Category: Strike Info

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Members meeting 30 October!

Original email sent to members on Wednesday 22nd October. Please see original email for Zoom link.

Dear members,

Thank you for your continued action, support, and solidarity. We are writing with a few key updates which are below, but also wanted to mention that last week we met with Alex Norris the MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley to discuss the dispute. Alex was due to speak at an event on campus but cancelled when we approached him, and he was shocked to hear about the proposed restructuring and the loss of jobs so far – he was also saddened to hear how much things have changed since he was taught by Andreas as an undergraduate in 2003! Alex has promised to speak with the Vice Chancellor about this, and while we will continue to lobby other local MPs, please consider writing to your MP mentioning the scale of potential redundancies.

Rally with the UCU General Secretary Thursday 23rd

We are ending this round of rallies with a bang. We have a great lineup of speakers including Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary, tomorrow. She is coming to show her solidarity to us and to speak about the National dispute. As usual we will be meeting in the Trent Courtyard at 12.40 before marching to Portland Steps for the speeches. Do please come along, in your numbers and show your anger.

Submission of next block of industrial action to the VC

Notification of our next block of industrial action was served to the VC this morning by our regional officer. Following your overwhelming rejection management’s opening offer, and the clear majority support for prioritising action this term the University has been notified of strike action on the following dates:

Monday 10th November – Friday 14th November

Monday 17th November – Friday 21st November

Monday 24th November , Tuesday 25th November

Monday 1st December – Friday 5th December

Monday 8th December – Friday 12th December

On Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th of November we will have big pickets in major entrances, Rallies in the Courtyard, Invited external guests, and a media presence. These particular dates have been chosen with key council meetings on Phase 2 in mind. All of these actions gives us the capacity to exert significant pressure on management, from without and within. 

Having served management the notice of the action today,  we will be writing to them to discuss the implications of it for students and staff and to explore resolutions that can avoid the damage this action has the potential to create, to rethink shrinking size and shape ideology. 

Members’ meeting Thursday 30th October 3-4pm

To discuss this second phase of action, including additional picket line days in November and December and to inform on any potential negotiations with management we have called a members’ meeting for next Thursday at 3pm (link in original email). It has been fantastic to hear from so many of you in recent meetings, so do please come along.

Finally,  some of you will have started to receive your ballots for the national dispute. Please vote in this, and please let your rep know once you have. 

In solidarity,

Lopa

(on behalf of branch committee).

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Strike update and links

Email sent to members on 25th July 2025

Dear members,

Thank you for going on strike yesterday and thank you to everyone who  attended yesterday’s pickets at West and North Entrance, whether that was for a few hours or all day. An especially big thank you to all those members who joined us that are new to the branch, to picketing or to striking in general! 

As well as being highly visible to anyone coming on to campus from 8am till 3pm, our strike was also covered by BBC East Midlands on the lunchtime and early evening news (see about 9 minutes in) and reported on by Nottingham Post/Nottinghamshire Live, as part of their ongoing coverage of Future Nottingham and our campaign against loss of livelihoods and compulsory redundancies. 

Thanks  for sending  messages of support, and to those who were unable to participate in yesterday’s strike thanks for donating to the local solidarity fund. If you have yet to donate to the fund, we are asking members who were unable to strike to donate 50% of a day’s salary to support members most in need. The account details are:

UCU Nottingham LA63 Hardship Fund

Account number: 20346359

Sort code: 60-83-01

Reference: “July 24th”

We are now in a period of live Action Short of A Strike (ASOS), please consult the guide on our branch website that answers common questions and outlines what this means in practice. Don’t forget to change your email signature and set up an automatic reply in order to maximise our impact! If any members do face salary deductions for participation in ASOS, remember that support from the local solidarity fund is available. Due to payroll cut off dates, any deductions the University does decide to apply for participating in industrial action will at the earliest come in August payslips. We will therefore share information about how to apply for financial support from the branch nearer to the time.

