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Response to far-right riots

Dear Members,

In addition to all the horrible events happening in the world, from brutal suppression of student protests in Bangladesh and continued genocide in Gaza, we have now been witnessing ongoing far-right riots, shocking scenes of racist, anti-migrant and Islamophobic rallies in the UK, including Nottingham. There is further notice of such events being planned here for this week. These events affect us all. It impacts directly members, the wider university community and especially staff and students from Muslim, migrant and racialised backgrounds who have to travel to work by public transport. Those with children are concerned about the risks and exposure of their loved ones to racial abuse.

We have written to the university about our concerns. We have asked them to communicate their support for staff and students, including access to wellbeing services, adjustments to working patterns and authorisation of approval of work from home requests (given these are health and safety issues) until the situation has calmed down. We will keep you informed about their response. We can send you the links to various university support resources if they don’t. In the meantime, do reach out to your colleagues, write to your teams and overseas PGR expressing your concern and support.

As you know, the branch has participated in the Unity Rally co-sponsored by the local TUC in which we stood firm against racism and fascism this Saturday. This was very well attended with inspiring talks and amazing posters! Here is a link to pics . We will let you know about further rallies if and when they are organised. It is important for us as a trade union to show our support for and solidarity with migrant and minority workers. We must not abandon public spaces to the far right.

Please feel free to contact us, or your reps on any of the issues above and how we can help. We will be writing to you mid-September (HR promises to provide the data to us then) with our overview on MARS, final numbers, hopefully broken down according to Faculties/Schools, how much UoN has managed to reduce debt by, and how we challenge any increase in workloads.

In solidarity.

Lopa, UoN UCU President (on behalf of the Branch Committee)

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UCU committee condemns management’s punitive measures to end peaceful student encampment!

On Friday 10 May, students at the University of Nottingham began an encampment on Jubilee Campus outside the Advanced Manufacturing Building. On Friday 12 July, after two months of peaceful protest, the students agreed to dismantle the camp by midday in the face of University management’s threat to seek very high legal costs from an individual member of the encampment.

UCU at the University of Nottingham has strongly supported this entirely peaceful protest. We welcome students’ actions condemning Israel’s ‘plausibly genocidal acts’ in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We admire their resolve to speak up when so many people in the West stay silent.

The students have correctly highlighted the University’s close partnerships with several companies supplying arms to Israel; notably BAE Systems, Europe’s largest arms manufacturer (£19 million received in funding) and Rolls-Royce (£31 million in funding), both of which are at risk of corporate complicity in war crimes, according to the UN. The students also correctly pointed out that a University of Nottingham alumnus, Dr Said Al Zebda, was killed by Israeli airstrikes along with his entire family last December. The University’s collaboration with companies whose weapons killed their own alumnus is concerning to all.

As the UN expert on the right to education, Farida Shaheed, who spoke at a University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre event in April said:

‘I am completely, utterly shocked by how many universities have close links to the armaments industry and I don’t think this is something we would expect our academic universities to have and it just then shows the control over academic spaces which needs to be countered.’

Despite two meetings between students and management, facilitated by the Students Union, and the encampment students’ attempt to settle outside court, management continued to rely on intimidatory tactics in their dealing with the students, silencing their visible asks.

Andreas Bieler, President of the local UCU branch, states:

‘Our management shows itself from its worst side. The fact that management pursued legal action after only four days without prior engagement with the encampment and that they threatened our students with legal costs is appalling. It demonstrates that management was never interested in constructive engagement but focused on suppressing students’ voices.’

UCU at the University of Nottingham will continue working with the students to explore ways in which the University can be moved to a position of divestment from all companies linked to Israel’s war on the Palestinian people.

More information:

Prof. Andreas Bieler, UCU President at UoN,

  • 07955 143829, or
  • Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk
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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.
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Notice of Annual General Meeting (26th June) and invitation to join Branch Committee alongside regional and national roles

The University of Nottingham UCU Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place online at 1pm on Wednesday 26 June (Zoom link to follow in members email).

The AGM is the venue for you as members to approve (or reject) individuals to serve as Officers and ordinary Branch Committee members for 2024/25.

Every post in the list below is now open for nominations – please consider putting yourself forward!

New people bring new thinking, which is essential for the Committee to continue to support members effectively. Where existing Committee members would like to continue for another academic year, they will also require approval from the AGM.

If you are interested in joining the Branch Committee but want to get a feel for what it’s like first, or otherwise have questions about any of branch, regional or national roles listed below, please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. Someone from the current Committee will be happy to have an informal chat. You can also Brief descriptions of Officer roles also appear in section 8 of the Branch Rules.

To put yourself forward for a post, please email our Returning Officer, Kitty Howarth (khowarth@ucu.org.uk), cc Tony Simmonds, Branch Secretary (tonysucu@yahoo.com).

Branch Rules require that each nominee must be backed in writing by two other members, who should confirm their support by emailing to the same addresses.

The deadline for receipt of nominations and messages of support will be 5pm on Friday 24 May.

If there is more than one candidate for an Officer vacancy, or more candidates than there are vacancies for ordinary members of the committee, a ballot of members of the Branch will be conducted. The results of any ballots will be announced at the AGM.

The list of Branch Committee posts to be filled:

  • President
  • Vice-President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Membership Secretary
  • Anti-casualisation Officer
  • APM Officer
  • Casework Coordinator
  • Communications Officer
  • Equality Officer
  • Green / Environment Officer
  • Health & Safety Officer
  • Workload Officer
  • Pensions Officer
  • Women’s Officer
  • Ordinary committee members (i.e. members without portfolio)

We also welcome expressions of interest in the following regional and national representative roles:

  • UCU East Midlands Regional Council Representative
  • UCU Branch Delegate Meeting Delegate
  • UCU Congress Delegate
  • UCU Equality Standing Committees
  • UCU Special Sector Conference Delegate
  • Nottingham Trades Council Delegate
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University of Nottingham management taking its own students to Court: Not in our name!

The University and College Union (UCU) branch at the University of Nottingham condemns in the strongest terms possible the University Executive Board’s attempt to evict the student encampment from campus. The students have protested peacefully, highlighting the university’s involvement with the arms trade and the connections with Israel’s onslaught on Gaza. They have neither occupied any buildings nor have they disrupted day to-day activities of the University.

Taking these students to Court is an obvious clash with the University’s moral and legal responsibility to protect freedom of speech and provide space for peaceful protest to members of its community.

While there are many similar encampments at other universities across the UK, it is our management, which has taken this unprovoked step without any prior attempt to engage constructively with the students and their demands.

Such actions by the University Executive Board are shameful and undermine the values and missions of this University. Not in our name!

More information

Prof. Andreas Bieler, UCU President at UoN

Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk