsky.social (Psst, @unitetheunion.bsky.social & @unison.org.uk are balloting at DU, too! 😉)

Kicking it with cousins: Durham UCU stands alongside our colleagues in the DU branch @unitetheunion.bsky.social. The recent round of "voluntary" severance & its consequences are being felt by members in both unions, and we will work together to fight against continually worsening working conditions.

Solidarity with Leicester. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see more of these across the sector.

Picket demonstrating feeling about announcements of cuts to courses at University of Nottingham @uonucu.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

Very strong turnout this morning on the first of our five days strike. On Friday, in a meeting with the interim Principal, he confirmed his ideology is to cut as many jobs as possible. Support our action to save jobs and save the University! #SaveHE #SaveDundeeUni #WeAreTheUniversity

I knew @northumbriauni.bsky.social had taken away staff desks in NBS this summer, making them essentially hotdesk. Now the employer has informed staff that they are gutting their pensions, too. If there was EVER a time to join @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social, NOW is the time!

This needs saying again & again: UK unis are knowingly accepting 1000s of students without the necessary English skills to fully engage with their courses they'll be studying on. And *that's not those students' fault*. Why wouldn't they assume these institutions know how to teach them effectively?

PORTUGAL: A general strike is coming, the first since the days of the troika lnginnorthernbc.ca/2025/11/08/a...

Someone at a Russell Group university was moved to almost-poetry by their Faculty Meeting… Can anyone do better?

This. On 3 particularly, I used to live five minutes from a hotel being used to house asylum seekers. Conditions were absolutely appalling, but the hotel owners were absolutely raking it in. *That's* the problem - legalised profiteering from other's misfortune.

Was really good to hear colleagues from other unions yesterday, talking about their own approaches to getting the vote out in what I understand to be the first multi-union balloting window in Durham since 1996. It's clear across the board just how badly "voluntary" severance has hurt us.

Solidarity!

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.

Some of our grooviest colleagues are running a "How To Talk About Palestine" Workshop TOMORROW at 1pm, in the Calman Learning Centre. This will take place after tomorrow's walkout/demo in solidarity with the people of Palestine, taking place as usual at the Map opposite Whitechurch.

Starting now!

Calling all branch members: multi-union campus meeting 12:30-13:30 TODAY in The Ken Wade Lecture Theatre (Calman 203), to talk about our respective ballots and the ongoing state of affairs at our university.

Good afternoon, folks! Feeling in need of an afternoon pick-me-up? Why not get out and post your ballot! Nothing energizes quite like knowing you're contributing to the best chance we have to change HE! Celebrate with your choice of snack afterwards! #WeAreTheUniversity

Be like Lenka from UoN and Marek from @ducu.bsky.social! Cast your ballot in @UCU.org.uk's national industrial action campaign today!

What exactly *is* the Principal's job? Because you can't do that job properly if you've got failing leadership and ineffective oversight. Then you're just shouting at people without any rational thought or meaningful insight. Come to think of it...

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.

Most UK HE VCs simply do not care about research, full stop. Some care about the REF and/or other metrics, but they believe academics are easily replaceable in terms of their role in gaming those metrics.

Ric gets it.

Jamie gets it

Ballot papers are on the way and landing tomorrow! 📬 Don’t wait, vote early, vote YES to defend jobs, pay and the future of our colleges and universities. 🗓️ Ballot open: 20 Oct ⏰ Closes: 28 Nov

Happening now UCU members :D (just outside A04, since it's nice and cosy there :) )

We have signed a joint union statement standing against rising anti-migrant and racist rhetoric. We stand in solidarity with our international workforce and migrant communities. Read the full statement: https://bit.ly/42BLbKk

Durham UCU members! Free this afternoon/evening? We're having a Welcome Drop-In for new members, and it'd be great to see some more established faces there too! We'll be in A04 in Dunelm House from 3pm to 5pm then we're off to the Half Moon for a social. Hope to see plenty of you there!

The VC of Leicester has been announced as the new Chair of UCEA. He's been VC of Leicester since 2019. He's the one responsible for forcing out scholars in ways that employment tribunals showed was not permitted. The the kind of guy UCEA values. www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/o... #UKHE

We were there too! Hugely inspiring to see the city turn out to reject hate. Top speech by @newcastleucu.bsky.social's Matt Perry, too. #ourtoon

BREAKING: Our members at the University of Sheffield have voted overwhelmingly for strike action against the University Executive Board’s ongoing campaign of job cuts, and the threat to staff workload and wellbeing that they represent.

I guess it's technically true that "live out-of-college... or forfeit University accommodation" constitutes a choice, but only in the same way that "eat a meal you don't want or go hungry" constitutes a menu. www.palatinate.org.uk/emails-revea...

We keep saying this - and keep being ignored by our own union's management - but if a university tried to treat its staff the way UCU is treating its people, we'd be discussing how best to burn the place to the ground. 1/2

😍🐶

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-...