We now have the results from our indicative e-ballot, which closed on Friday. Thank you to all those who have voted: the overwhelming result on a massive turn out is that a clear majority are willing to take action in support of protecting jobs and livelihoods of people at our university. So heart-warming, thank you, wonderful people. These results mean we can now seek authorisation from our national union to actually ballot. It is vital you vote in that ballot if it is authorised, again in numbers that the university cannot possibly ignore! The ballot will again have the 2 Qs on type of action: Strikes and Action Short of a Strike, starting from late July of this academic year (covering Phase 1 of FN) and autumn term of next academic year (when Phase 2 kicks in and CR of Phase 1 is finalised). The ballot paper, on defending jobs at UoN, will detail the types of ASOS which we may call upon you to take, these were identified from the many conversations members had with reps and committee.
A few further updates and recaps for you:
As you know, in March, UCU members voted to declare a dispute with the University because the VC refused to rule out compulsory redundancies. During a brief dispute resolution period with us, VC/UEB would not step back from the planned redundancies.
Phase 1 update: On 8 April, 2025, management announced Phase 1 of Future Nottingham, involving 258 FTE redundancies of APM staff, equivalent to 387 roles. These are, in the first instance potentially voluntary, but if need be also includes compulsory redundancies. Voluntary redundancy is being pushed for, at all levels of APM, in professional services and in schools, although the bigger changes (centralisation) and compulsory redundancies will tip into Phase 2. Beyond not understanding why sending VR letters to all APM staff would cause them to be hugely and unnecessarily saddened (!), roles considered for CR are being published in departments group meetings leading to people in those roles being known more widely as being targeted (unacceptable). Structural changes are not being properly disclosed to the TU negotiating teams (for UCU they are: P, VP, APM Officer & Regional BA ) and some extensive restructuring such as External Relations and CARO, have not been shared properly with Unions or staff. The risk level of the changes is not being provided nor is why these exact roles are being considered for CR. We are, therefore, strongly contesting their understanding of when the official consultation period has started, it has not!
Additionally, management have directly said services those people provide to the University will suffer, or others (APM or Academics) may have to pick up (ahm! Workload!! 100% is 100%!).
Phase 2 Update: Plans are already being drawn up and presume will be concluded by the month of May, re which degrees, which research is deemed financially unviable, without understanding what will be lost re knowledge advance and education. It is highly likely that similar levels of redundancies for academics and technicians will be imposed, again based on top-down analyses rather than involvement of the stakeholders who deliver all the teaching and research. The implications to our UK and global rankings are huge.
We remain of the firm opinion that these cuts are neither necessary nor are they solely externally enforced, considering local financial mismanagement around vanity projects such as Castle Meadow Campus.
We will continue having the regular weekly meetings with management about their plans of implementing redundancies and challenging their vision of a shrinking U of Nottingham. In these meetings, it has also become clear that sustained industrial action is needed to sway management’s strategy.
Unison are also seeking mandate to go into Industrial Dispute, so we may have both unions on strike together. We also plan to hold a very visible 3 union rally soon, to show total solidarity, we will inform on dates.
Please remember to vote in the indicative ballot (look for email with subject line “IMPORTANT: University of Nottingham UCU consultative ballot” check your spam!). If you are a new member, you should have now received your ballot by email as of 1st May. If you have not received your ballot, please contact your Rep.
This shows that despite all the pressures on the sector, redundancies can be avoided. However, this is only possible when workers unite and wield the only weapon we have – the withdrawal of our labour.
Annual General Meeting (AGM) report
Our AGM took place on Wednesday 30th April, where we heard reports from Branch President (Lopa Leach) and Treasurer (Tony Padilla). Thereafter the nominees for next year’s committee were confirmed. While the committee remains much the same, we are happy to welcome Frederique Poujades as Anti-casualisation Officer (job share with Hannah Heilbuth). We will be sad to lose Gertjan Lucas (Equalities Officer), Onni Gust, and Sam O’Thomson (Anti-casualisation Officer).
