2nd November 2026: Not just a number!
As part of our campaign to defend jobs and working conditions at the University of Nottingham, we will be sending regular emails, authored by different UCU members, examining key elements of management’s restructuring plans. Today we have a personal story making clear that we are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. Feel free to share this post with non-UCU members in your area.
You’re not just a number on a spreadsheet
“It’s good news. You’re all clear.”
The words of the doctor were a huge relief.
Back in May, around the same time we were handed our ‘at risk’ letters, I was diagnosed with skin cancer.
I was lucky. I make YouTube videos and one of my viewers had written to me, worried about a mark he’d spotted on my neck. He was a dermatologist, so I took him seriously and got it checked out. It was just as well. The mark was cancerous, but thankfully it hadn’t yet become aggressive. It needed to be cut out.
It wasn’t the worst news, but it wasn’t the best either. Two operations later, I’ve now been given the all clear.
I’m telling you this because I think it’s important to remember that behind every person at risk of redundancy there is a life, with its own unique challenges.
I had the worry of a cancer diagnosis that I could really have done without. I know colleagues and friends who have faced much worse. I know people who have lost loved ones, who are dealing with serious illness in their families, or who are going through the stress of a divorce. All of this while the spectre of redundancy hangs over us.
None of this appears on a spreadsheet.
A spreadsheet doesn’t tell the story of sickness, divorce or bereavement. It doesn’t tell you about the sleepless nights, the anxiety, the conversations with partners and children about what might happen next.
It just gives you a number.
Except it isn’t just a number. It’s a person. It’s a life.
When we, as union reps, met with an external member of University Council, we were chastised for not thinking enough about the stress faced by senior management.
I have no doubt that senior managers face their own personal challenges, and when they do, they deserve our sympathy like anyone else.
But when it comes to Future Nottingham, let’s remember who gets to choose. Who has agency here? Who is making the decisions, and who is left worrying about how they are going to pay the mortgage?
The stress we have had to endure since those letters arrived in our inboxes cannot be underestimated.
For many of us, our jobs are much more than a way to earn a living. They are part of who we are.
I once spoke at a rally about the academic dream. About how I’d wanted to be an academic since I was around 12 years old. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to spend my life doing something I love. The threat of losing that is terrifying.
And then there was all the other stuff life was ready to throw at me.
No wonder I couldn’t sleep. No wonder I’ve started to go grey.
And I know I’m not the only one.
I know that many of you have been carrying your own worries, often quietly, while trying to get on with teaching, research and everything else the University expects of us. I know how exhausting this whole process has been.
But here’s the thing. We actually do have some agency in all of this. More than we realise.
Management may have the power to draw up spreadsheets, set targets and send out letters, but we have the power to act collectively. And right now, at this critical stage in Future Nottingham, that power really matters.
Our union leadership is in crucial meetings with management, fighting to protect jobs and secure a better outcome for all of us. But their ability to deliver depends on the leverage we give them. And that leverage comes from our willingness to strike.
I know that striking asks a lot of people who are already under enormous strain. I don’t underestimate the financial cost or the emotional toll. But if we want management to change course, we have to give them a reason to do so. We have to show them that we are prepared to stand together.
The decisions being made right now will shape our university for years to come. We still have a chance to influence those decisions, but only if we act together.
So yes, I’m relieved to have been given the all clear from the doctor. I wish I could say the same about the threat hanging over our jobs.
But I haven’t given up hope. Far from it.
Because you are not just a number on a spreadsheet. You have a life, with all its worries, hopes and ambitions.
And you are worth fighting for.
We all are.
Last Updated on November 8, 2026 by Tom Coogan
