Category: Uncategorized

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Welcome to your weekly newsletter. We need maximum attendance at the rallies outside council on Monday 24th November at 1pm and Tuesday 25th November at 10 am, outside Council on the south side of Trent Building. Council is meeting on these dates and is expected to confirm Future Nottingham Phase 2. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. We encourage you to download and distribute the poster for these rallies.

The course closures and our resistance continue to garner national media attention, most recently in articles in The Guardian and The Times, as well as bulletins on Sky News, BBC News, ITV News, and Times Radio.

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. How we fight on
   2. Course Closure Counter-proposals
   3. Meeting with MPs
   4. The University is ignoring its own Quality Manual
   5. Remember to vote in the national ballot
   6. Branch Committee meeting summary
   7. Campus Voices for Palestine
   8. Local and national campaigning
   9. Joining link and further information

How we fight on

In response to our industrial action, the university proposed a resolution that removed the threat of compulsory redundancies until 31st October 2026 and introduced a negotiation process over course closures. At the branch meeting on Thursday 13th November members voted to accept this offer. While we are not continuing our strike action for now, we are continuing our fight against Future Nottingham via ASOS and other targeted action since the administration has yet to back down on threats against 48 different courses.

This branch will continue to:

• • Put pressure on the University through ASOS until the end of our current mandate.
  • Organise rallies to make sure the VC and UEB hear our discontent.
  • Support and organise with students in our shared fight against these course closures.

Finally: if we do not see real movement by UEB to fix the mess they have created, we will open another dispute over course closures. The struggle continues – see the next sections for what action is being taken now to hold the University to account.

Course Closure Counter-proposals

We are producing a counter-proposal to challenge the University’s devastating plan to close 48 courses across areas including American and Canadian Studies, Biosciences, Education, Music, Nursing, and Social Work. The methodology behind these closures is opaque, statistically unsound, and steeped in metrics that are known to reinforce socio-economic and racial inequalities. Our counter-proposal will demand a pause to this process, full publication of data and modelling, and a shift towards an evidence-based, equitable approach.

Groups have already been formed to form the counter-proposals in each affected faculty, each headed up by a member of committee who works in the faculty. Jenny Elliot is heading up the over-all counterproposal, and we welcome inputs from members and non-members alike on the formation of these proposals at uonucubranch@gmail.com.

Meeting with MPs

This morning Branch Committee members met with local MPs Nadia Whittome, Lillian Greenwood and James Naish. They have agreed to write a public letter opposing this restructuring to the VC and head of council before decisions are made next week.

The University is ignoring its own Quality Manual

The University’s plan to close 48 courses appears to bypass key governance steps required by its own Quality Manual. The Manual clearly states that programme suspensions must have School endorsement and Faculty endorsement first (§4.1), yet no School or Faculty has been asked to approve these closures. Major academic changes must also be scrutinised by Senate committees – such as Education & Student Experience (ESE) and Quality & Standards Committee (QSC) – but none of these bodies have received papers or been allowed to review the process. 

Instead, the University is taking the proposals straight to Council, skipping School governance, Faculty governance, Senate oversight, and the Quality Manual’s “outside regulation” processes. This is a serious breach of the University’s own rules, undermining academic standards, transparency, and due process and raises major governance and regulatory risks.

Remember to vote in the national ballot

The UCU national ballot is open until Friday 28th November. As such Departmental Reps will be asking you whether you have voted. If you haven’t yet found your ballot in its fetching pink envelope, then please order a replacement. Once you have voted, please inform your Rep or let UCU know directly. 

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met today, Wednesday 19th November and discussed:

• • Immediate steps in the opposition to Phase 2 restructuring
  • Arrangements for rallies on Monday and Tuesday next week

The Committee also heard updates concerning:

• • Meeting of Branch Committee members with local MPs
  • Open letter to University Council
  • Counterproposals to course closures

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Campus Voices for Palestine

The destruction of Gaza’s educational infrastructure and escalating assaults on higher education institutions in the West Bank has not silenced the voices of Palestinian educators and students who continue to resist erasure and genocide. On Thursday 27th November at 6 pm in Newton Building NG1 4BU, University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University UCU branches are co-hosting a lecture featuring Bayan Haddad, Lecturer in English Literature from Birzeit University. Attendees will explore what we can do here to end the complicity of our government and our own institution.

