Tag: Branch Meeting

Dear members,

Apologies for the short notice but we wanted to update you on the negotiation meeting we just had with management. They clearly understood your anger and that the previous offer wasn’t enough to convince people to stand down anything. They also clearly grasp the time-sensitivity of marks coming in for accredited modules and that staff can’t be expected to drop everything/overrule annual leave to turn round marks in an unrealistic timeframe. 

In particular we spoke about: the need for a much better offer on pay deductions, improvements on the enhanced VR offer, and a clear commitment around course closures. This was understood and we are hopeful there is room for movement on all of these, and that, as a consequence, we could prevent compulsory redundancies.

However, given the need for a significantly improved offer, they have said they won’t be able to get anything to us in time for the proposed 11.30 meeting, so as a consequence we have made the decision not to run the meeting and give you some time back in your day. (Committee members also have another three hours of union meetings today so we need to preserve our energy as well as yours!)

They are hopeful they can get an offer to us on Thursday or Friday, and as soon as they have we will pass it on to you for consideration and we will sort an emergency members meeting to vote on it.

Sorry again for the last minute change, but I hope this is all clear. Do be in touch if you have any specific questions and we also have our Zoom coffee morning on Friday at 10 for any further points you want to raise.

In solidarity as always,

Email sent to members on Monday 29th June 2026. Zoom link removed for security.

Dear Members, 

Thanks so much to the more than 240 of you who came to the meeting this morning. After a great discussion 96% of you voted to reject management’s opening offer, with many of you describing it as ‘insulting’. Following from this there was more discussion around what kind of commitments would be needed to consider standing down our current action, as well as where we find ourselves in the current dispute.

Straight after the meeting Lopa emailed the vice-chancellor with these results. We also reaffirmed our desire to continue meaningful negotiations, where the key asks are entertained, to hopefully find a solution that will mean students can still graduate in time. We are meeting management first thing Wednesday morning and they know we have another member meeting at 11.30 on Wednesday (link below) where we hope to vote again on an improved offer. We will of course keep you updated.

In the meeting we also mentioned that we submitted Part 2 of our counterproposal to management last week. This covers area by area counterproposals to complement our higher level financial analysis which we have shared previously and continue to discuss with the University. Thanks to everyone who contributed to these two really impressive documents, and do please have a read of them.

Finally, we will be sending out information on the local hardship fund ASAP now that pay deductions have started to be applied.

In solidarity,

Email sent to members on Monday 29th June. Zoom link removed and attachments linked below.

Dear all,

Just a reminder that, as per Lopa’s email on Friday, we have a really important meeting today at 11am to vote on the offer sent to us by management. Offer attached and link below. 

Hope to see lots of you a bit later.

Dispute offer

Appendix

Email sent to members on Friday 26th June 2026. Zoom links omitted. Attachments embedded as links in text.

Dear members

Thank you for all the work you are doing to stop the proposed job losses (700 redundancies in FN2, with CR if they don’t get the VR), course closures,  reduced research time and SSR (one fits all disciplines philosophy). Your efforts are working, both the very effective MAB, and the various conversations you and we are having with local MPS, Councillors, newspapers (Times Higher, Nottingham Post), television (BBC, ITN, Channel 4), radio (BBC Nottingham ) and of course UCU press. These resulted in letters from MPs to VC, Public Statements of concern and  questions raised in Parliament. We do have support of students, anxious about graduating  correctly. 

We went to a dispute resolution meeting on 18 June, where VC/UEB  agreed to look at our proposals and solutions.  Jane has replied, see above. They have organised a second meeting on this. This will be on Wednesday (1 July).  Please peruse the  long letter (and Appendix)  Jane wrote, attached, where she spells out her thoughts, the next steps  in the business case, and asks for MAB to be stopped in time for students to graduate. The branch committee has met today, to discuss this, and we have sent her a response, stating why the concessions detailed were inadequate. We have re-iterated our asks and have sent her our UCU Counterproposal Part 2.  

Before we go in on 1 July, we want your opinion on all this, and on the next steps you wish to take. We want you to come to two meetings : The first is on Monday (29 June), where we can take your opinion on the current offer and valued suggestions to take to the second dispute negotiation meeting scheduled  for the Wednesday morning. At our UCU meeting, we will also take a vote on management’s proposal, either the one outlined in the VC’s letter or an improved version of that.

We have also organised a branch meeting with you straight after the dispute meeting; to relate any proposed changes they offer, take your vote, and discuss the next steps in our dispute. (Please find the Zoom links to both meetings below.)

Do come, let us stop this awful FN2 that will damage our university irreversibly.

In solidarity, sadness, anger and fight-back spirit,

    Lopa, on behalf of branch committee.

PS. The donations from other UCU branches have been brilliant! Amazing Solidarity, we are now legendary! Unfortunately we are also a university fighting back the highest number of redundancies in HE.  I am sure our Treasurer will let you know how much has been amassed in the hardship fund, and how we can increase payouts, etc

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.