Tag: local newsletter

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Make sure you vote, vote YES, and tell your Departmental Rep when you have. Our opposition to the chaos created by management is only as strong as our mandate. Encourage members in your department to vote.

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Mobilise to protect Language Centre staff
   2. Know your rights as a trade unionist
   3. Future Nottingham meetings
   4. Branch Committee meeting summary
   5. Our struggles are connected
   6. Protect University jobs here and across the country
   7. Local and national campaigning
   8. Joining link and further information

Mobilise to protect Language Centre staff

Our open letter in solidarity with Language Centre casualised staff has reached over 1000 signatures! Help increase pressure on management and stand up for these workers by attending the rally tomorrow, Wednesday 18th June at 1:30 pm in Trent Courtyard to show the University that we will not back down.

Go to the campaign page for more ways you can continue to support our colleagues in the Language Centre.

Know your rights as a trade unionist

In a climate of increasing job insecurity, redundancy and rising workloads across the sector, knowing your rights as a trade union member has never been more important.

• • You have the legal right to join a union and to participate in its activities including meetings, campaigns and industrial action – without fear of dismissal or detriment.
  • Your employer must not treat you unfairly for being active in your union, whether you’re a caseworker, rep or simply attending a branch meeting.
  • If you are  facing disciplinary action or a grievance, you have the right to be accompanied by a union rep, not just HR.
  • Unions have the right to be consulted over redundancies, contract changes, and major restructures. This means UCU plays a key role in negotiating safer, fairer outcomes for all staff. 

If you’re ever unsure whether a decision made by management is lawful, fair or discriminatory – speak to your Departmental Rep before signing or agreeing to anything. It’s your right to seek advice and representation.

Use your voice: a strong union presence depends on active members. Whether you’re new to the union or a long-time supporter, your engagement makes a difference – not just to you, but to your colleagues. 

Know your rights. Use your rights. Stand together. Together we are stronger. 

Future Nottingham meetings

The three campus unions hosted two open meetings last week, attended by almost 1000 staff members. Attendees expressed anxiety at the chaotic manner in which the University has rolled out these redundancies. We will continue to keep our members and the broader employee body as informed as possible via branch communications, further open meetings, our social media, and the Workers’ Eye Whatsapp channel.

The three campus unions will be holding further open meetings both for all staff and at the faculty and department level. Upcoming faculty level meetings:

• • Engineering: Thursday 19th June, 12:30 pm in X1, Chemistry and via Teams at this link
  • Social Sciences: Friday 20th June, 11:00 am via Zoom at this link

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 11th June and discussed

• • Our response to the University’s role evaluation and restructuring under Phase 1 of Future Nottingham
  • Methods and infrastructure for communicating effectively with members
  • The progress of the current industrial action ballot

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

During the ballot period the Departmental Reps are also meeting weekly to discuss progress and challenges in their areas.

Our struggles are connected

Trade unions, including UCU are committed not only to furthering the interests of their members, but the struggles of all oppressed people in the UK and across the world. To this end, this Saturday there are two demonstrations we encourage our members to attend:

• • Notts Trans Pride 11am starting at Broadway Cinema.
  • National march for Palestine, London. Coaches leave at 8:00 am from Forest Recreation Ground, tickets available here.

We also encourage our members to sign the petition demanding Nottingham County Council divests its pension fund from companies complicit in the genocide in Palestine

Protect University jobs here and across the country

Our dispute is about workers at the University of Nottingham being threatened with redundancies, our Alternate Financial Strategy 2.0 lays out how decisions by management have led to this. We can also see the threat of redundancy is commonplace for many workers in Universities across the UK. Our strength here as a Union is in our collective solidarity within our branch and in extending it to other UCU branches and HE workers.

Please find details and petitions/letters to sign to support staff at UoN and across the country using the links below:

• • Save University of Nottingham Jobs,
  • Save Language Centre Casuals and language learning in Nottingham,
  • Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby,
  • End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University.

Local and national campaigning

A People’s History of the Farmers’ Movement in India, 2020-21
In 2020 a monumental uprising of India’s agrarian base unfolded in response to contentious farm laws. The Farmers’ Movement was a year-long protest that ended in December 2021 with the passage of the Farm Laws Repeal Bill by the Indian Parliament. The Movement is a testament to the power of collective resistance that offers a roadmap for future struggles.

In this talk, Professor Singh will discuss the Farmers’ Movement, looking at the socio-political dynamics, cultural nuances and wider solidarity that the protest generated across India and amongst the Indian diaspora.

This talk is supported by the Department of History’s ‘Rupture, Revolution, and Crisis’ theme and will take place on 25th June, 2-3.30pm, Lenton Grove, A18.

60 Years of the Tricontinental Conference: Context, Impact, Legacy, and Future
Parvathi Kumaraswami, an academic at the University is crowdfunding for travel grants for scholars, artists and activists from the Global South to attend the above January 2026 conference at the University of Havana. This will celebrate the original event and prioritize contributions from the Global South and stimulate important debates about the original event and its relevance to anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonisation. 

Please consider making a donation if you’re able. More information and donation link here.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help Transactual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Welcome to your regular newsletter. Once your ballot is complete and in the post please let the branch know, by informing your Departmental Rep.

You can support your colleagues and strengthen our branch by joining the Redundancy or Workload working groups, as well as becoming a Departmental Rep or Caseworker – please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. Additionally, you can make a donation here to help bolster our strike fund. More broadly, you can write to your MP to ask them to intervene in the national higher education crisis.

To keep our members as informed as possible, we regularly update the branch website’s redundancies web pages with new and pertinent information. Most recently, we have added a Voluntary Redundancy FAQs tab to the FAQs section. 

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Save the language centre!
   2. Future Nottingham meetings
   3. Arts Faculty meeting
   4. Abortion Rights
   5. EHRC Consultation on Trans Rights
   6. UCU Congress 2025 report
   7. Branch Committee meeting summary
   8. Protect University jobs here and across the country
   9. Local and national campaigning
   10. Joining link and further information

Save the language centre!

Management has ignored the branch’s request for the basic dignity of direct employment and instead announced plans to let go all Language Centre casual workers, and end all their teaching. This is an incredibly damaging decision; it hurts the University (the Language Centre generates a surplus!), it hurts staff, it hurts students, and it hurts the wider Nottingham community, for whom there remain very few language learning opportunities.

Our open letter currently has over 600 signatures. Please sign here to apply further pressure. The campaign page lists more information and more ways to help.

Future Nottingham meetings

The three campus unions are hosting further open meetings to give updates on the state of Future Nottingham. These will include an update from the unions about Phase 1 and the potentials for phase 2 followed by a Q&A.

The meetings will be held online and are not faculty-specific. These will be useful whether or not you were able to attend the previous open meeting, and as previously are open to staff regardless of union membership.

The next dates and meeting links are below:

Tuesday 10th June, 4pm – 5pm

Wednesday 11th June, 9am – 10am

In addition, there are a number of APM department-specific meetings for UCU members communicated by email by Andrew Armstrong on 4th June, subject line “Open All Staff Meeting and further APM Member Meetings“.

Arts Faculty meeting

In addition to the meetings above, we will be holding an all-staff meeting for the Arts Faculty, where questions and concerns more specifically regarding the Arts Faculty can be raised and discussed. The meeting will be hybrid:

Monday 16th June, 3pm-4pm
Clive Grainger A48
REDACTED

Abortion Rights

Lisa Rüll as one of your Equality Officers attended the Abortion Rights Trade Union round table event held 3/6/25. UCU both supports bodily autonomy and is nationally affiliated to Abortion Rights. The round table discussed their ongoing campaign to decriminalise abortion and the upcoming amendments to the Crime and Policy Bill. These may help decriminalise abortion (still illegal under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, limitedly permitted by The Abortion Act 1967). Anyone interested in summary notes from the event, and details to support upcoming events are welcome to get in touch.

EHRC Consultation on Trans Rights

A number of your UoN branch committee are signed up to the Trade Unions 4 Trans Rights WhatsApp groups (including one specific to UCU members).  This week  TransActual released notes to guide submissions to the EHRC Consultation. As UCU has stood firmly in support of trans rights – reaffirmed at our recent UCU Congress – we welcome advice to shape responses from TransActual as “a national, trans led and run organisation focussed specifically on working for trans adults in the UK”.