In addition, the branch approved an 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 reflect 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.”
Have your say on what comes next
Because our dispute is local, we can, to some extent, choose the forms of action that work best for us. What kind of action do you think would be most effective? Tell us your thoughts and ideas, anonymously here.
Departmental Reps meeting summary
The Departmental Reps met on Thursday 1st May and discussed;
Feedback and concerns resulting from Phase 1 Future Nottingham and our branch’s strategy
Current status of the “Get the Vote Out” (GTVO) campaign
This meeting is used to provide space for Reps to feed back comments and concerns from members in their areas.
The Reps network extends across most academic Schools and professional services, however there are a number of academic and professional services departments still needing Reps. If this role interests you, particularly if your department has no rep, please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. New Reps are well supported by the Branch Committee and the rest of the Reps network.
Congress 2025: Share your views
UCU Congress, the supreme policy-making body of our union, will take place Saturday 24 May – Monday 26 May. Our branch will be represented by Alan Barker, Lisa Rull and Gertjan Lucas. Congress decides the policy of our union for the forthcoming year and often beyond. It is a fundamental element of our democracy. For more details, see our guide to Congress. We encourage all members to convey their views on the most impactful proposals under discussion at Congress.
Transgender solidarity events
In the last newsletter, we communicated that we would inform members of local events in solidarity with the transgender community. Here we highlight two, both taking place tomorrowWednesday 7th May.
Print Club for Trans Rights, 7pm-9pm at Carousel Community Building. Bring t-shirts to print on. Suggested donation £5.
Local and national campaigning
Academic-related, professional services staff open meeting UCU’s academic-related professional services staff (ARPS, i.e. APM in UoN terminology) committee will be holding the next open meeting this Friday 9th May from 12:30-1:30pm. ARPS members are invited to join the meeting to talk about the issues affecting them and their branches currently. The format is open and friendly and all ARPS members are welcome. Please register for the meeting using this online form and a Zoom link will be sent to you on the morning of the meeting.
Protect Education Now! National Rally – 10th May Post-16 education in crisis. It is our duty to bring together the whole of UCU’s membership to fight back against cuts, attacks in the media, financial mismanagement, and the erosion of professional pride. This Saturday 10th May, UCU has called a huge rally in central London for UCU members and supporters to come together like never before.
Please register your attendance here. Coaches will be leaving for London from Nottingham Train Station at8am and will subsequently pick up from Derby Bus Station. Return coach will leave from 5pm from Millbank to drop off at initial pickup points. If you would like to take the coach please contact Chris Pritchard (Branch Secretary, Nottingham Trent University UCU) at REDACTED.
Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a movement to demand Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) divests its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) 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.
We encourage all members resident in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County to sign the petition here.
Oppose a renewal of Starbucks’ licence on campus! The encampment students have organised a petition asking UoN not to renew Starbucks’ contract on campus due to the company’s support for Israel. The UCU committee has agreed on supporting the collection of signatures. Click here for more detailed information and to sign the petition.
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
We hope you all members have had some time to rest over the Easter break. Please make every effort to attend the AGM tomorrow Wednesday 30th April from 1:00-2:30 pm. The full agenda, including text of three proposed motions can be found in Nick Clare’s (Branch Secretary) email. In addition we will confirm the nominees for Branch Committee for next year. Zoom details below.
REDACTED
Read on for the following topics:
A catalogue of management obfuscation
Keep pressure on management
UCU stands in solidarity with transgender people
Agnes Flues memorial lecture
Know your rights – stress and mental health
Branch Committee meeting summary
Departmental Reps meeting summary
Local and national campaigning
Joining link and further information
A catalogue of management obfuscation
In the midst of the announcement of compulsory redundancies and our resultant dispute with the employer, management has taken actions and made statements that we fundamentally disagree with. This includes the following;
In the first dispute resolution meeting negotiators were led to believe that management would wait before making public statements. As such we cancelled our interview with the BBC that afternoon. Management went to the press within hours of the meeting.