We have had a very busy week as a branch with Monday’s rally with Unison and Unite as the University Council made its decision on Phase 1 of Future Nottingham (lovely images on our website and social), Tuesday’s branch meeting and vote to continue with our strike action and action short of a strike, and of course yesterday’s strike action and pickets. This activism and action has ensured that our collective objection and opposition to how the University is treating staff through Phase 1 of Future Nottingham cannot be ignored and it lays down a marker that we will continue to oppose this approach as and when Phase 2 begins.

In solidarity and with best wishes,

Will and Lopa, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

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Industrial Action in July

Email sent to members on Thursday 10th July 2025

Dear Members

It was great to see you at the meeting yesterday (9/7/25). Unfortunately I could not tell you about ASOS plans or the date of a possible strike, until UCU had informed the VC. This has now happened.  Paraphrasing from the letter sent:

“The  industrial action will consist of:

* discontinuous strike action on 24 July 2025

* continuous action short of strike consisting of: 

     Not working beyond contractual obligations;

     Not covering for absent colleagues or unfilled posts;

    Not rescheduling or sharing materials from strike-affected sessions;

    Not performing voluntary or out-of-grade duties; 

    Not using personal devices for university work; 

    Not participating in graduation related activities; 

    No admin work related to REF, Course reviews, Future Nottingham, University rankings, Timetabling, Financial year end. 

Actions short of strike (as listed above) will begin on a continuous basis from 24 July 2025.

For the avoidance of doubt, this dispute will continue until such time as the dispute and any matters arising from the dispute… have been resolved to UCU’s satisfaction. In the event the dispute is not resolved to UCU’s satisfaction at the conclusion of the action identified in this letter, the union may notify you of further industrial action.”

Note, as discussed in our meeting yesterday, as a concession we will not be using ASOS for student recruitment events.       

The multiple meetings with management have made it abundantly clear that the only way to shift their position is to show our collective strength through industrial action. The power of a union lies in its unity, and we expect every member to take part. If you will be on holiday or on research leave during the strike period, we encourage you to donate to the hardship fund to support your colleagues.

We will be holding another members’ meeting shortly to discuss all of this in detail. We are preparing a set of FAQs to help members navigate Action Short of a Strike (ASOS), we will share soon. BC is planning ASOS Q&A sessions too.

We will circulate information about hardship support in due course.

And finally, we need to send a clear message to management: We will not accept compulsory redundancies.  So, join us at the rally on 21 July, and most importantly, join our collective fight by striking on 24 July, followed by ASOS.

Thanking you in advance. 

Yours

Lopa

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Our industrial action continues

This week, on Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February.

Picket lines are a show of strength and solidarity and we ask all members who are able to join the picket line to do so. Children are welcome too – particularly during half term or when teachers are on strike. We have pavement chalk! Children’s safety is, of course, the responsibility of their parents/carers.

There will be pickets from 08:15-11:00am on every strike day at University Park South and West Entrances, as well as Jubilee Campus Derby Road entrance.

This week we need to show our strength and determination to support our negotiators in the room with UCEA and UUK. Join us! Never cross a picket line!

Love your staff – March and rally on Wed 15 Feb, 12 noon UP South

Love your staff! On Wednesday 15 February we will march and rally to demand that our university love their staff! Because we don’t buy into the commercial exploitation of love on Valentine’s Day, we march on Slap Day! Homemade placards and themed chants encouraged, email or tweet us your ideas or join the collective brainstorming on the pickets on Tues 14 Feb.

The march will set off from University Park South Entrance at 12 noon and follow the route in the attached, high tech map. There will be two stops for short speeches outside Chemistry building and on Portland steps.

We want to be seen and heard, so make sure you come adequately prepared.