UCU Congress 2025 report

Following on from last week’s update on the main outcomes of this year’s Congress and Higher Education Sector Conference, our delegates have now completed their report. Aside from a detailed record of what was discussed and commentary on the proposals that were most heavily debated, they offer their general reflections. 

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 4th June and discussed:

• • Industrial action strategy
  • How we should approach consultation with management
  • Delegates from our branch to the University’s Joint Negotiation and Consultation Committees
  • Solidarity with employees at the Language Centre

The Committee also heard updates from the Palestine Solidarity Working Group. 

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Departmental Reps also met on Thursday 5th June focusing on the GTVO (get the vote out) efforts in our respective departments.

Protect University jobs here and across the country

Our dispute is about workers at the University of Nottingham being threatened with redundancies, our Alternate Financial Strategy 2.0 lays out how decisions by management have led to this. We can also see the threat of redundancy is commonplace for many workers in Universities across the UK. Our strength here as a Union is in our collective solidarity within our branch and in extending it to other UCU branches and HE workers.

Please find details and petitions/letters to sign to support staff at UoN and across the country using the links below:

• • Save University of Nottingham Jobs,
  • Save Language Centre Casuals and language learning in Nottingham,
  • Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby,
  • End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University.

Local and national campaigning

Midlands march for Palestine Saturday 14th June
Join Nottingham PSC, Stop the War coalition, local community groups, as well as this union branch and others to call for an immediate and permanent cease fire. Please join the Midlands March for Palestine in Nottingham on Saturday, 14th June starting at 1:30 pm from the Forest Recreation Ground.

Notts Trans Pride
The second ever Notts Trans Pride will take place on Saturday 21st June at 11am, with the march starting from Broadway Cinema. With the current political climate (including a UKIP demo planned on the same day), it is essential that we have maximum visible Trade Union support for trans rights so please ensure you attend. 

In addition, if you are interested in helping to contribute to the running of the event please sign up here. 

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a movement to demand Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) divests its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine. Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

We encourage all members resident in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County to sign the petition here.

60 Years of the Tricontinental Conference: Context, Impact, Legacy, and Future
Parvathi Kumaraswami, an academic at the University is crowdfunding for travel grants for scholars, artists and activists from the Global South to attend the above January 2026 conference at the University of Havana. This will celebrate the original event and prioritize contributions from the Global South and stimulate important debates about the original event and its relevance to anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonisation. 

Please consider making a donation if you’re able. More information and donation link here.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help Transactual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

Happy Shavuot and Eid Mubarak to our members observing these holidays. Thank you to all those members who attended the Branch Meeting on Monday afternoon, and to everyone who has confirmed they have received and already posted their ballot. To help us get the vote en masse, please print off some copies of this poster and post it around your school or department, to help remind people of the need to vote!

You can support your colleagues and strengthen the branch by joining the Redundancy or Workload working groups, as well as becoming a Departmental Rep or Caseworker – please email uonucubranch@gmail.com. Additionally, you can make a donation here to help bolster our strike fund.

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. No compulsory redundancies – strike ballot opens!
   2. Branch meeting report
   3. Branch Committee meeting summary
   4. Workload Campaign ‘Just say NO!’
   5. Protect University jobs here and across the country
   6. Local and national campaigning
   7. Joining link and further information

No compulsory redundancies – strike ballot opens!

On Friday 30th May our strike ballot formally began as ballot papers began to be posted, some members have already reported receiving, completing and posting ballots on Saturday as soon as they arrived!

To gain a mandate for strike action and action short of a strike – and so strengthen our collective hand in discussions with management to prevent compulsory redundancies in 2025 and 2026 – at least 50% of members are required to vote. 

Workers at Cardiff and Dundee Universities have already forced their management to cancel compulsory redundancies by winning their respective industrial action ballots. Winning our own ballot would give us leverage to convince management that there is a better way forward.  

Once your ballot is complete and in the post please let the branch know, by informing your Departmental Rep.

Branch meeting report

A very well attended branch meeting was held yesterday afternoon, Monday 2nd June with over 120 members. Many thanks to everyone who made the time to attend. The meeting discussed Branch Committee updates and members questions, comments and views on: 

• • Phase 1 of Future Nottingham,
  • The ballot,
  • Next steps and actions for all members of the branch.