This event is part of the Campus Voices for Palestine Speakers Tour, which the branch also partook in last year. Book your free tickets here.

Local and national campaigning

Meet with a Cuban teacher
The local branches of the National Education Union and Cuba Solidarity Campaign are holding a public meeting today Wednesday 19th November at 6:30 pm at The Place, NG5 2JP. The guest of honour is Dr Lisette Rubio Madersos who will be speaking on the impact that the US blockade is having on the education system in Cuba. 

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine

Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Donate to the branch hardship fund here!

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 0800 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Our picket line was well attended on Monday’ students have been pouring in support for our strike on instagram and physically turned out in droves to stand with us in solidarity. As it stands, we are holding a further picket line on Tuesday 18th November from 8:30 am at University Park South Entrance.

It is vital that we have maximum turnout at our members’ meeting tomorrow Thursday 13th November at 1pm on Zoom. We will discuss the current state of play following the announced course closures and make a decision on the offer to end our strike action (see today’s email from Lopa subject line: sending Dispute resolution letter again).

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Course suspensions threaten the soul of the University
   2. Remember to vote in the national ballot
   3. Branch Committee meeting summary
   4. Departmental Reps meeting summary
   5. Agnes Flues memorial parkrun
   6. Local and national campaigning
   7. Joining link and further information

Course suspensions threaten the soul of the University

The University has announced that 48 courses are being “suspended”. These measures will effectively end the Music, Modern Languages, and American and Canadian Studies departments, and significantly reduce Nursing courses. This academic vandalism has been garnered coverage by local, national, and international media, and has outraged our students.

These new measures show that University heads have a very different vision of what a University is to the rest of us; those who facilitate education and learn here. One of our students sums this up very well. 

We know from the news at Cardiff University that staff and students can fight back together and win! As part of our fight against these mesasures, please sign these petitions against course “suspensions”.

Remember to vote in the national ballot

The UCU national ballot is open until Friday 28 November. As such Departmental Reps will be asking you whether you have voted. If you haven’t yet found your ballot in its fetching pink envelope, then please order a replacement. Once you have voted, please inform your Rep or let UCU know directly. 

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met on Tuesday 11th November and exclusively discussed the dispute resolution meeting earlier that day and subsequent letter received.

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Departmental Reps meeting summary

Your Departmental Reps met on Thursday 6th November and discussed;

• • Get The Vote Out strategy for the current national ballot
  • Catastrophic course closures announced by the University

he Departmental Reps meeting occurs approximately monthly to provide space for Reps to feed back comments and concerns from members in their areas. 

Agnes Flues memorial parkrun

Thank you to all who attended and donated to the 2nd annual Agnes Flues memorial parkrun. The branch particularly appreciated the support of Agnes’s partner Manuel. We managed to raise £455 to support our ongoing campaigns and defend jobs at the University.

Chris Tregenza captured some beautiful photos like the one below – you can find the full collection here.

Local and national campaigning

Meet with a Cuban teacher
The local branches of the National Education Union and Cuba Solidarity Campaign are holding a public meeting on Wednesday 19th November at 6:30 pm at The Place, NG5 2JP. The guest of honour is Dr Lisette Rubio Madersos who will be speaking on the impact that the US blockade is having on the education system in Cuba. 

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine

Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Donate to the branch hardship fund here!

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 0800 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Happy Bonfire Night! Don’t forget to vote in the national ballot and then inform your Rep or let UCU know directly. If you have not yet received yours, click here to order a replacement.

As outlined in the update sent after last week’s member’s meeting, next week our strike action will recommence with a picket line on Monday 10th November from 8:30 am at the West Entrance of University Park. Please also sign and share the open letter here asking University Council to review the proposed timeline and process for Future Nottingham Phase 2 due to serious concerns with the plan and the way it is being implemented.

In order to more effectively engage with our students, the branch now has an instagram account. Do follow and share the channel to interested individuals and groups – especially students!

