Tag: Branch Meeting

Email sent to members on Monday 15th June 2026. Zoom link removed for security.

Dear UCU members,

First, please remember today’s members’ meeting at 1 p.m. The Zoom details are as follows:

Second as part of our campaign to defend jobs and working conditions at the University of Nottingham, we will be sending regular emails, authored by different UCU members, examining key elements of management’s restructuring plans. Today we provide encouragement to those of us, who bravely take action even if others around them don’t. Feel free to share this post with non-UCU members in your area.

We know that the MAB is biting. There is significantly more participation across the university than at any other moment in the past. And yet, some areas are still less presented. It becomes so hard to keep going when one feels isolated. Today’s post, a song by the Bengali Poet and Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, called ‘Ekla Cholo Re’, is dedicated to those courageous UCU members who participate in the MAB, even if others around them don’t.

‘Ekla Cholo Re’ literally translates as ‘Walk alone’. It was composed in 1905 during an uprising in colonised Bengal, when the British tried to divide the Bengali-speaking province to dilute the strength of the anti-colonial movement in the province. Generations of protest movements have taken inspiration from it, and it has been translated into almost every Indian language, as it captures so well the ethical/moral/political determination to walk on alone, even if not many join your call.

Email sent to members on Tuesday 9th June 2026. Zoom link removed.

Dear members,

Next Monday 15th June at 1pm we will hold a branch meeting for all members on Zoom (link below). The agenda for the meeting is to discuss the progress of our dispute, and to vote on the attached motion submitted by a member. 

The widespread and sustained commitment to the Marking and Assessment Boycott we are seeing reported is hugely significant and a certain cause of considerable disruption. Whilst the university has elected to plan for the use of contingency regulations to attempt to mitigate the MAB, it is important for members to remember this is not a simple throwing of a switch, but a complex and time-consuming process that gets more complex and more time consuming the greater the participation in the MAB. In other words, your action continues to be impactful. Keep going everyone, as this is how we win! 

In anticipation of our branch meeting next week and conscious of the impact of our united action through the MAB and strikes, your branch committee have this week written to the Vice Chancellor to once again emphasise that we are ready to negotiate. If management agree to talk and offer anything meaningful, the committee will of course bring this to members’ meeting next week for your consideration. If they do not make an offer, there will be an update of what we have proposed and what steps we can take to up the pressure on management to get serious and start talking. 

In solidarity,

Email sent to members on Wednesday 27th May. Zoom link removed for security.

Dear members,

We’re inviting you to a members meeting at 2pm on Monday 1st of June. We wanted to update you on how the consultation process is going on, but also have a space to discuss industrial action.

As you will have seen, in addition to calling a marking and assessment boycott (MAB) from May 20, UoN UCU has also called strike action from June 1. The strike action was called in response to our employer threatening 100% pay deductions for staff who take part in the MAB. Why did we feel we had to do this? The point is that a MAB is not a strike. Crazy as it may seem, that means an employer can deduct all of your pay for taking in a MAB and still expect you to come to work. Legally, you cannot refuse to come to work in these circumstances without running the risk of being fired. To safely stay away from work entirely, you have to be on strike, not just on a MAB. 

Naturally, we think this is ridiculous. We don’t believe any of our members should be required to work for free. The only way for us to mitigate this was to call a parallel strike, alongside the MAB. This now allows members taking part in a MAB to stay away from work if they wish by simultaneously striking. Members who have no marking and assessment at this time, and are therefore unable to MAB and have no need to take part in a parallel strike, should consider if they would be better off donating generously to the solidarity fund to help sustain the action of others. Details on how to donate are given below. 

We can explain more at the members meeting and can also answer any questions you might have. We would also strongly encourage you to speak to your rep and colleagues in your area as we know industrial action works best when carried out collectively like this.

In solidarity as always,

Donations can be made via bank transfer to:

UCU Nottingham LA63 Hardship Fund

Account number: 20346359

Sort code: 60-83-01

Reference: Solidarity 2026

Email sent to members on 8th April 2026. Minor modifications have been made, i.e. removing zoom links and email addresses for security.

Dear members,

Hope you are doing well and enjoying the sun, and a final reminder to vote in the ballot if you haven’t already. Just a quick email with key information about two upcoming meetings (Zoom links can be found in original email).

Tuesday 21st April – 12-1

In this members’ meeting we will be discussing the result of the ballot and what this means for the next steps in our dispute. Alongside this we will also be voting on our branch delegates for UCU national congress. If you would be interested in representing the branch at congress in Harrogate (Wednesday 27 May – Friday 29 May 2026) then do be in touch, we currently have one spare space before we hit our quota of four delegates.

Friday 1st May – 12-1.30

This is our branch AGM. As I previously mentioned this is a chance to recap on the year that was, get annual updates from key officers, and elect our committee for the upcoming year. We are still taking nominations for any of the roles on Branch Committee, and if you do have any questions at all about joining do send me an email. We will also use this meeting to continue discussions about the dispute and what is happening with Phase 2 of Future Nottingham.

We will of course send out reminders for each meeting closer to the time.

Take care