Email sent to members on Wednesday 20th May 2026.
Dear UCU members,
Today at midday, we start with our Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) and Action Short of a Strike (ASOS). We do not like to be in this position, but management’s savage attack on our jobs and degree programmes has left us with no alternative. When we do take action, please remember that we defend our jobs, but also students’ learning conditions as well as the very existence of our university. Take heart in our collective strength and support each other. Together we will win!
On Friday 22 May, we are going on an all-out strike to demonstrate to management our collective power and resolve. We will have two mass pickets at South and West Entrances, University Park from 8 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. Afterwards we will walk up to Trent Courtyard for a rally at 12 noon. Any members with children to look after due to local schools in-set/training days this Friday are warmly encouraged to join the South entrance picket as it is next to Highfields park. We will have some kid-friendly craft items available, and will welcome additional materials being brought along.
Ahead of the strike, members working on campus today are encouraged to attend a Reclaim Your Lunch Break picnic on either Jubilee or University Park campus. Your reps network will be hosting these weekly, along with Zoom coffees starting next week. The UoN UCU public calendar, embedded on the home page of the branch website, will have the dates, times and locations for these solidarity building events.
As we begin this period of active industrial action it is key that members who cannot participate in the MAB, and our wider supporters, continue to donate to our local solidarity funds. As outlined in earlier emails, we are aiming to offer each branch member who faces deductions for participation in industrial action up to £1000 of support from local funds – this is in addition to support from the UCU National Fighting Fund. To achieve this, we need consistent and widespread fundraising – see the branch home page for the bank details and a JustGiving page to use here.
Finally, let us remember that the Vice Chancellor can at any time choose to de-escalate this situation by arriving at meaningful agreement that addresses the terms of our dispute.
Solidarity,