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Dear members,
On Monday 21st July from 11:45 am in Trent Courtyard, a rally will take place outside Council as they make their decision regarding compulsory redundancies. This is a joint demonstration with the UNISON branch at the University. Please make every effort to attend to oppose compulsory redundancies and stand in solidarity with all workers at the University at risk of redundancy.
Read on for the following topics:
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- Get ready for action
- Local solidarity fund
- Workload campaign – keep up the pressure!
- Members meeting report
- Branch Committee meeting summary
- Protect University jobs here and across the country
- Local and national campaigning
- Joining link and further information
Get ready for action
We have added a Fundamentals of ASOS page to the website which will take you through all of the key information about what taking ASOS involves, what to expect from the university during ASOS and what to expect from the Branch. The page includes examples of what counts as ASOS, recognising variation between job roles. If you feel that there are questions left unanswered by this information, please submit these and we will endeavour to add this to the website.
There is also an automatic email reply template and an email to management that you are encouraged to adapt and use once the ASOS period starts.
On Monday 21st July 3-4pm we will be hosting an online drop-in to discuss plans and expectations of ASOS. Click here to join.
Local solidarity fund
As a collective organisation, we act to protect each other’s interests. This is at the heart of our current dispute. To do this as effectively as possible, the branch committee has asked national UCU for support from the Fighting Fund. We are also seeking to bolster our local solidarity fund so that we can weather whatever may come, in terms of management choosing to make salary deductions for participation in industrial action. As a branch, we have an excellent record of supporting members – with thousands of pounds raised and shared locally by members in 2023 in the ‘#target100’ campaign.
We ask then, that all members who can, donate approximately one day’s wage (after tax) to the local solidarity fund and/or start planning fundraising activities.
This money will be used to support members through the dispute. To calculate one day’s pay after tax, multiply your monthly gross pay by 12, then divide by 365. Bank details below;
UCU Nottingham LA63 Hardship Fund
Account number: 20346359
Sort code: 60-83-01
Workload campaign – keep up the pressure!
The Branch Workload Campaign Group is working closely with the UCU National Workload Health and Safety Officer, who has advised us to keep gathering data of unsustainable workloads and work-related stress. This is particularly in light of the HSE taking our concerns very seriously.
You can help by adding your voices to those have already heard via this questionnaire. We will use your voices to keep campaigning for our right to sustainable workloads and a safe and supportive working environment that doesn’t leave us stressed and burnt out. Thank you so much for your help and support.
Members meeting report
The members’ meeting on Wednesday 9th July was well attended. The focus of the meeting was on the current redundancy plans from the University and our response as a branch. As yet, management has not confirmed whether there will be compulsory redundancies. The branch also discussed our counterproposal to managements destructive plans in Phase 1 of Future Nottingham, with particular focus on the inadequacy of the consultation process and the shortsightedness of the University’s financial modelling.
We were unfortunately not legally able to discuss plans for industrial action, consisting of a one day strike on Thursday 24th July, followed by ASOS at this meeting.
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 9th July and discussed:
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- Arrangements for subsequent members meeting
- Preparations for rally and strike day
- Information needed to complete the Action Short of a Strike (ASOS) FAQs
- Secondment of a member to committee
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Protect University jobs here and across the country
Our dispute is about workers at the University of Nottingham being threatened with redundancies, our Alternate Financial Strategy 2.0 lays out how decisions by management have led to this. We can also see the threat of redundancy is commonplace for many workers in Universities across the UK. Our strength here as a Union is in our collective solidarity within our branch and in extending it to other UCU branches and HE workers.
Please find details and petitions/letters to sign to support staff at UoN and across the country using the links below:
Local and national campaigning
Open letter to UCU Trustees and National Executive Committee
There is an ongoing dispute between employees at UCU head office represented by Unite and UCU as an employer. In June 2024, a branch meeting of UoN UCU passed a motion expressing solidarity with Unite UCU and calling for swift resolution to the dispute.
As the dispute continues, the branch committee has agreed to share with members and ask them to sign this open letter, which calls on UCU Trustees and elected members of the National Executive Committee to examine the handling of this dispute.
Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine
Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.
60 Years of the Tricontinental Conference: Context, Impact, Legacy, and Future
Parvathi Kumaraswami, an academic at the University is crowdfunding for travel grants for scholars, artists and activists from the Global South to attend the above January 2026 conference at the University of Havana. This will celebrate the original event and prioritize contributions from the Global South and stimulate important debates about the original event and its relevance to anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonisation.
Please consider making a donation if you’re able. More information and donation link here.
Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.
Joining link and further information
Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.
Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!
Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!
Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.
Yours sincerely,
L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee
Branch website: https://uonucu.org/
