Tag: Dispute

Posted on

Our current mandate

In this current period of balloting for industrial action, we want to remind members of what we are voting for. Thus, we reproduce here our branch motion on moving towards a new industrial action mandate, passed at members’ meeting on Friday 12th December.

This branch notes:

  1. The current dispute for no CR in 2025 and 2026 remains live because the commitment given is only until 31 Oct 2026.
  1. That we see a breach of the agreement reached in November when we suspended our informed strike action. 

The University said in our agreement

“We make a commitment to meaningful and immediate engagement ie w/c 17th November with unions to discuss timeframes and proposals with sufficient time to review 2026 recruitment for suspended courses.  By meaningful we mean the University to provide in as quick as time as possible, any data needed to allow for a counter proposal to suspension.  This counter proposal will be seriously considered and responded to. The aim of the counter proposal is to show other areas of potential investment the University will adopt, with the sole aim of ensuring the reversal of potential suspension in time for 2026 or 2027 recruitment. “

On 4th December the University said (taken from the University’s own minutes)

“It was clarified that while alternative proposals from unions and staff were welcome at any time, they would not be incorporated into the initial consultation document. Instead, all proposals would be considered collectively during the formal consultation phase in the spring or early summer.

              UCU gives acknowledgement that data has been received but the above statement makes it clear that nothing is going to be considered until the formal consultation. This does not fit with the highlighted sentence of our agreement, as it will be too late.”

  1. The university has been making plans for months (possibly longer) regarding workload, whether that be an enormous increase in SSR or to impact time for research. It has even paid for outside consultants to assist in the decision making. Until late November, i.e. just prior to going to Council, this was not even mooted with the unions. This does not fit with genuine dialogue. 

This branch believes: 

  • The recent actions of the University do not give confidence in meaningful dialogue and some of the actions indicate the precise opposite.

This branch, therefore, resolves that a trade dispute should be registered with the University on the following points:

  • UCU seeks an agreement from the University that there will be no compulsory redundancies from the current commitment of 31st October 2026 until 31 December 2027. 
  • For the University to suspend its plans for increasing workload and job cuts (either by increasing SSR or by reducing research time) and to enter into discussions with UCU on a more appropriate ratio that is broadly in line with other Russell Group universities, who are within the QS global top 100 universities.
  • We seek to safeguard jobs and as such expect the University to provide a guarantee that degree programmes will be reinstated in all areas where programme suspensions or closures would have job implications; 
  • For a return to the agreement reached in November regarding suspended courses. In particular for the University to enter discussions with UCU with the sole aim of ensuring the reversal of potential suspension in time for 2026 or 2027 recruitment.
Posted on

update on VONC

Email sent to members on 23rd February 2026.

Dear Members,

Ref: Vote of No Confidence in the Vice Chancellor, Chair of Council and University Executive Board

Apologies for a second email from us today, we decided to send 2 separate emails today as both items are so significant.

I am happy to inform you that the VONC Motion, which was approved overwhelmingly by our members at the meeting held on 18 February 2026, was sent to Jason Carter, Chief Governance Officer, and Jane Norman (VC) at 5pm on Friday, 20 Feb, 2026 . We asked it to be forwarded to all the relevant roles, including President of Uni, Council and Senate.  Our sister unions: Unison and Unite also did the same, at the same time.  

We are now in the process of contacting the press.

Many thanks again and full solidarity. 

Lopa

(on behalf of branch committee). 

Posted on

Formal ballot to open on 2 March!

Email sent to members on Monday 23rd February 2026. Very minor edit made.

Dear UCU members,

   After our overwhelming result in the indicative ballot, when more than 73 per cent of you voted with large majorities in favour of strike action and action short of strike, the national UCU granted us the right to move towards a formal ballot. I herewith confirm that we informed management last Friday that the ballot will open on Monday, 2 March. Please make every effort to participate in the ballot and talk to your colleagues to ensure that they do so too. A strong ballot will put significant pressure on management and provide us with the necessary tools to defend our jobs and working conditions.

   For the duration of the ballot and potential subsequent industrial action, we have established a campaign group, which is open to all members. If you want to participate, please contact me from non-workplace email accounts at [email removed for privacy].

In solidarity,

                                       Andreas (on behalf of the UCU committee)

Posted on

Indicative ballot results

Email sent to members on 9th February 2026

Dear UCU members, 

   We have now been informed about the outcome of our indicative ballot to take industrial action over Future Nottingham Phase 2 restructuring, see below underneath this email. Over the years, our branch has regularly delivered some of the highest turnouts in the country. The 73.3% turnout in this indicative ballot are the highest turnout yet. This result is a strong indication about our collective commitment to defending jobs, research time and working conditions at UoN. 

   I can confirm that I have now written to national UCU requesting that our branch is given permission to open a formal ballot. The committee will be in touch about next steps in due course. 

Solidarity and thank you, 

                            Lopa (Branch President)

Indicative ballot result:

Turnout: 73.3% 

1. If the vice-chancellor continues to refuse ruling out compulsory redundancies until 31 December 2027 and worsening workloads, are you willing to take strike action? 

YES : 71.8%

NO: 28.2%

2. If the vice-chancellor continues to refuse ruling out compulsory redundancies until 31 December 2027 and worsening workloads, are you willing to take action short of strike (ASOS)? This type of action can be things like working to contract, not doing specific tasks. No decision has been made yet on what type; this will be part of the discussions with members.    

YES: 83.6%

NO: 16.4%

Posted on

Promotion consultation form and update on Friday’s meeting

Email sent to members on Monday 26th January 2026.


Dear members,

It was fantastic to see and hear from so many of you on Friday. For those unable to make it, the main topics we covered were as follows:

Vote in the indicative ballot

Make sure you vote in this if you haven’t already. Reminder emails for non-voters will be coming this week (do check your spam and it is sent from: ‘UoN UCU Branch Committee’/yoursay@ucu.org.uk). It takes 30 seconds and a strong turnout is vital.

Update on Future Nottingham Phase 2 and new dispute

We have had our first dispute meeting with management, as well as a series of other meetings around Phase 2. As you will probably have seen, the timeline for Phase 2 has been pushed back slightly, with formal consultation on the draft business case to start on May the 6th. 

We continue to push back on the disastrous proposals, especially those around staff student ratio, and have a series of more detailed meetings with management over the coming weeks. Given the wide-ranging nature of the proposed changes – course closures, SSR, reduction in research time, the threat to technical staff etc – it is clear that our new and more encompassing dispute is crucial.

Promotion ‘consultation’

We also discussed the regrettable way in which the university has paused the promotion process while they decide on next steps. To be clear once more, we were not consulted about this pause despite the way it has seemingly been framed. As part of pushing back against their proposal not to run the promotion process this round we have been gathering feedback from members, and had a really productive meeting on Friday. If you want to provide your input to the consultation – either due to your own promotion being paused or because you spent time supporting other people developing theirs – please consider filling in this anonymous form.

In solidarity

Nick (on behalf of the branch committee)