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,
This newsletter is coming out slightly late due to Scott and Will being on leave. We will resume the regular Tuesday mailings from next week.
At UoN UCU, we are determined to fight management’s cuts, especially when they put the job security of our members at risk. In order to prepare for any future redundancies we are keen to find out more about what sort of cuts or suspicious changes are happening across the University. We’ve set up a google form for you to share this information with us.
Read on for the following topics:
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- Members strike back!
- Solidarity with casual workers! SIGN the Open Letter in support of Language Centre staff
- Know your rights – are you an “Employee” or a “Worker”?
- Branch Committee meeting summary
- Departmental Reps meeting summary
- Local and national campaigning
- Solidarity with Palestine
- Focus on Equality
- Joining link and further information
Members strike back!
As reported by email from Lopa Leach (branch President), the last members meeting on Wednesday 12th March sent a resounding message that UoN UCU will not accept compulsory redundancies. As a result of the approved motion means that we have now formally declared an industrial dispute and can prepare for industrial action if necessary.
The dispute has also been reported in the Nottingham Post, alongside details of the University’s financial management. See the AFS 2.0 for the branch’s proposals on how the University could manage its finances to prevent job losses and save the University.
No compulsory redundancies!
Solidarity with casual workers! SIGN the Open Letter in support of Language Centre staff
Casual staff at the Language Centre convene, deliver, and assess undergraduate modules and/or teach evening classes. Some have worked full-time equivalent hours for years. Yet, like casual workers across the University, casual staff at the Centre face serious challenges, including late and incorrect payments, poor communication, and cumbersome administrative processes. Casual engagements also offer lower pay, fewer benefits, and less job security compared to fixed-term or permanent contracts. The introduction of Unicore has made a bad situation worse, leading some staff to borrow money for essential bills due to delayed wages. The resulting stress has been immense.
Please sign the open letter to support casual workers at the Language Centre in their call for more secure contracts and a robust system to ensure timely payment for their work.
Know your rights – are you an “Employee” or a “Worker”?
Staff at UoN can have two types of employment status in line with UK labour law. They may be ‘employees’, meaning that they are directly employed by the University on fixed-term or permanent contracts. Alternatively, they are ‘workers’ and casually engaged. Workers have fewer rights than employees, and at UoN, their pay is generally lower and administered differently (i.e. through the more cumbersome and error-prone submission of time-sheets).
The UCU-affiliated Anti-Casualisation (Anti-Cas) Network has long campaigned for the elimination of casual engagements at UoN. In 2023, as a direct consequence of the 2022 MAB, UCU and UoN jointly agreed Principles for Casual Engagements, which should see many casual workers moved onto more secure employment contracts. As of December 2024, the Principles were extended to all job families at UoN.
Despite these gains, implementation of the Principles is still lagging.
Action you can take:
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- Sign! Sign the open letter in support of casual workers at the Language Centre
- Report! If you are yourself a casual worker and believe the Principles entitle you to a direct employment contract, get in touch with Anti-Cas: anticasuon@gmail.com
Branch Committee meeting summary
The Branch Committee met on Wednesday 12th March. After hearing an update from the Workload Campaign Group. We also discussed;
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- A draft open letter to the University concerning implementation of policies for casual engagement,
- Solidarity between our branch and UK institutions facing redundancies,
- Arrangements for the Agnes Flues Lecture,
- Contingency plans for delivery of this newsletter in the absence of communications officers,
- Gathering information on Redundancies at UoN.
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 Tuesday 11th March and discussed;
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- The University’s policy on responsible use of research metrics,
- The nature and implications of protected conversations,
- Getting involved in formal meetings in our areas as Departmental Reps,
There was also a call by Gertjan Lucas (Equalities Officer, Business School Rep) for nominations for delegates to the annual UCU congress.
The Departmental Reps 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
Workload group drop ins
The Workload Group is organising drop-in sessions to support members to fight against unsustainable workloads. The next session will take place online tomorrow Thursday 20th March 1:30-2:30 pm. Meeting Link
Call for delegates to congress
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.
Climate lecture
Join us for the third and final ‘Democracy at the Crossroads’ lecture with Alan Simpson. Today, 19 March Alan will speak on “Rebuilding from the base: the ‘me’ and the ‘we’ of democratic renewal” in A39 in the Sir Clive Granger Building, University Park from 2 to 4 pm.
Solidarity with Palestine
In light of Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire and murder of 100s of Palestinians, this section highlights some local ways to get involved with solidarity with Palestine.
Policy of Deceit: Britain and Palestine 1914-1939
Tonight, Wednesday 19th March at 7:30 pm Peter Shambrook will discuss his book on the betrayal of the Palestinian people by the British state. The talk will take place in the Mary Seacole Room, Queen’s Walk Community Centre, Nottingham NG2 2DF. No booking necessary. Hosted by Nottingham PSC and Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Labour History Society.
Silent March for Palestine
On Saturday 22nd March at 3:30 pm Nottingham PSC is organising a silent march starting from Forest Recreation Ground. If attending, please wear black. The march will finish by 5:00 pm to allow those observing Ramadan to return home for iftar. More details here.
Save-the-Date – UoN complicity in genocide in Gaza
On Wednesday 26 March, 4:00 to 5.30 pm UCU will organise a public Zoom seminar on UoN complicity in genocide in Gaza. Our main speaker will be from the student encampment, presenting key findings of their research report on UoN complicity. A UCU representative will speak about our own BDS campaign here at UoN, leaving us with ample time to discuss what we can do at our own workplace to stop the genocide. Zoom details will follow in due course.
Focus on Equality
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Tuesday 25th March marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and UCU will be hosting a special webinar that day, 6:00-7:00 pm entitled “Education, reparations and justice: the legacy of slavery in post-16 learning”. Keynote speech will be given by Dr Leona Vaughn, academic and researcher in the field of equalities and social justice, and the webinar is hosted by UCU president Maxine Looby. Please click here to register
Pride and Prejudice in Education 2025
UCU is updating the Pride and Prejudice in Education report about LGBT+ experiences in FE and HE (2016). They are inviting you to complete a survey by the deadline of Friday 21st March. Please do share the survey as it is for all LGBT+ FE and HE staff and students/learners. The chief investigator is Dr Kieran Higgins based at Ulster University.
‘Green Futures’ newsletter
UCU’s Climate Ecological Emergency Committee are now releasing a quarterly newsletter. Read all about them and their work. Interested in this topic? Please email the branch at uonucubranch@gmail.com so we can direct you to more information on UCU’s Climate and Ecological Emergency work.
Joining link and further information
Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.
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!
Yours sincerely,
L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee
Branch website: https://uonucu.org/