Tag: Branch Meeting

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Today’s Emergency UCU Meeting 4.00

Email sent to members on Tuesday 22nd July 2025. The text has been slightly modified for flow on this website.


Dear members,

Don’t forget todays Emergency Members Meeting at 4:00 today. Zoom link below.


It was a pleasure to see so many of you yesterday afternoon at our joint rally with Unison and Unite in the Trent Courtyard in opposition to compulsory redundancies.  As we listened to our colleagues from UCU and our sister unions, and local supporters speak, the University Council met to decide whether or not Phase 1 of Future Nottingham would involve compulsory redundancies. This afternoon, the Vice Chancellor has written to UCU, Unison and Unite as the three campus unions to summarise yesterday’s decision by Council. Information has now also been put on the staff intranet about this.
In short, we have been informed that more staff have applied for, been offered and accepted voluntary redundancy settlements than the target stated in April.

This is in itself a significant loss to the University community in terms of knowledge, expertise, and experience – not to mention the loss of friends and comrades. Made all the more impactful following the hundreds of colleagues departing through MARS last year. 

However, there is also sufficient vagueness in the VC’s email about the status of compulsory redundancies in Phase 1 that we, and other campus unions, have asked for clarification on this vital point and others. 

Any clarification that is received prior to our meeting at 4pm will, of course, be something that we as a branch we must take into consideration. It is worth emphasising again that, as at every stage of our dispute, it is within the University’s power to de-escalate this situation.
Our Extraordinary Brach meeting at 4pm (Zoom link below) has three agenda items:

  • [1] Our campaign against compulsory redundancies, discussing the implication of Council’s decision for our strategy.

We have a strike day scheduled this Thursday and action short of a strike (ASOS) beginning on Friday. In the meeting, we will share the updates from management on the status of compulsory redundancies in Phase 1 and discuss as a collective  our next steps.  Part of this discussion will be summarising a planned approach to organising picket lines, so that we can ensure maximum visibility of our dispute to graduation related traffic arriving/exiting campus. We also want to hear your ideas for action, ASOS and for raising money for our local solidarity fund. (Details for donations:  UCU Nottingham LA63 Hardship Fund, Account number: 20346359, Sort code: 60-83-01)

  • [2] The updated Grievance Procedure. 

This updated procedure was negotiated with the University through a Joint Negotiation and Consultation Committee (JNCC) sub group which Branch Committee members attend For this procedure to be adopted by the University as a whole, it must be approved by UCU UoN members, so please do read this document with care.

  • [3] Motion to further the campaign for a formal dispute with the Secretary of State for Education over funding of HE. 

The text of the motion is available on the University Rank and File webpages. This follows on from a motion approved at our AGM on 30th April ahead of the UCU National Congress. We will take this follow-up motion if time permits.
Zoom details:

Topic: Emergency members meeting

Time: Jul 22, 2025 16:00 London

Join Zoom Meeting.

Meeting ID: 856 3593 9225

Passcode: 210176


In solidarity,

Kitty on behalf of Branch Committee

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Extraordinary Members Meeting on 22 July 2025

Email sent to members Thursday 17th July 2025

Dear Members

I would like to invite you to this extraordinary meeting (link below). Apologies for the timing, but Jane has agreed to let us know on this day rather than end of this month, re withdrawal of CR or not for Phase 1. She is aware of our strike date (24 July) and beginning of ASOS, but one can’t be certain about efficiency and timeliness of their reporting, thus the lateness of the timing of this meeting!

At the meeting we will need your approval on the next steps we take. We will update on picket lines, which entrances, our plans and hear your wonderful ideas for the day.

Please don’t forget to come in force to the rally on Monday the 21st, at Trent Building Courtyard. It times well with a Council meeting, where the sign off or rejection on Phase 1 redundancies will occur. This is a joint rally with Unison against these punitive job cuts. There will be external speakers, banners and lots of noise. Unison is even providing a light lunch!

