Emergency Meeting/Q&A session with UoN UCU: Friday April 11 at 3pm
Further to my email on Friday, we would like to invite you to a branch meeting this week, where we can discuss and deliberate on Phase 1 Future Nottingham plans which begin soon. The Phase 1 document will be available to all stakeholders (we were told) on Tuesday 8 April. We had/have asked to see this document, but were told that it was still undergoing draft changes. Late Friday evening, we received an email inviting Andreas and I to a meeting on the afternoon of the 8th to discuss Phase 1, possibly in the JNCC subgroup meeting on Organisational Change. Last week we also had 2 excellent, hugely well-attended, Joint Unions Open Staff meetings for Professional Services Colleagues who Phase 1 directly affects, with many important questions being asked. Phase 2, which will affect academics, will begin in the autumn term, and there is also a Phase 3 (Estates) planned. We have sent our ASF2 to the interim CFO, who plans to have a finance meeting with us soon.
We know that many of you will be worried about job security in view of the possibility of compulsory redundancies and the methods employed to reach these. We are sure you will have lots of questions about what is happening and what your branch is doing to support you and to push back against any job cuts. We are keen to know all concerns and what you think we should be doing/challenging further. We need to have a safe space where we can discuss all this. To this end, we are hosting an UoNUCU Emergency Meeting/Q&A session, on Friday April 11 at 3pm. See the zoom link below. Please do come.
This week we will also start sending out daily emails outlining various pertinent aspects of our campaign against redundancies. These will be sent from the Redundancy Working Group email, so do look out for those.
Don’t forget the indicative e-ballot emails will start coming to you from April 10, and ends on May 9, we need all to vote.
See you on Friday.
Yours, in solidarity,
Lopa
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UCU UoN is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Welcome to your weekly newsletter. To mark this most important day, we have included half of our news updates in this email with the other half printed on a scroll and hidden somewhere in one of the buildings on the Castle Meadow Campus. You will be allowed to search for these important updates once the campus formally opens in… [transmission interrupted].
This is on behalf of all three University of Nottingham Unions and thus all job levels 1 – 7. Both dates will be online via Teams (Join using your UoN account):
Today Tuesday April 1st 3pm-4pm Thursday April 3rd 9.30am-10.30am
UCU, Unison and Unite
American and Canadian Studies – a sign of things to come?
With all undergraduate degrees already suspended for 2025/2026, colleagues in American and Canadian Studies (ACS) were informed that the degrees will remain suspended for 2026/2027 too. Understandably, colleagues are concerned whether there will still be a job for them in 2027/2028, when almost all current students will have completed their degree. Importantly, they are fighting back collectively, having tabled a constructive proposal for a way forward saving all jobs. The committee is, however, concerned that this is just the start of Future Nottingham, with the suspension and eventual closure of many more courses to follow in due course. It indicates that our dispute over the VC’s failure to commit to no compulsory redundancies remains of utmost importance.
Make sure your colleagues know what’s happening at UoN
Help make colleagues aware of what’s really happening at UoN, from job cuts to vanity projects. Download our campaign poster, print it off and stick it to your office door or anywhere else people will see it.
This poster was developed by the Redundancy Working Group, which develops our strategy to combat the risk of redundancies and feeds back to the Branch Committee. If you are interested in joining, please contact uonucubranch@gmail.com.
Workload testimonials for Health and Safety Executive
Following reporting to HSE for UoN failure to meet legal obligations regarding stress prevention, the Workload Working Group has asked for a bespoke Workload/stress JNCC or equivalent to be created, so that this work can be addressed swiftly and efficiently. We will keep you posted on the University’s response to this request.
UoN is sending out formal invitations to attend Long Term Absence Meetings while members are still signed off sick by their GP. Please note that the UoN sickness absence management policy (section 5.1) states: “In all cases, contact should be approached sensitively and should be clearly focused on the employee’s health and wellbeing and their return to work”. UCU considers such requests insensitive and detrimental to health and wellbeing and advises you to not attend any meetings until you are fit for work.
