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Dear members,
Welcome to your weekly newsletter. To mark this most important day, we have included half of our news updates in this email with the other half printed on a scroll and hidden somewhere in one of the buildings on the Castle Meadow Campus. You will be allowed to search for these important updates once the campus formally opens in… [transmission interrupted].
Please remember to get tickets for the inaugural Agnes Flues memorial lecture on Thursday 24th April at 6pm. The tickets are now available without an access code, so please share with people outside of UCU.
Read on for the following topics:
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- Open Union Meetings for APM, O&F and TS Roles
- American and Canadian Studies – a sign of things to come?
- Make sure your colleagues know what’s happening at UoN
- Workload testimonials for Health and Safety Executive
- Know your rights – sickness absence
- Branch Committee meeting summary
- Local and national campaigning
- Joining link and further information
Open Union Meetings for APM, O&F and TS Roles
Please pass on the below invite to your colleagues (unionised or not) who are working outside of research and teaching roles.
OPEN TO ALL STAFF – MEETINGS TO DISCUSS;
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- Future Nottingham
- Possible restructures
- Financial position
- Next steps
This is on behalf of all three University of Nottingham Unions and thus all job levels 1 – 7. Both dates will be online via Teams (Join using your UoN account):
Today Tuesday April 1st 3pm-4pm
Thursday April 3rd 9.30am-10.30am
UCU, Unison and Unite
American and Canadian Studies – a sign of things to come?
With all undergraduate degrees already suspended for 2025/2026, colleagues in American and Canadian Studies (ACS) were informed that the degrees will remain suspended for 2026/2027 too. Understandably, colleagues are concerned whether there will still be a job for them in 2027/2028, when almost all current students will have completed their degree. Importantly, they are fighting back collectively, having tabled a constructive proposal for a way forward saving all jobs. The committee is, however, concerned that this is just the start of Future Nottingham, with the suspension and eventual closure of many more courses to follow in due course. It indicates that our dispute over the VC’s failure to commit to no compulsory redundancies remains of utmost importance.
Make sure your colleagues know what’s happening at UoN
Help make colleagues aware of what’s really happening at UoN, from job cuts to vanity projects. Download our campaign poster, print it off and stick it to your office door or anywhere else people will see it.
This poster was developed by the Redundancy Working Group, which develops our strategy to combat the risk of redundancies and feeds back to the Branch Committee. If you are interested in joining, please contact uonucubranch@gmail.com.
Workload testimonials for Health and Safety Executive
Following reporting to HSE for UoN failure to meet legal obligations regarding stress prevention, the Workload Working Group has asked for a bespoke Workload/stress JNCC or equivalent to be created, so that this work can be addressed swiftly and efficiently. We will keep you posted on the University’s response to this request.
In the meantime, please fill out this form to help us gather testimonials regarding workload issues to submit to the HSE Inspector. All responses are anonymised.
Know your rights – sickness absence
UoN is sending out formal invitations to attend Long Term Absence Meetings while members are still signed off sick by their GP. Please note that the UoN sickness absence management policy (section 5.1) states: “In all cases, contact should be approached sensitively and should be clearly focused on the employee’s health and wellbeing and their return to work”. UCU considers such requests insensitive and detrimental to health and wellbeing and advises you to not attend any meetings until you are fit for work.
Branch Committee meeting summary
Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 27th March (despite power cuts preventing some members’ timely arrival) and discussed;
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- The previous day’s Vice Chancellor inaugural lecture,
- Improving Branch Committee meeting efficiency as well as the roles and responsibilities of the various Working Groups,
- The possibility of a Trade dispute with the Secretary of Education,
- How to effectively reach out to non-unionised staff at UoN,
- Plans for the upcoming AGM,
- Strategy and timeline for combating the threat of APM redundancies,
The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com
Local and national campaigning
Gathering information on redundancy
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.
Workload group drop ins
The Workload Group is organising drop-in sessions to support members to fight against unsustainable workloads. The next sessions will take place online;
Tuesday 1st April 3:15-4:15 pm. REDACTED
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.
‘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.
Solidarity with university boycotts and democratic protests in Turkey!
In response to academic and political repression, widespread protests and academic boycotts are taking place across Turkey against the anti-democratic practices of the government. Read here for more information and to sign a petition in solidarity with Turkish students, academics and protesters.
Solidarity with Unison healthcare assistants in Nottingham
Hundreds of healthcare assistants have voted YES to strike action with a majority of 94%. This comes after the employer’s refusal to improve an offer on back-pay to compensate workers performing clinical duties outside their job description during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please support your fellow workers by paying a visit to their picket lines at QMC and City Hospital on the 10th, 11th, 17th, 22nd, and 28th of April. Pickets will be in place from 6:30 am – 2:30 pm each day.
UoN complicity with Gaza genocide
On Wednesday, 26th March the local UCU branch held a seminar on UoN’s complicity in genocide in Gaza with a speaker from the encampment students, outlining key findings from their research report in this respect. This included links between UoN and arms manufacturers as well as UoN and Israeli institutions of Higher Education. Rachel Rosen from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign at UCL also addressed the meeting, speaking about their experiences with engaging wider staff and management at their university, thereby providing food for thought re the BDS campaign at UoN. The recording of the event is now available here.
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/