motions

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025

Extraordinary Members Meeting on 22 July 2025

Email sent to members Thursday 17th July 2025

Dear Members

I would like to invite you to this extraordinary meeting (link below). Apologies for the timing, but Jane has agreed to let us know on this day rather than end of this month, re withdrawal of CR or not for Phase 1. She is aware of our strike date (24 July) and beginning of ASOS, but one can’t be certain about efficiency and timeliness of their reporting, thus the lateness of the timing of this meeting!

At the meeting we will need your approval on the next steps we take. We will update on picket lines, which entrances, our plans and hear your wonderful ideas for the day.

Please don’t forget to come in force to the rally on Monday the 21st, at Trent Building Courtyard. It times well with a Council meeting, where the sign off or rejection on Phase 1 redundancies will occur. This is a joint rally with Unison against these punitive job cuts. There will be external speakers, banners and lots of noise. Unison is even providing a light lunch!

I have attached a new updated Grievance Procedure, negotiated by our JNCC sub group, we need your approval of that, so do peruse. It is an important document and we do need your sign off.

Please also find a Motion, https://www.universityrankandfile.org.uk/post-congress-model-motion on the ongoing campaign for a dispute with the Secretary of State for Education over funding of HE. We will take this motion if time permits.

Thanking you in advance, see you on both days.

Solidarity,

Lopa

On behalf of branch committee

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Topic: Emergency members meeting
Time: Jul 22, 2025 16:00 London
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85635939225?pwd=PLZgEMb9y1StJGG6Wfjjwjm7RYbYnp.1

Meeting ID: 856 3593 9225
Passcode: 210176

May 2, 2025May 7, 2025

Motions passed at AGM 30th April 2025

The following motions were passed at the recent AGM;

Motion 1: New progressive pay structure for highest earners to protect jobs at UoN

Motion 2: No 120 percent workload at UoN!

Motion 3: Support a Trade Dispute with the Secretary of Education over funding

In addition, the nominees for next years committee were confirmed

Finally the branch approved one amendment to motion SFC7 scheduled for debate at Congress. The amendment is as follows;

“Insert following resolve i.

ii. Working with relevant specialist committees, review all officer role job descriptions and the use of language throughout the model branch rules to ensure they reflects current equality strands and language. For example, insert ‘migrant members’ in the enumeration of equality groups in bullet iv) under 8.6 Equality Officer.

And renumber accordingly.”

March 12, 2025

UoN UCU Motions for 2025 UCU Congress

The following motions were passed with large majorities by members at the well-attended meeting on Wednesday 12th March.

Motions for Congress

1. Reporting back of NEC members to constituencies

Congress instructs the NEC to formulate rule change motions to ensure
the following:

NEC members canvass opinions from branches and regions in their
constituencies prior to NEC and NEC subcommittee meetings.
NEC members produce a written report within two working weeks of
NEC and NEC subcommittees to be circulated in the appropriate
constituency.
Appropriate mechanisms to be established by UCU to support
circulation of reports from NEC members to constituencies.

Rule Change Motions for Congress

2. Change to Rule 16

Add new rule 16.5.1

Where National Congress or Sector Conferences do not meet during the times referred to in rule 16.5, the relevant National Congress or Sector Conferences must be recalled as soon as reasonably practicable to consider the motions submitted to the National Congress or Sector Conferences. Additional late and emergency motions can be considered at the recalled Congress or Sector Conference in line with rules 16.8 and 16.9.

Purpose:
To enshrine in rule that in the event of cancellation, Congress or Sector Conference need to be rescheduled. Rather than, as has happened when the rules were silent on the matter, motions disappear into a void in spite of the hard work submitting bodies undertook to compose them and the efforts of elected delegates to prepare to debate them.

3. Change to regional committee standing orders –
Environmental Representative

To Standing order 7 of the UCU Regional Committee Model Standing Orders, add ‘an Environmental representative’ after ‘a representative of members on casual contracts’

So the amended Model Standing Order 7 would read:

Treasurer, the Secretary and the Chairs and Secretaries of the sector committees, and for each sector, a representative of members on casual contracts, an Environmental representative together with such other Officers as may be deemed necessary.

Purpose:
The importance of environmental issues and the seriousness of climate change means that there should be an Environmental representative on regional committees. The rule change will add one.

March 12, 2025July 17, 2025

No Compulsory Redundancies at UoN!

Today’s well-attended members meeting centred around two sets of motions. The first motion passed with 96% in favour directs the branch to enter into dispute to combat the risk of compulsory redundancies.

Motion on UoN No Compulsory Redundancies

This branch notes:

The investment of £91.5m (including VAT) for purchase and base refit of Castle Meadow Campus (CMC);
Management’s admission that the sale of CMC in part or whole is currently being discussed, as this campus does not fulfil UoN’s needs;
After decades of neglect, UoN infrastructure is falling apart. The list of buildings in dire need of repair include the Sir Clive Granger Building, the Medical School and several Student Halls amongst others;
Due to the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme in 2024, almost 300 colleagues already left UoN recently, resulting in an increase in workload for remaining staff;
Management’s current widespread use of ‘protected’ and ‘without prejudice’ conversations in several parts of the university in an attempt to push people to leave the university based on spurious and non-existent performance criteria;
The ongoing capability mapping of APM staff, while our APM colleagues do their best to accommodate the additional work that is required in making Unicore fit for purpose;
Several people in school leadership roles have reported that they are being asked to reduce activities in their schools by 20 per cent. This seems to be happening right across the institution;
On Monday February 17, our Branch President wrote to the Vice Chancellor to ask formally if she could rule out compulsory redundancies this academic year and next. The following morning she replied making it quite clear that she was not prepared to rule out compulsory redundancies in either case.

This branch believes:

That while there is a challenging financial environment across Higher Education in the UK, the scale of the projected deficit at the University of Nottingham is due to ongoing local financial mismanagement, evidenced by infrastructure investment in excess of affordability and the spectacularly disastrous purchase of CMC;
That management continues with its failed top-down approach to decision-making overlooking existing expertise at UoN;
That management is currently moving towards a large-scale phase of compulsory redundancies;
That staff have lost trust in management as a result of the manufactured uncertainty causing significant levels of additional stress;

This branch resolves:

Not to accept any compulsory redundancies;
To declare an industrial dispute over the VC’s failure to rule out compulsory redundancies this and next academic year and to lay the groundwork for a ballot for industrial action unless the University agrees in writing to rule out compulsory redundancies in this year and the next.

No compulsory redundancies at UoN!

June 27, 2024September 5, 2024

Motion on Unite UCU Industrial Dispute and the BMSC

At its annual general meeting on 26 June, the UCU branch at the University of Nottingham registered its dismay about how UCU management has handled the industrial dispute with its staff organised within Unite. In full solidarity with Unite members, the following motion was passed by an overwhelming majority with no votes against and only a few abstentions.

Motion on Unite UCU Industrial Dispute and the BMSC

This branch notes:

Strong allegations about institutional racism within UCU expressed by Unite UCU and the Black Member Standing Committee (BMSC);
Concerns that workload for UCU staff exceeds safe levels and sickness absence rates are as high as 40%;
UCU’s breach of its recognition agreement with Unite by recognising an additional trade union;
Further equality related concerns affecting staff and members.

This branch believes:

That as a trade union UCU must be a model employer;
That UCU employees deserve a safe and healthy workplace, free from racism and other forms of discrimination;
That an ongoing industrial dispute is unacceptable for any trade union employer;
That the ongoing industrial dispute is highly disruptive to our union’s day-to-day functioning;
That the ongoing industrial dispute is damaging to our legitimacy when making claims to our own employers.

This branch resolves:

To express solidarity with Unite UCU and the BMSC;
To donate £500 to the Unite UCU solidarity fund;
To instruct branch committee to write to the General Secretary and President demanding in the strongest terms possible a swift resolution to the dispute in the interest of UCU staff as well as to the concerns expressed by the BMSC.