Management initially communicated a smaller proportion of redundancies to staff and students than in some detailed documentation shared with unions.
Despite repeated protestations, management continues to fall short in producing a detailed business case for redundancies, as it is required to do for a meaningful consultation. The documentation we have received at UoN is far less detailed than other universities have seen fit to share with their local unions.
We hope that management will be more careful with their communications in the future.
Keep pressure on management
Don’t forget to keep discussing the current situation with your colleagues, and vote in the indicative ballot (look for email with subject line “IMPORTANT: University of Nottingham UCU consultative ballot” check your spam!). If you are a new member, joining in the last month, we are in the process of arranging the ballot being shared with you too, check your emails on 1st May and vote!
You can also be a part of the pressure against these redundancies by joining the Redundancy Working Group, and/or becoming a caseworker. In either case email rwguonucu@gmail.com.
UCU stands in solidarity with transgender people
UCU is committed to standing up for all members and fighting against all forms of harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination on whatever grounds that may arise. The union proudly and actively supports trans rights. This has been affirmed in national UCU’s statement on the Supreme Court Ruling on the legal definition of a woman. This branch upholds the position of national UCU. We will inform members of local events in solidarity with the trans community.
Agnes Flues memorial lecture
The first annual inaugural Agnes Flues memorial lecture took place last Thursday 24th April, and was well attended by UCU members and activists across the trade union movement. Mick Lynch (Secretary-General RMT) spoke on the necessity of continuing our militant fight for workers’ rights, and solidarity across trade unions. Photos from the event can be found here.
You are protected under the Equality Act 2010 (see ACAS advice on mental health at work) if stress has become a long-term condition (e.g. if it leads to anxiety, depression or another substantial impact on your daily life). Employers must make reasonable adjustments.
Confidential support: You have the right to access Occupational Health or other workplace wellbeing services – but union support is often crucial to ensure your rights are properly respected. In the first instance, we advise you to ask your Line Manager to conduct an Individual Stress Risk Assessment.
Keep a record: if you are experiencing stress, keep notes of workload issues, dates and any communications you have with management – this can be vital if you need to challenge unsafe working conditions.
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 16th and Wednesday 23rd April and discussed;
The Agnes Flues memorial lecture
Preparations for the AGM
Involving members in developing strategies for industrial action
Strategy for dealing with redundancies resulting from Phase 1 of Future Nottingham
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
The Departmental Reps met on Wednesday 16th April and discussed;
Supporting members who are stressed due to the uncertainty caused by management announcement of redundancies
Communications with students regarding the implications of Future Nottingham
This meeting occurs approximately monthly to provide space for Reps to feed back comments and concerns from members in their areas.
The Reps network extends across most academic Schools and professional services, however there are a number of academic and professional services departments still needing Reps. If this role interests you, particularly if your department has no rep, please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. New Reps are well supported by the Branch Committee and the rest of the Reps network.
Local and national campaigning
Academic-related, professional services staff open meeting UCU’s academic-related professional services staff (ARPS, i.e. APM in UoN terminology) committee will be holding the next open meeting on Friday 9th May from 12:30-1:30pm. ARPS members are invited to join the meeting to talk about the issues affecting them and their branches currently. The format is open and friendly and all ARPS members are welcome. Please register for the meeting using this online form and a Zoom link will be sent to you on the morning of the meeting.
Protect Education Now! National Rally – 10th May Post-16 education in crisis. It is our duty to bring together the whole of UCU’s membership to fight back against cuts, attacks in the media, financial mismanagement, and the erosion of professional pride. On Saturday 10 May 2025, UCU has called a huge rally in central London for UCU members and supporters to come together like never before.
Please register your attendance here. Coaches will be leaving for London from central Nottingham at8am and will also pick up from Derby. More precise details will be communicated in due course. If you would like to take the coach please contact Chris Pritchard (Branch Secretary, Nottingham Trent University UCU) at REDACTED.
Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a movement to demand Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) divests its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) 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.
We encourage all members resident in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County to sign the petition here.
Oppose a renewal of Starbucks’ licence on campus! The encampment students have organised a petition asking UoN not to renew Starbucks’ contract on campus due to the company’s support for Israel. The UCU committee has agreed on supporting the collection of signatures. Click here for more detailed information and to sign the petition.
Online International Rally – Hands off our universities // Defend campus protest // Solidarity with Gaza University and College Workers for Palestine has organised a solidarity rally against the state repression of students protesters and University administrations in the US. The rally will take place online at 5:30 pm on Thursday 1st May. More information and registration here.
Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby Up to 35 Professors and Associate Professors are facing a compulsory redundancy process at the University of Derby. UCU Derby have written an open letter you are invited to sign, opposing these cuts at Derbyshire’s only University and critiquing the poor engagement with trade Union as it has unfolded. Joining link and further information
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 the confidential support service Education Support 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
I am just writing with a final reminder about Wednesday’s AGM, as well as an additional emergency motion surrounding workload that has been put forward by the branch committee. As you will know our excellent workload campaign has made some really significant strides of late, but there are some concerning new developments about expectations that workloads can be regularly as high as 120%, something that will only be made worse with potential redundancies caused by Future Nottingham. This motion addresses that.
Congress and nominee update
Beyond the motion there are also two small additions, one is an updated and now correct list of nominees for next year, and the other relates to Congress. Branch Committee have received and endorsed one amendment to a motion scheduled for debate at Congress. In line with our branch rules, a vote by the membership is required on whether to submit this amendment on behalf of the branch. Please find the full text below ahead of discussion at the AGM:
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.”
I have also attached a slightly updated agenda which now includes the new emergency motion and the zoom link for your convenience.
Hope to see you on Wednesday.
Nick (Branch Secretary)
UCU UoN is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Happy Easter and Subbho Noboborsho! There will be no newsletter next week due to Comms officers taking annual leave. Newsletters will recommence on the week starting 28th April.
While we are all committed to helping each other within our UCU branch, we are not a service. Rather, we are an organisation based on solidarity. A repeat of our training session for supporting compulsory redundancy individual consultations for anyone reps who want to be involved and couldn’t make the last one. Thursday 8th May 2-4pm on Zoom. Trainer: Gareth Brown, regional UCU office. Sign up here.
On Monday 14th April, the first meeting concerning redundancies between University management and campus unions took place. UCU was represented by Lopa Leach (Branch President), Andrew Armstrong (APM Officer), and Julie Cooper (East Midlands Official). This meeting was extraordinarily short as it became apparent that management had not done basic legal minimum tasks required before this meeting. No details of which jobs will be cut, and the business case for cuts to each business unit have been given. In other words, unions were not informed of how many redundancies there are planned, where those redundancies are planned, and why they are ‘necessary’. UCU declared that the consultation period could not legally start without this legally required information being provided. We will see in May if this information is forthcoming.
If you are made aware that your own or your colleagues’ roles come under compulsory redundancy, please let your rep or the committee (uonucubranch@gmail.com) know the details. This information should come first to the Unions alongside a business case so we can be aware and support staff properly.
Fight back, together
The Branch Committee, Reps, Caseworkers, and activists are working hard to resist the draconian and unnecessary redundancies announced by the VC last week. Friday’s lively Q&A session was attended by 230 members, demonstrating the resolve of members to fight back.
You will of course be updated by email, but further information can be found on the redundancy section of the website. Don’t forget to keep discussing the situation with your colleagues, and vote in the indicative ballot (look for email with subject line “IMPORTANT: University of Nottingham UCU consultative ballot” check your spam!). You can also be a part of the pressure against these redundancies by joining the Redundancy Working Group, and/or becoming a caseworker. In either case email rwguonucu@gmail.com.