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 27th March (despite power cuts preventing some members’ timely arrival) and discussed;
The previous day’s Vice Chancellor inaugural lecture,
Improving Branch Committee meeting efficiency as well as the roles and responsibilities of the various Working Groups,
The possibility of a Trade dispute with the Secretary of Education,
How to effectively reach out to non-unionised staff at UoN,
Plans for the upcoming AGM,
Strategy and timeline for combating the threat of APM redundancies,
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Local and national campaigning
Gathering information on redundancy At UoN UCU, we are determined to fight management’s cuts, especially when they put the job security of our members at risk. In order to prepare for any future redundancies we are keen to find out more about what sort of cuts or suspicious changes are happening across the University. We’ve set up a google form for you to share this information with us.
Workload group drop ins The Workload Group is organising drop-in sessions to support members to fight against unsustainable workloads. The next sessions will take place online; Tuesday 1st April 3:15-4:15 pm. REDACTED
Call for delegates to hybrid congress – either in-person or online Lisa Rull and Gertjan Lucas, Equality Officers, had been nominated as delegates to the annual UCU congress. With four positions available, they have been elected unopposed. Nominations will remain open until a sufficient number of delegates is reached, so if you are still interested do get in touch by emailing the branch.
‘Green Futures’ newsletter UCU’s Climate Ecological Emergency Committee are now releasing a quarterly newsletter. Read all about them and their work. Interested in this topic? Please email the branch at uonucubranch@gmail.com so we can direct you to more information on UCU’s Climate and Ecological Emergency work.
Solidarity with Unison healthcare assistants in Nottingham Hundreds of healthcare assistants have voted YES to strike action with a majority of 94%. This comes after the employer’s refusal to improve an offer on back-pay to compensate workers performing clinical duties outside their job description during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please support your fellow workers by paying a visit to their picket lines at QMC and City Hospital on the 10th, 11th, 17th, 22nd, and 28th of April. Pickets will be in place from 6:30 am – 2:30 pm each day.
UoN complicity with Gaza genocide On Wednesday, 26th March the local UCU branch held a seminar on UoN’s complicity in genocide in Gaza with a speaker from the encampment students, outlining key findings from their research report in this respect. This included links between UoN and arms manufacturers as well as UoN and Israeli institutions of Higher Education. Rachel Rosen from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign at UCL also addressed the meeting, speaking about their experiences with engaging wider staff and management at their university, thereby providing food for thought re the BDS campaign at UoN. The recording of the event is now available here.
This is on behalf of all 3 University of Nottingham Unions and thus all job levels 1 – 7 for Administrative, Professional and Managerial (APM), Technical Services (TS), and Operations & Facilities (O&F).
Both dates will be online (Join using your UoN account):
We are happy to announce that tickets for the Inaugural Agnes Flues memorial lecture, given by RMT Secretary-general Mick Lynch on Thursday 24th April at 6pm, are now available. Please use code ‘UONUCU’ when booking. Celebrate the life of Agnes and the movement that she worked so passionately and tirelessly for. All money raised will go to the hardship fund and the running of the event.
Read on for the following topics:
Sound the alarm on redundancies
University reported to Health and Safety Executive
Your Union needs you!
Branch Committee meeting summary
Local and national campaigning
Focus on Equality
Joining link and further information
Sound the alarm on redundancies
Help make colleagues aware of what’s really happening at UoN, from job cuts to vanity projects. Download our campaign poster, print it off and stick it to your office door or anywhere else people will see it.
This poster was developed by the Redundancy Working Group, which develops our strategy to combat the risk of redundancies and feeds back to the Branch Committee. If you are interested in joining, please contact uonucubranch@gmail.com.
University reported to Health and Safety Executive
As communicated in the email from Jenny Elliot on Friday, UCU Branch Committee have made the decision to report UoN to HSE for workload and stress health and safety breaches. This follows repeated unsuccessful requests for the University to provide the legally required stress risk assessments and business unit stress risk assessments. Your branch considers that there is substantial unmitigated risk to workload-related health across the University. We will keep you updated with the news from HSE.
Your Union needs you!