See the branch website for a more detailed summary of the discussion.

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 28th May and discussed:

• • Updates from consultations with management,
  • Industrial action strategy,
  • Membership and capacity building,
  • Arrangements for open meetings with APM staff,
  • The ongoing collective grievance for staff at Sir Clive Granger Building,
  • Arrangements for the members’ meeting on Monday 2nd June.

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Workload Campaign ‘Just say NO!’

UCU national has organised a Saying No with Confidence webinar tomorrow, Wednesday 4th June at 4:00-5:00 pm which has been developed to support us in taking a collective approach to pushing back on workloads. We will look at workplace culture and how we can change workplace practices by using Health & Safety Legislation to empower members to take a stand and say ‘NO!’, whilst maintaining professional standards.

The full aims of the interactive workshop are to:

• • Identify assertiveness techniques and strategies for saying “no” at work,
  • Learn to use Health and Safety legislation to push back to protect us against workplace stress and health risks due to excessive workloads,
  • Understand the role of collective action in changing workplace culture through union campaigning.

To register please email eastmidlands@ucu.org.uk

Protect University jobs here and across the country

Workers at our institution and others in the UK are threatened with redundancies. Our strength is in our collective solidarity. 

Please find the details and petitions/letters to sign using the links below:

• • Save University of Nottingham Jobs,
  • Save Language Centre Casuals and language learning in Nottingham,
  • Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby,
  • End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University.

Local and national campaigning

60 Years of the Tricontinental Conference: Context, Impact, Legacy, and Future
Parvathi Kumaraswami, an academic at the University is crowdfunding for travel grants for scholars, artists and activists from the Global South to attend the above January 2026 conference at the University of Havana. This will celebrate the original event and prioritize contributions from the Global South and stimulate important debates about the original event and its relevance to anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonisation. 

Please consider making a donation if you’re able. More information and donation link here.

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a movement to demand Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) divests its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine. Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

We encourage all members resident in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County to sign the petition here.

Notts Trans Pride
The second ever Notts Trans Pride will take place on Saturday 21st June, with the march starting from Broadway Cinema. With the current political climate, it is essential that we have maximum visible Trade Union support for trans rights so please save the date. In addition, if you are interested in helping to contribute to the running of the event please sign up here.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help Transactual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance.

Dear members,

We hope you had some time to rest over this bank holiday weekend. Don’t forget to check out the “Local and national campaigning” section of this newsletter for campaigns which intersect with the aims and goals of our union and branch.

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. Save Language Centre casuals and language learning in Nottingham!
   2. Open faculty level meetings
   3. Workplace safety
   4. Wins for the Workload Campaign
   5. UCU Congress 2025: Highlights
   6. Branch Committee meeting summary
   7. Notts Trans Pride
   8. Local and national campaigning
   9. Joining link and further information

Save Language Centre casuals and language learning in Nottingham!

Casualised Language Centre staff at UoN have been demanding the basic dignity of direct employment, including through a recent letter to management signed by over one hundred staff members. However, management has ignored this request (contradicting their own Principles for Casual Engagement) and instead announced plans to let go all Language Centre casual workers, and end all their teaching. This is an incredibly damaging decision; it hurts the University (the Language Centre generates a surplus!), it hurts staff, it hurts students, and it hurts the wider Nottingham community, for whom there remain very few language learning opportunities. 

Please sign this new open letter to demand the University reverse its decision! This letter will form part of a broader, community oriented campaign.

Open faculty level meetings

On Tuesday 20th May, representatives from UCU as well as sister campus unions UNISON and Unite held an open meeting for the faculty of Science to discuss Future Nottingham from a Trade Union perspective. Between online and in-person attendees there were over 200 staff members present for a rather lively discussion.

Following this success, we will be holding further similar meetings for other faculties as well as for APM staff. Please look out for information about these meetings in coming weeks. 

Workplace safety

Safety is everyone’s right and everyone’s responsibility. If you have reported safety issues in your building or area that have not thereafter been dealt with by management, then please report them to your branch. The best way to do this is to email our Health and Safety Officer, Cyril Rauch (REDACTED) and copy in your Departmental Rep.

