Author: L Scott Blankenship

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Promotion consultation form and update on Friday’s meeting

Email sent to members on Monday 26th January 2026.


Dear members,

It was fantastic to see and hear from so many of you on Friday. For those unable to make it, the main topics we covered were as follows:

Vote in the indicative ballot

Make sure you vote in this if you haven’t already. Reminder emails for non-voters will be coming this week (do check your spam and it is sent from: ‘UoN UCU Branch Committee’/yoursay@ucu.org.uk). It takes 30 seconds and a strong turnout is vital.

Update on Future Nottingham Phase 2 and new dispute

We have had our first dispute meeting with management, as well as a series of other meetings around Phase 2. As you will probably have seen, the timeline for Phase 2 has been pushed back slightly, with formal consultation on the draft business case to start on May the 6th. 

We continue to push back on the disastrous proposals, especially those around staff student ratio, and have a series of more detailed meetings with management over the coming weeks. Given the wide-ranging nature of the proposed changes – course closures, SSR, reduction in research time, the threat to technical staff etc – it is clear that our new and more encompassing dispute is crucial.

Promotion ‘consultation’

We also discussed the regrettable way in which the university has paused the promotion process while they decide on next steps. To be clear once more, we were not consulted about this pause despite the way it has seemingly been framed. As part of pushing back against their proposal not to run the promotion process this round we have been gathering feedback from members, and had a really productive meeting on Friday. If you want to provide your input to the consultation – either due to your own promotion being paused or because you spent time supporting other people developing theirs – please consider filling in this anonymous form.

In solidarity

Nick (on behalf of the branch committee) 

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Vote in the indicative ballot and meeting reminders

Email sent to members on Thursday 22nd January 2026. Zoom links have been removed, please find in the original email.

Dear members,

Just a quick email with three bits of information.

  1. Do make sure you vote in the indicative ballot! The email was sent first thing on the 19th of January and some people have found it went to a junk/other folder. It was sent by ‘UoN UCU Branch Committee’ from the yoursay@ucu.org.uk email if that helps you find it. It takes 30 seconds to vote, and a strong message now will help us in our new dispute
  1. A reminder of our members meeting tomorrow (Friday 23rd) at 1pm. We will give you an update on the rapidly changing nature of Future Nottingham and all the branch has been doing to fight the restructure.
  1. Promotion pause response. If this has impacted you and you want to help shape our response to it, we will be having a promotions-specific meeting straight after the members meeting at 2pm on the 23rd. Or else please contact the secretary Nick (nickpclare@gmail.com) to provide your input.

In solidarity,

Nick (on behalf of the committee) 

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Workload issues to be reported to Health and Safety Executive (21st January 2025)

Your Workload Working Group will contact the Health and Safety Executive with further concerns, following their dissappointing response regarding work-related stress as follows: 

Business Unit Stress Risk Assessments

Organisation Stress Risk Assessment

Freedom of Information request

Effects of Future Nottingham

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Call for members meeting

Email sent to members on Monday 19th January. Please see original email for Zoom link.

Dear UCUmembers,

   Despite our agreement of 13 November 2025, it is now clear that alternative proposals to management’s restructuring Future Nottingham – Phase 2 will not be considered, until it is too late. It is for this reason that today, the indicative ballot of all members on whether we are prepared to take strike action and/or action short of strike if management continues to reject our demands, has been launched. Please look out for the email from yoursay@ucu.org.uk with the subject heading ‘UoN UCU: Oppose job losses – protect your workload!’ It should have arrived this morning.

   Please participate in this indicative ballot, which if successful will allow us to move towards a formal ballot in March 2026. This indicative ballot is open from 19 January to 6 February. A strong result in the ballot will in itself increase pressure on management, as it will indicate the strength of potential future action.

   Moreover, please note that we will hold a general members meeting on Friday, 23 January at 1 p.m. Zoom link below.  This will allow us to discuss our industrial action strategy and the indicative ballot as well as update you on our dispute meetings, the parallel collective actions we are currently working on including the drafting of an alternative proposal and contestation of management’s decision to pause this year’s promotion round.

In solidarity,

Lopa Leach, on behalf of branch committee. 

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Welcome back! Dispute update, ASOS info, and promotion ‘consultation’

Email sent to members on Monday 12th January

Dear members,

Welcome back, we hope you have had a restful festive season to gain some strength. And strength we will need for the tasks ahead. In this email, we want to update you on our first dispute resolution meeting with management on 9 January as well as provide further information re management’s request to provide information on ASOS and the pause to promotions.

Report from first dispute meeting

Following your overwhelming support for launching a new dispute, we have now held the first dispute meeting with the University. We expect to receive more information this week regarding the timetable for the restructure. As soon as we have this, we will share it with members.

Alongside this, we are continuing our work on preparing the indicative ballot to start on 19 January as part of the new dispute. Further information on this will follow shortly. While there is benefit in a newly framed dispute, it is also evident from our first resolution meeting that the continued threat of industrial action will be necessary to move matters forward. So far, management has rejected all our demands outright.

Reporting of ASOS

We are aware that the University of Nottingham intranet contains a form for staff to report any Action Short of a Strike (ASOS) they have participated in. We are currently seeking further clarification, as it is not yet clear exactly how the University intends to treat ASOS or what actions they will take.

If you are considering confirming participation in ASOS to the University, we strongly advise that before completing the form you:

• Ask your manager what they believe the potential impact of your actions will be, and what deductions (if any) may be made.

• Speak to your local union representative for advice.

We will update members once we have received clarification from the University. Further guidance on ASOS is also available on our website.

Promotion ‘consultation’

As we are sure you have seen, the University has taken the decision to pause the promotion process in order to ‘consult’ with the Unions about whether it should run this year while they develop their restructuring plans. We were not told of this in advance of the pause, and we made it clear that we opposed the move. We have since had two meetings to discuss it and have two more to come before the end of the consultation period on the 10th of February.

Thanks to all of you impacted by this who have submitted your feedback on the proposal, seeing it all anonymised today was very powerful and showed not just how much anger and disappointment there is, but also how united people are in their feelings. We are exploring collective ways to push back against this beyond the formal meetings, so please be in touch with your rep or the branch if you are keen to contribute.

In solidarity,

Your branch committee