If you’re a member in any of the below listed areas, we would love to talk to you about what it means to become a Rep or, if that sounds daunting, an area contact for the branch. If you think it could work for you and you’re curious to hear more, then email our reps coordinators, Ella (REDACTED) and Michaela (REDACTED)
Archeology & Classics
Bio Sciences
Counselling
Cultural, Media & Visual Studies
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Engineering Research
External and International Relations
History
Law
Mechanical
Materials and Manufacturing Engineering
Medicine
Music
Pharmacy
Registrar’s department
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 19th March and discussed
Arrangements for e-ballot towards industrial action,
Materials and actions for responding to – and informing staff of – University financial mismanagement,
Arrangements for event in solidarity with Palestine,
UCU UoN presence at the Staff information Fair,
Lopa Leach and Gertjan Lucas also reported back from their meeting with members of Parliament as part of a delegation from UCU.
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Local and national campaigning
Call for delegates to congress Lisa Rull and Gertjan Lucas, Equality Officers, had been nominated as delegates to the annual UCU congress. With four positions available, they have been elected unopposed. Nominations will remain open until a sufficient number of delegates is reached, so if you are still interested do get in touch by emailing the branch.
UoN complicity in genocide in Gaza With the genocidal onslaught by the Israeli war machine against Gaza and across the Westbank in full swing again, our Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign here at the University of Nottingham remains of utmost importance.
Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, 26 March from 4 to 5.30 p.m. for a Zoom meeting (details below) on UoN’s complicity in genocide, hear from our fabulous encampment students about Nottingham’s co-operation with arms manufacturers and Israeli universities, and learn from the BDS campaign at UCL.
REDACTED
Gathering information on redundancy At UoN UCU, we are determined to fight management’s cuts, especially when they put the job security of our members at risk. In order to prepare for any future redundancies we are keen to find out more about what sort of cuts or suspicious changes are happening across the University. We’ve set up a google form for you to share this information with us.
Workload group drop ins The Workload Group is organising drop-in sessions to support members to fight against unsustainable workloads. The next sessions will take place online;
Wednesday 26th March 3:00-4:00 pm. REDACTED Tuesday 1st April 3:15-4:15 pm. REDACTED
Focus on Equality
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Today, Tuesday 25th March marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and UCU will be hosting a special webinar that day, 6:00-7:00 pm entitled “Education, reparations and justice: the legacy of slavery in post-16 learning”. Keynote speech will be given by Dr Leona Vaughn, academic and researcher in the field of equalities and social justice, and the webinar is hosted by UCU president Maxine Looby. Please click here to register
‘Green Futures’ newsletter UCU’s Climate Ecological Emergency Committee are now releasing a quarterly newsletter. Read all about them and their work. Interested in this topic? Please email the branch at uonucubranch@gmail.com so we can direct you to more information on UCU’s Climate and Ecological Emergency work.
We wanted to let you know that after asking for stress prevention documentation for several months, the UCU Branch Committee made the decision to report UoN to HSE for workload and stress breaches. Below is the summary of what we told HSE:
Already over 30 requests for caseworker support this year, a sharp increase to the comparative time period in previous years.
High levels of “stress and worry regarding work” identified in the 2023-4 Specialist Wellbeing Services report.
Failure to produce stress risk assessment and business unit level stress risk assessments despite repeated requests from September 2024.
A sloppy and hastily completed Institution Level Risk Assessment finally shared last week, without any dialogue with UCU. It is inadequate as it needs to be supported by Business Unit Stress Risk Assessments, which are not in place. It includes Future Nottingham as a stress mitigating factor.
UCU workload reps were told that risk assessments have been delayed due to workload issues amongst administrative and professional staff
Most academic staff have a “workload model” which in many cases is calculated as over 100% i.e. a staff member contracted to work full time is required to complete more work than can be expected within their contracted hours. Within university policy, workload up to 120% is considered within normal range, with no rationale for this, despite numerous requests.
There is no evidence of equality impact assessment for workload models and no mitigations put in place for disabled colleagues, exacerbating increased vulnerability to stress.
The UCU branch considers that there is substantial unmitigated risk to workload-related health. The branch is also concerned by an anticipated increase in the number and severity of cases of work-related stress, stress-related ill health and serious mental health problems among employees.
We will keep you posted on developments with HSE. In the meantime, if you are struggling with work-related stress, ask your line manager for an Individual Stress Risk Assessment. Please come to the weekly workload support drop-ins, for advice and guidance on just saying ‘no!’ to unsustainable workloads. Check the weekly branch newsletter for dates and times of these. We will be in touch soon to ask for testimonials on your workload and stress experiences. You are not on your own with this.