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Collective Grievance against HR
   2. Agnes Flues Memorial Parkrun
   3. Cardiff University UCU fights back and wins!
   4. Branch Committee meeting summary
   5. University of Leicester demonstration
   6. Know your rights – Royalties
   7. Local and national campaigning
   8. Joining link and further information

Collective Grievance against HR

This year has seen casework levels rise considerably. A large reason for this has been errors in contracts and pay, likely relating to problems within HR itself and the roll-out of Unicore. While individual grievances have been able to rectify the specific issues in many cases, there has been no acknowledgment of the underlying causes and no pathway to scrutinise as to whether these issues are being fixed. Compounding this has been severe member frustration when trying to get responses from HR with e-mails and phone calls going unanswered.

In September we sought information and participants for a collective grievance against HR/Payroll with a view to make them identify and admit if there are systemic problems and to implement a recovery plan. The collective grievance was submitted on Thursday 30th October, and we now await a response from HR.

Agnes Flues Memorial Parkrun 

The branch has organised the 2nd Agnes Flues memorial parkrun at Wollaton Park on Saturday 8th November at 9am, to honour the memory of the legendary, tireless Agnes and raise money for the branch. UCU members are warmly invited to come along and take part or to support those who are. Please come wearing your UCU colours if you have them.

Cardiff University UCU fights back and wins!

As a result of a protracted fight from the UCU branch at Cardiff University and solidarity from the wider community, Cardiff’s Vice Chancellor has backtracked on her plans to close Music and Modern Language departments. This follows the reversal of announced compulsory redundancies and a U-turn on proposals to axe nursing courses.

This proves that workers at Universities can prevent academic vandalism, but only if those workers are united and prepared to fight back.

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met today, Wednesday 5th November and discussed:

• • Outcomes from the “union workstream” meeting
  • Arrangements for picket lines and rallies over the next period of strike action
  • Possible organisation for Palestine Speakers Tour in Nottingham
  • Responding to underhand mitigations of strike action from management

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

University of Leicester demonstration

Next week on Wednesday 12th November a national UCU demonstration will be held in Leicester in solidarity with the local UCU branch who will begin two weeks of strike from 10th November following announcements of aggressive and unnecessary redundancies.

A delegation from the Branch Committee will attend and take the 10:12am train from Nottingham (10:18am from Beeston) and we encourage all members to join us if possible. 

Know your rights – Royalties 

The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is an organisation that helps people get royalties for their publications, including academic publications. As our members well know, academic publication is almost never compensated.

Members of ALCS don’t have to do anything as a member besides agree for them to collect the first £36 of royalties and then anything above that goes directly to the member.

Local and national campaigning

Exposing Empire: War, Capital & Palestine
On 14th October, Victor Kattan and Andreas Bieler, both UCU members, gave teachouts on ‘The Hidden History of War Crimes in Palestine and the Campaign for an Apology’ and ‘Global Capital, Imperial Power and the Political Economy of Genocide in Palestine’. Please do listen and share the echo360 recordings. The event was organised in collaboration with two student groups: Lawyers Without Borders and the Nottingham Camp for the Liberation of Palestine.

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine

Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Donate to the branch hardship fund here!

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Happy Halloween to all celebrating on Friday! We are no longer on strike but remain on ASOS. Please do not mitigate the effect of our action by informing management of your intent to take industrial action in the future.

Remember to attend the members’ meeting tomorrow Thursday 30th October at 3pm (communicated by email) to discuss this second phase of action, including additional picket line days in November and December. Zoom link here.

Friday 31st October marks the first of a series of deadlines to register attendance at one of the upcoming hybrid Equality Conferences.

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Agnes Flues Memorial Parkrun
   2. National ballot
   3. APM senate elections
   4. Branch Committee meeting summary
   5. Members consultation on Academic and Technical Specialist promotions
   6. People and Culture Survey
   7. Migrant members – contributions regarding Indefinite Leave to Remain
   8. Local and national campaigning
   9. Joining link and further information

Agnes Flues Memorial Parkrun 

To honour the wonderful memory of our friend and former president, Agnes Flues, members of the branch will be taking partaking in our 2nd Agnes Flues memorial parkrun at Wollaton Parkrun on Saturday 8th November at 9am. 

