Tag: Industrial Action

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University of Nottingham Staff to Strike as Council Decides Future of Jobs

Staff at the University of Nottingham will strike on 30th September and 1st October, as the University’s governing Council meets to decide the final Future Nottingham Phase 2 (FN2) restructuring plans. The two-day strike will be followed by sustained strike action from 5th October to 11th December, alongside action short of strike.

The action comes as both UCU and UNISON have passed votes of no confidence in University Council over its handling of FN2. Council is the University’s governing body – effectively its board of trustees. It has ultimate responsibility for the University’s finances and strategy and, crucially, for holding senior management to account. The unions argue that Council has failed to do so.

Council rubber stamped the draft FN2 business case despite overwhelming opposition from Senate, the University’s principal academic body, and despite serious concerns about the evidence underpinning the university’s disastrous proposals that could result in compulsory redundancies and the loss of entire areas of teaching and research.

UCU argues that there is now no financial justification for compulsory redundancies. Undergraduate recruitment has been strong, applications for voluntary redundancy have increased substantially, staff have submitted extensive alternative proposals capable of delivering further savings and the university itself is saying it now has a surplus. 

Yet the University has still not ruled out compulsory redundancies.

UCU has deliberately called the first strike days to coincide with the Council meeting at which the final business case will be considered.

“We don’t want to strike, but staff will not stand by while colleagues lose their jobs and whole areas of teaching and research are dismantled unnecessarily. Council has the power to stop this. Staff have already voted that they have no confidence in its handling of FN2. When Council meets on 30 September, its members must decide whether they will finally hold senior management to account – or force staff into sustained strike action.” Nick Clare, UCU Branch President. 

UCU says the dispute can still be resolved and they are very open to talks with management to resolve the issue ahead of the new academic year. 

The union is calling on the University to rule out compulsory redundancies and the closure of full departments, protect teaching and research, and engage seriously with the alternative proposals put forward by staff.

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Update on today’s meeting

Dear members, 

Thank you again for coming to the meeting, showing your enormous strength, perseverance and dogged support to change FN2 and the trajectory this management is taking our beloved university  to. The debate on each item was excellent. The message was loud and clear. We will write later again on the key points  agreed on .

There was one point that is time sensitive, thus I have been asked to write on this today. A clear majority was in favour to support a boycott of graduations starting tomorrow.  Hence, we herewith asks all members not to attend any graduations, labelled by management as celebrations. Considering job cuts and course closures, proposed by our management, there is nothing to celebrate at this point in time!

Two other key points, the Vote of No Confidence in Council, members asked for an important amendment to it, which was done and final approval of the amended Vote of No Confidence in Council, we will resend the latest version. What was brilliant was that members voted  (>90%)  on strategic strike actions next term.  We will of course  hold a meeting, nearer to next term, to discuss days etc. 

Look out for an email from us next week, on the outcomes of our consultations.  Two this week and a final one next week! Do keep an eye out on all the media publicity and interest from National newspapers.  Links will be in our newsletter. They directly resulted from all your actions and external reach.

Solidarity and thank you,

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Updated MAB and strike advice

Email sent to members on Monday 22nd June 2026.

Dear members,

Over the last week, the Department Reps network has identified a number of questions and scenarios for members participating in the Marking and Assessment Boycott. Whilst the situation varies across the 28 academic schools, and between courses within a single school, there are some relatively common features to what we are seeing reported. 

This email is an attempt to summarise what is known at this stage of our dispute and the University’s assessment cycle, and provide broad guidance for UoN UCU members in relation to participation in the MAB and/or strike action. It cannot speak to all possible scenarios and as the context at the University changes, it may prove necessary to update this guidance. 

Wider position of the UoN UCU Branch after 15th June marking deadline

    1. Strike action and Action Short of a Strike (ASOS), including the Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB), remain in place until 31st July or until the Branch decides otherwise, for example in response to an acceptable offer from the Vice Chancellor and UEB.
    2. After June 15th, we note clear communications in some Schools that further marks are not required for Registry, including for work still unmarked due to the MAB. 
    3. In other Schools the contingency regulations cannot be universally applied (e.g. due to accreditation requirements) and therefore marking duties have not been withdrawn.
    4. Where marking continues to be required, the MAB should continue. This also applies to moderation of marked work (see item 11). 
    5. Those members who no longer have assessment duties cannot, for the moment, participate in the MAB. In these areas where management has indicated marks are no longer required, deductions for participation in the MAB appear likely to end on June 15th. 
    6. There is an upcoming window from mid-July when students may reject ‘part for whole’ and ‘derived marks’ produced by the Contingency Regulations where no actual mark exists. When students reject such made up marks, members may find they are asked to provide an actual mark. At this stage, members should return to participating in the MAB.
    7. It continues to be an expectation that all members participate in disruptive industrial action that brings management into meaningful negotiations on the terms of our dispute. As some members return to work under ASOS, they must take care to act in solidarity and neither accidentally nor purposefully undermine the industrial action of others.
    8. To summarise, the 15th June deadline covers a significant portion of assessment related work but not all of it. The MAB, wider ASOS and strike authorisation remain in place so that members with marking duties are not obliged to complete this work and continue the disruption that puts pressure on the University to negotiate.
    9. It remains in the Vice Chancellor and UEB’s power to bring this dispute and the disruption from our industrial action to an end.