Solidarity with casualised Language Centre staff
Staff at the Language Centre experience high amounts of casualisation and insecurity, which has been compounded by administrative failings associated with Unicore resulting in missed wages. Within less than a week, more than 100 Language Centre staff and UCU members signed an open letter calling on management to provide more secure contracts and improved work conditions. The HR Director, Helen McNamara, has since replied and committed to respond within our deadline of two weeks. We will keep everyone updated with further developments. We also welcome further signatures. Please add your name here.
Know your rights – discrimination
Section 98 of the Employment Rights Act, 1996 specifies that an employer must apply objective and fair criteria when selecting employees for redundancy. The Equality Act, 2010 protects employees from discrimination based on specific protected characteristics e.g. age, race, gender, disability, etc. Employers must ensure that redundancy selection is not based on discriminatory factors. Under section 98 of the 1996 Employment Rights Act, employees have the right to challenge the fairness of their dismissal, including redundancy, if they feel the procedure or selection criteria were unfair.
Workload – a change in framing
The Workload Group had a major win this week. We have seen written evidence that some schools are now setting maximum workload to 80 – 100%. There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that this is now rolled out consistently across the university, for equity reasons. We will continue to push for a workload model group within each business unit, comprised of union reps, directors, course leaders, etc. This group will be tasked with reviewing each business unit’s workload model in an ongoing and sustainable way, to ensure there is no shrinkflation of workload.
On a less positive note, the University is still refusing to set up a bespoke Workload/Stress JNCC. This is despite;
A Freedom of Information request revealing horrifying work-related stress absence figures
Conscious and consistent overworking of staff in four out of five faculties.
What will it take for our employer to take this issue seriously?
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 9th April. Given current circumstances the meeting focused on;
Our response to declaration of redundancies
Discussion of HR1, S188 and Future Nottingham Phase 1 documents presented to us for committee responses.
We also heard a report from the first consultation meeting between management and campus trade unions. Management was represented by the Vice Chancellor, Deputy Vice Chancellor and head of HR. UoNUCU was represented by Lopa Leach and Andreas Bieler as President and Vice President respectively, while Unison was represented by their Executive Committee.
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
The Departmental Reps met on Wednesday 9th April and discussed;
Administrative preparations for the indicative e-ballot
Guidance for the Get The Vote Out (GTVO) campaign
Supporting APM members through phase 1 of Future Nottingham
This meeting occurs approximately monthly to provide space for Reps to feed back comments and concerns from members in their areas.
The Reps network extends across most academic Schools and professional services, however there are a number of academic and professional services departments still needing Reps. If your department has no Rep, and this role interests you please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. New Reps are well supported by the Branch Committee and the rest of the Reps network.
Local and national campaigning
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.
UCU reasonable adjustment survey UCU is aiming to gain an understanding of your experiences with reasonable adjustments at work from both the perspectives of UCU members and branch representatives who support disabled UCU members. They kindly ask that you complete a brief survey to share your insights by tomorrow, Wednesday 16th April at the latest.
Oppose a renewal of Starbucks’ licence on campus! The encampment students have organised a petition asking UoN not to renew Starbucks’ contract on campus due to the company’s support for Israel. The UCU committee has agreed on supporting the collection of signatures. Click here for more detailed information and to sign the petition.
Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby Up to 35 Professors and Associate Professors are facing a compulsory redundancy process at the University of Derby. UCU Derby have written an open letter you are invited to sign, opposing these cuts at Derbyshire’s only University and critiquing the poor engagement with trade Union as it has unfolded. Joining link and further information
Academic-related, professional services staff open meeting UCU’s academic-related professional services staff (ARPS, i.e. APM in UoN terminology) committee will be holding the next open meeting on Friday 9 May (12:30-13:30). ARPS members are invited to join the meeting to talk about the issues affecting them and their branches currently. The format is open and friendly and all ARPS members are welcome. Please register for the meeting using this online form and a Zoom link will be sent to you on the morning of the meeting.