I have attached a new updated Grievance Procedure, negotiated by our JNCC sub group, we need your approval of that, so do peruse. It is an important document and we do need your sign off. 

Please also find a Motion, https://www.universityrankandfile.org.uk/post-congress-model-motion on the ongoing campaign for a dispute with the Secretary of State for Education over funding of HE. We will take this motion if time permits.

Thanking you in advance, see you on both days.

Solidarity,

Lopa

On behalf of branch committee

—————————————————————

Topic: Emergency members meeting
Time: Jul 22, 2025 16:00 London
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85635939225?pwd=PLZgEMb9y1StJGG6Wfjjwjm7RYbYnp.1


Meeting ID: 856 3593 9225
Passcode: 210176

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Members’ meeting next Wednesday 9th July at 1pm

Email sent to members on Wednesday 2nd July

Dear all,

I am writing to invite you to a members’ meeting next Wednesday 9th July at 1pm. You will have received the fantastic news from Lopa earlier this week that we sailed past the 50% threshold for industrial action. 63% of you voted, so thanks to all of you who did, and as always to our reps, committee members, and branch administrator for helping get the vote out once more. Thanks also to those who came to the open meetings in very large numbers, and to the Faculty Meetings for faculty specific Q and As. The successful results have been sent to the VC and already now reported in the BBC.

We are meeting with the University Team (VC, DVC, CPO et al), on the 7th of July where they will update us on the outcome of Phase 1 in relation to compulsory redundancies. We will use this members’ meeting to feed back on that and discuss our next steps in light of that outcome.

We are also close to finalising our Phase 1 ‘counterproposal’ as part of the consultation process. Thanks to everyone who has fed into this and those who have helped pull it together. It is a really impressive document that we will share with you all on Friday once we have submitted it to the University. Again, we can discuss this in more detail on the 9th.

The Zoom link for the meeting is below.

In solidarity as always

Nick (branch secretary)

UCU UoN is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: UoN UCU member meeting

Time: Jul 9, 2025 13:00 London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81876860467?pwd=v07GkuDfetb3dAANmqABSYBTjDiPBa.1

Meeting ID: 818 7686 0467

Passcode: 104007

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Summary of members meeting 2nd June 2025

A very well attended and active members meeting was held yesterday afternoon, Monday 2nd June. Many thanks to everyone who made the time to attend. The meeting discussed Branch Committee updates and members questions, comments and views on: 

Phase 1 of Future Nottingham

The release last week of flawed and incomplete ‘pooling’ information for APM colleagues, and Branch Committee participation in consultations to date with updates from Lopa Leach as President, Nick Clare as Secretary, and Andrew Armstrong as APM Officer were discussed.

The Branch Committee was categorical that the large size of some pools was not at the request of trade unions, despite statements suggesting or stating otherwise in university communications.  

The widespread and well-founded frustration of members was evident throughout the meeting, with members highlighting the need to translate frustration into solidarity across job families within the Union and across the University as a whole. 

Apparent inconsistencies and poor communications from the University were highlighted, including the failure to publish FAQs with ‘pooling’ information last week, the seemingly changing and ambiguous position of School-based APM staff between phases 1 and 2, that concerns about UniCore data used to inform this process have been raised repeatedly, and the inclusion of externally funded roles in the ‘pools’. 

The ballot for strike action and action short of a strike

Andreas, as Vice President, underlined that as this is a local dispute we are in a position to decide our own strategy and develop tactics tailored to how our workplace functions that are as hard-hitting as possible, thus heightening our chances of success. 

The importance of a strong ballot turnout and the key role of ASOS were emphasised by several speakers and in the chat discussion. 

Recent wins at Sheffield, Dundee and Cardiff were noted as examples where high ballot turnouts and commitment to taking action protected jobs. 

That our goal in balloting for – and potentially taking – strike action is to prevent compulsory redundancies was underlined. The need to challenge the University to adopt a more sustainable financial model in the longer term, as articulated in the Alternate Financial Strategy 2.0, was also underscored. 