Agnes was a regular at this parkrun, so joining the run closest to her birthday seems a good way to celebrate her life. UCU members are warmly invited to come along and take part or to support those who are. Please come wearing your UCU colours if you have them.  

Another way to offer support is to sponsor those who are taking part so that we can raise money for the local branch and continue doing the work that Agnes did so inspirationally. You can do this by visiting our Just Giving page.

National ballot

The UCU national ballot over the pay and working conditions dispute is now open. As such Departmental Reps will start their Get The Vote Out efforts so will be asking you whether you have voted. You will find your ballot in a fetching pink envelope. Once you have voted, please inform your Rep or let UCU know directly. If you have not yet received yours, click here to order a replacement.

APM senate elections

The elections for senate vacancies of 2 x APM/TS at L1-6 and 1 x APM/TS at L7 opened yesterday, and the deadline to vote is 4pm on Monday 10th November. Voter registration is now closed. Only APM staff are eligible to vote in this election.

Tom Pike and Louise Savage are standing for the APM/TS L1-6 posts.  Your voting link should have been emailed to you from Choice Voting yesterday.

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met today, Wednesday 29th October and discussed

• • Renewal of casework management software
  • Development of FAQs on assessment and marking during ASOS
  • Timing of next local ballot
  • Picket lines over next period of industrial action
  • UCU demonstration in Leicester on Wednesday 12th November

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Members consultation on Academic and Technical Specialist promotions

Thank you for all your useful comments and feedback on the proposed changes to the Academic and Technical Specialist promotion (criteria and framework). Unfortunately, the JNCC Performance and Talent sub-group meeting on 21st October was cancelled due to lack of representatives. 

Nevertheless, the feedback and comments received from members have been collated (ensuring anonymity) and transmitted on Monday 20th October. You can access the document here.

The proposed changes (and comments) will be discussed at the next meeting of the subgroup.

People and Culture Survey

The People and Culture survey will open on Tuesday 4th November. The survey was first mentioned to the group at the meeting on 20th August 2025. Your representatives in the HR Workload and Work-related Stress Task and Finish group requested to be consulted and have access to the questions in advance, at least those related to stress. 

This request has been reiterated at the meeting on 8th October, but to this date nothing has been shared. Rest assured, we will scrutinise the survey as soon as it is made available to us.

Nevertheless, we recommend that as many complete the survey as honestly and critically as they feel. Management used the results of the previous survey on many occasions to justify changes, thus we need to ensure that responses accurately reflect staff experience.

Migrant members – contributions regarding Indefinite Leave to Remain

The inquiry into changes to the eligibility criteria for ILR has opened and is accepting written evidence until 2nd December: New inquiry: Routes to Settlement – Committees – UK Parliament. UCU will be making a submission at the national level. Please contact our Co-Equality Officers Lisa Rull (REDACTED) and/or Jenny Elliott (REDACTED) regarding making an institutional submission so we can co-ordinate.

Local and national campaigning

University of Leicester demonstration
On Wednesday 12th November a national UCU demonstration will be held in Leicester in solidarity with the UCU branch who will begin two weeks of strike from 10th November following announcements of aggressive and unnecessary redundancies.

A delegation from the Branch Committee will attend, and we encourage all members to make arrangements to join the demonstration. More information on travel arrangements to follow.

Exposing Empire: War, Capital & Palestine
On 14th October, Victor Kattan and Andreas Bieler, both UCU members, gave teachouts on ‘The Hidden History of War Crimes in Palestine and the Campaign for an Apology’ and ‘Global Capital, Imperial Power and the Political Economy of Genocide in Palestine’. Please do listen and share the echo360 recordings. The event was organised in collaboration with two student groups: Lawyers Without Borders and the Nottingham Camp for the Liberation of Palestine.

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine

Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Donate to the branch hardship fund here!

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 0800 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Happy Diwali to all celebrating this week, and for those on leave over half term, we hope that you have a restful week. We also recognise that for many, half term means additional child care duties and thus can be a more stressful period.

