Tag: Branch Meeting

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.

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