Next steps and actions

The key next step for all members is to vote then let your department rep know when you have posted your ballot! 

Any member who wishes to join the ‘get out the vote’ work, especially in an area without a UCU representative, is invited to email the branch: uonucubranch@gmail.com.

The meeting also heard a call from Tony Padilla as Treasurer for proposals of fundraising activities to support the branch solidarity and hardship fund. As with prior disputes, the fund will be used to support members in the event of industrial action. If you have a proposal for fundraising activities, please contact the branch.

If you wish to make a one-off or recurring donation to the fund, please use the details here.

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Update and invite to member’s meeting Monday 2nd June 1-2pm

Email sent to members Tuesday 27th May 2025

Dear members,

I hope you were able to have some much needed time off over the bank holiday? We are just writing with some key updates to events happening both here and nationally, so apologies for the amount of information but we have tried to keep it as clear as we can!

Member’s meeting – Monday 2nd June, 1-2pm

We have called this meeting to provide you all with more updates on our dispute with the University. After the excellent response to the indicative ballot, UCU has now formally sent our ballot information to the VC Jane Norman and the full ballot will open for a month from the 30th of May. As ever it is crucial we have a strong turnout in this ballot, in order to respond to both Phase 1 and Phase 2, and so you will be hearing from our wonderful reps as they help get the vote out.

This meeting is a chance to hear from the committee about all the meetings we have been having with management, ask questions about the dispute and ballot, and provide feedback on potential industrial action plans as we move into summer, next academic year, and even Phase 2. The meeting link can be found below:

UCU UoN is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: UCU UoN’s Member Meeting

Time: Jun 2, 2025 13:00 London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87172097595?pwd=uAFTwas32QouWEmBibmEJtFQCVzaz1.1

Meeting ID: 871 7209 7595

Passcode: 918987

Phase 1 update

Lopa, Andreas, and Andrew recently sent you a detailed update on Phase 1 of Future Nottingham. Since then the deadline for VR applications has been extended to the 9th of June and we have continued to meet with University management and have submitted and discussed a range of questions and queries about the process. These questions reflect the fact that we have still not received proper and meaningful information about Phase 1 and therefore we still dispute that we are in a proper period of collective consultation which would enable us to give counter-proposals.  

As you can see from the many comments on the staff sharepoint, there is a strong response from staff that communication from the University has been unclear and confusing, and that the way pooling and redundancies have been handled has been rushed. This has been disastrous for staff wellbeing, and is why it is so important we have a strong turnout in the upcoming ballot. 

You received emails from our APM officer Andrew Armstrong on Friday 23rd about area-specific member meetings for APM staff so please do come along to these, and we will be continuing to roll out faculty-wide, all staff meetings over the coming weeks to help provide all UoN staff with as much clarity as we possibly can. We are also working with our sister unions so that all staff can push back together.

Phase 2 information

While officially we are being told that Phase 2 is yet to start, as we flagged with the situation in American and Canadian Studies, academic restructuring decisions are already being taken without proper stakeholder consultation. An increased focus on ‘performance management’ through unprecedented use of protected conversations and potential changes to the ADC process is also underway. 

Recently the short-sighted decision to shut down the important (and surplus-generating) evening classes and some inter-faculty programmes at the language centre, with the potential cost of over 20 jobs, shows exactly why we need a strong turnout in the ballot. We must hold the University to account in both Phases 1 and 2. 

As soon as we have any more concrete information on Phase 2 we will of course share it with you, especially as we know that Faculty level discussions have begun.

National picture updates

Finally, just some wider information on the national picture following the UCU congress at the weekend. Our fantastic delegates (Lisa, Gertjan, and Alan) will provide a fuller report in time, but the key thing to note is that the ‘Trade Dispute’ motion that we overwhelmingly supported as a branch was passed at congress. This Times Higher article gives a bit more detail on what this could mean, but we feel this is a positive step for exploring other avenues at a national level – something crucial given the derisory 1.4% pay offer from UCEA.

In solidarity,


Nick (Branch secretary)