What does this mean for UCU members?

    1. If member has been explicitly told they have no assessment related work to complete, they can consider their participation in the MAB at an end for the time being. If the status of your assessment related work hasn’t been communicated to you, talk to your UCU Rep. 
    2. Regarding moderation, where actual marks exist members should not provide verification of the marking process by completing the paperwork. However, if asked to complete moderation paperwork for a module where no marking has occurred due to the MAB, members should record that no actual marks exist and submit the paperwork accordingly, ensuring the relevant Exam Boards are formally notified. 
    3. If a member is asked directly about their past or present participation in the MAB, they should answer honestly. Being asked directly includes emails addressed to you specifically. It does not include where the request is one item amongst others in an all-staff email (see specific UCU guidance on this from the branch here and national here). 
    4. As with strike action, no one should declare their future participation as the action has yet to happen, and it may get called off if a deal is reached. 
    5. Members should keep in mind that wider ASOS remains in place (e.g. not covering for absent colleagues, working to hours, full list accessible here) .
    6. If assessment work is allocated to a member or required by a line manager (e.g. moderation activities, or marking work where students rejected a derived or part-for-whole mark), members should refuse on the grounds that they are taking part in ASOS/MAB, and/or return to strike action to prevent being required to work for free. 
    7. Members may remain on strike entirely whilst the authorisation for strike action is in place. 
    8. When members receive their June payslip showing evidence of pay deductions for industrial action (the payslip can be downloaded as a pdf from UniCore), they should apply to the UCU national Fighting Fund in the first instance, then to the local branch solidarity fund (details of how to apply to be shared nearer to payslip publication). 
    9. If you have questions related to the above, speak to your Department Rep. If you do not have a Department Rep, contact the Branch Committee: uonucubranch@gmail.com 

In solidarity,

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Marking boycott and strike information

Email sent to members on Wednesday 20th May 2026.

Dear UCU members, 

Today at midday, we start with our Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) and Action Short of a Strike (ASOS). We do not like to be in this position, but management’s savage attack on our jobs and degree programmes has left us with no alternative. When we do take action, please remember that we defend our jobs, but also students’ learning conditions as well as the very existence of our university. Take heart in our collective strength and support each other. Together we will win!

On Friday 22 May, we are going on an all-out strike to demonstrate to management our collective power and resolve. We will have two mass pickets at South and West Entrances, University Park from 8 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. Afterwards we will walk up to Trent Courtyard for a rally at 12 noon. Any members with children to look after due to local schools in-set/training days this Friday are warmly encouraged to join the South entrance picket as it is next to Highfields park. We will have some kid-friendly craft items available, and will welcome additional materials being brought along.

Ahead of the strike, members working on campus today are encouraged to attend a Reclaim Your Lunch Break picnic on either Jubilee or University Park campus. Your reps network will be hosting these weekly, along with Zoom coffees starting next week. The UoN UCU public calendar, embedded on the home page of the branch website, will have the dates, times and locations for these solidarity building events.

As we begin this period of active industrial action it is key that members who cannot participate in the MAB, and our wider supporters, continue to donate to our local solidarity funds. As outlined in earlier emails, we are aiming to offer each branch member who faces deductions for participation in industrial action up to £1000 of support from local funds – this is in addition to support from the UCU National Fighting Fund. To achieve this, we need consistent and widespread fundraising – see the branch home page for the bank details and a JustGiving page to use here.

Finally, let us remember that the Vice Chancellor can at any time choose to de-escalate this situation by arriving at meaningful agreement that addresses the terms of our dispute.  

Solidarity,

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Reminder: Member meeting 1-2pm today

Email sent to members on Monday 18th May 2026. Zoom link removed.

Dear members,

Just a final reminder that we have a meeting today (Monday 18th) at 1-2pm – link and agenda below. A lot has happened in this last week and we wanted to check in with you all, update you on all the work that is going on behind the scenes, and talk clearly about the upcoming industrial action and why it is so important.

We’ve had lots of new joiners which is fantastic, but to win we need everyone to play their part. So whether or not you’re new to UCU and industrial action, please do come along today.

In solidarity,

Agenda:

  • Welcome and context
  • What has UCU been doing this last week
  • Why industrial action?
  • How do we do industrial action?
  • Member questions