Yesterday’s rally at Portland steps engendered a lot of student interest and support. Thank you to everyone who has come to listen, speak and demonstrate together. 

Tomorrow at 12:40 pm we will be holding our final rally of the week, and welcoming our General Secretary Jo Grady. As with yesterday, there will be activities for children so please do bring the littles along!

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Keep up the pressure!
   2. Know your rights – strike deductions
   3. APM senate elections
   4. Branch Committee meeting summary
   5. Workload Collective Grievance
   6. UoN Coalition for Palestine Launch
   7. Local and national campaigning
   8. Joining link and further information

Keep up the pressure!

The strong, and in many areas of the University, growing action members have taken in the last two weeks is fantastic and places pressure on management to understand we will not accept compulsory redundancies. Reps are reporting programmes with multiple modules impacted by our action. As we continue the dispute it is vital we keep up the pressure. Next week we are not on strike, but ASOS continues. We should not undermine the impact of our own withdrawal of labour or that of fellow members. 

Uploading lecture recordings is one way that management has found to try to undermine the impact of our industrial action. It should be noted that recordings of lectures have a distinct legal protection, and cannot simply be used without the lecturer’s consent – per the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and reinforced by UK GDPR and Data Protection law. University Policy on Recorded Online Teaching Materials is in line with these legal protections. We have seen breaches of this policy in some Schools. If you are aware of similar action being taken by your School then do let the branch know at uonucubranch@gmail.com.

Know your rights – strike deductions

As noted in the newsletter dated 8th October, the University deducted too much money for the strike day in July. After we raised this to HR, these incorrect deductions ought to be rectified for your upcoming salary payment, so please check your payslip which you should receive by Wednesday 29th October. If you do not receive a repayment, or receive an incorrect amount then please contact payroll@nottingham.ac.uk in the first instance. 

We note that the email from BR-IndustrialAction (subject line Unicore payment) implies that this “additional payment” is a result of some benevolent change in University policy. This is incorrect as University policy has always been to deduct 1/365 of wages per day which is in line with a 2017 Supreme Court decision.

APM senate elections

As communicated in the last newsletter, Senate elections are upcoming to fill a number of vacant positions. On the UK campus these are 2 x APM/TS at L1-6 and 1 x APM/TS at L7. 

The deadline to register to vote, and self-nominate has now been extended to 5pm Monday 24th October. Voting is only open to APM staff. If you wish to stand for any of these positions, and wish voters to be aware you are a UCU member please contact uonucubranch@gmail.com before completing the nomination form.

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met today, Wednesday 22nd October and discussed

• • Plans for Jo Grady’s visit to tomorrow’s rally
  • Industrial action strategy
  • The national dispute and its relation to our local dispute
  • Secondments to Branch Committee
  • Access to the hardship fund
  • New branch banners

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Workload Collective Grievance

We have now started work on collective grievances for:

• • Lack of workload model in Engineering
  • Unsustainable workloads (where there is no workload model) and workloads over 100%

We are looking for members to add to the collective action to push back at unsustainable workloads by adding their names to the grievances. Please reach out to REDACTED and REDACTED to let us know about your unsustainable workload or a lack of workload model in your school. 

UoN Coalition for Palestine Launch

Join us for the in-person event on what staff, students and wider society can do to challenge the University of Nottingham’s complicity in genocide in Palestine. The event will take place on Wednesday, 29th October 2025 1-4 pm in Room B63, Law and Social Sciences Building, University Park.

You can learn more about the various campaigns of our branch’s Palestine Solidarity Working Group here.

Local and national campaigning

Exposing Empire: War, Capital & Palestine
On 14th October, Victor Kattan and Andreas Bieler, both UCU members, gave teachouts on ‘The Hidden History of War Crimes in Palestine and the Campaign for an Apology’ and ‘Global Capital, Imperial Power and the Political Economy of Genocide in Palestine’. Please do listen and share the echo360 recordings. The event was organised in collaboration with two student groups: Lawyers Without Borders and the Nottingham Camp for the Liberation of Palestine.

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
We encourage all members to sign Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s petition demanding that Nottinghamshire County Council divests from from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine

Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help TransActual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Donate to the branch hardship fund here!

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 0800 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/