Online solidarity space – Tues 14 Feb and Thurs 16 Feb

We understand that some members are not able to be on the picket line due to disability, health conditions, caring responsibilities and/or distance. We will have a zoom room open between 09:00-10:30 as a space of online solidarity, it is open to anybody who wants to drop in to chat and keep each other company or to ask any questions about ongoing action and its impact.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81713388840?pwd=dVUrdmZMSHVrSVhZcGhRQkd0cE9yZz09

Meeting ID: 817 1338 8840

Passcode: 823426

Next week…

If we still have to strike next week (Tues 21, Wed 22, Thurs 23) to protect our pay and pensions, we are planning following events:

Tues 21, 2pm – online meeting with UCU national negotiators in both disputes (confirmed so far: Mark Taylor-Batty, Jackie Grant, Deepa Driver and Marian Mayer)

Wed 22 – we march again

There are also these two events organised by the independent Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ):

20 February at 6 p.m. via Zoom: River Butterworth (SU Education Officer) – Demilitarise UoN: Why the University is not committed to human rights. For a free ticket, register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/demilitarise-uon-why-the-university-is-not-committed-to-human-rights-tickets-515309122457?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

27 February at 6 p.m. via Zoom: Steve Battlemuch (Head of Campaigns PCS and local Labour Party Councillor) – Strikes are back – Can they win? For a free ticket, register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/strikes-are-back-can-they-win-tickets-545937452617?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

National fighting fund

Members taking part in industrial action can make a claim from UCU’s national fighting fund.

Payment from the National UCU fighting fund is made:

  • in the sum of £50 for the second and subsequent days of strike action for members earning £30,000 gross or more per annum (this is subject to a cap of 11 days. This will be kept under review); and,
  • in the sum of up to £75 for the second and subsequent days of strike action for members earning less than £30,000 gross per annum (this is subject to a cap of 11 days. This will be kept under review).

In order to make a claim to the Natonal Fighting Fund members need to:

  • be paying subscriptions at the correct rate (if any subscription is payable);
  • have participated in official strike action for which officers have agreed to make funds available; and,
  • provide evidence of deduction from your salary or loss of earnings for strike action.

The current HE dispute (UCU Rising) started on 24 November. 1 February is the fourth day of action.

Local Hardship Fund

Further support is available to members who face financial hardship via the local hardship fund. We can provide up to £25 per day.

By ‘hardship’ we mean colleagues who will genuinely struggle to cover everyday costs, for example (but not limited to):

  • Childcare including nursery fees;
  • Care costs for elderly or disabled family members*;
  • Medical expenses, for example prescription charges or paid-for therapy that is not covered by private medical insurance;
  • Basic food provisions;
  • Topping up prepayment (‘pay-as-you-go’) gas and electricity meters;
  • Rent;
  • Emergency transport costs.

* By ‘family’ we mean people with whom you have a close, interdependent relationship.

Please email your request to uonucubranch@gmail.com. You will need to show evidence of a submitted claim to the national fighting fund, together with relevant supporting documentation.

If you need money urgently please contact the branch; we may be able to provide you with a loan, which will need to be paid back once you have received money from the Fighting Fund.

Spreading deductions

The University has confirmed that members who wish to spread deductions beyond April to alleviate financial challenges should contact the HR department to request this. Decisions will be made on a case by case basis.

Dispute Organising Group (DOG)

18 days of action require a lot of organising and planning and we need help from members. If you are able to help organise our collective action, please respond to this email or contact uonucubranch@gmail.com.

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UCU Industrial action strategy 2023

In the ongoing debate about what the next steps in our industrial action to restore USS benefits and obtain a better deal for pay and working conditions should be, we (UoNUCU branch committee) think that the proposal in our September motion is the most sensible: on-going strike action from the first day of the second semester, organised in such a way that members only take strike action on those days when withdrawing labour impacts the employer.
Read a longer rationale here

Branch meeting to discuss this and make your voice heard
Jan 6 2023 at 13:00
Zoom link will be sent to branch members via email