Wins for the Workload Campaign 

We wanted to let you know of some of our successes this year so far;

• • We’re changing the narrative around acceptable workloads with our ‘95 so we can thrive campaign’. Health Sciences has now adopted a 100% maximum workload model and is piloting new workload plans. 
  • We’ve reported the university to HSE for failing legally required stress prevention measures.
  • We’ve established a Workload/Work-Related Stress Task and Finish Group via JNCC channels, which Alex Lancaster (National UCU Workload Health and Safety Officer) will be joining.
  • We’ve challenged the institution-wide lack of Business Unit Stress Risk Assessments.
  • The University has now developed an (albeit flawed and incomplete) Organisational Stress Risk Assessment, which we are now working to improve.

There’s still lots to do, and as such we’re planning a workload campaign strategy development morning soon. Please email any suggestions for this planning meeting to REDACTED. In particular, we will be focusing on:

• • Supporting members with their right to confidently push back on the inevitable increase in workload due to redundancies via our ‘Just Say No!’ campaign
  • Embedding the 100% maximum workload commitment across all schools
  • Ensuring the university meets its legal requirements in terms of stress prevention

UCU Congress 2025: Highlights

UoN UCU delegates attended Congress and the HE Sector Congress over the bank holiday weekend. A full report will follow; all motions referred to can be found here.

Congress took many important decisions to support members in time of cuts and redundancies as well as all those facing marginalisation. A novel strategy to take the fight over HE funding (motion HE14 – which our AGM endorsed) to the government was passed. Another motion (35 Rule Change Motion – Recall of Congress and/or Sector Conferences) our branch supported did not attain the two-thirds majority required. 

Our amendment (24A.1) to request a fulsome review of the model branch rules passed. The other motions (31 & 37) we submitted fell off the agenda due to a lack of time.

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 21st May and discussed;

• • The success of the Science open meeting, and hopes to replicate across other faculties
  • Industrial action strategy
  • Planning for an upcoming general meeting
  • The threats to the Language Center

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Notts Trans Pride

The second ever Notts Trans Pride will take place on Saturday 21st June, with the march starting from Broadway Cinema. With the current political climate, it is essential that we have maximum visible Trade Union support for trans rights so please save the date. In addition, if you are interested in helping to contribute to the running of the event please sign up here.

Local and national campaigning

Sign UNISON UoN’s petition to oppose job cuts
In Phase 1 of Future Nottingham, staff represented by UNISON will be most affected. Please sign their petition to oppose cuts and show solidarity with your fellow workers.

Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby
Up to 35 Professors and Associate Professors are facing a compulsory redundancy process at the University of Derby. UCU Derby have written an open letter you are invited to sign, opposing these cuts at Derbyshire’s only University and critiquing the poor engagement with the Union as it has unfolded. 

60 Years of the Tricontinental Conference: Context, Impact, Legacy, and Future
Parvathi Kumaraswami, an academic at the University is crowdfunding for travel grants for scholars, artists and activists from the Global South to attend the above January 2026 conference at the University of Havana. This will celebrate the original event and prioritize contributions from the Global South and stimulate important debates about the original event and its relevance to anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonisation. 

Please consider making a donation if you’re able. More information and donation link here.

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a movement to demand Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) divests its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine. Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

We encourage all members resident in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County to sign the petition here.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help Transactual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/

Please do not reply to this newsletter, as your email will bounce. Contact your Departmental Rep or uonucubranch@gmail.com if you need any assistance

Dear members,

Welcome to your weekly UoN UCU newsletter. We would like to extend our support and solidarity to all members at this stressful and uncertain time, especially in APM roles as Phase 1 of the Future Nottingham programme continues to unfold. For information and advice on Future Nottingham published by the local branch so far, please see the redundancy working group blogs.

Read on for the following topics:

1. 1. In support of migrants
   2. Congress 2025: Final details
   3. Know your rights – Reasonable Adjustments
   4. Reasonable adjustments and timetabling
   5. Branch Committee meeting summary
   6. Workload Campaign
   7. Local and national campaigning
   8. Joining link and further information

In support of migrants

On Monday 12th May 2025, the government published an immigration white paper outlining intended changes to the immigration system. In short, these proposals amount to a further acceleration of the hostile environment, pandering to the far right and xenophobic sentiments. The Branch Committee is keenly aware many members will be distraught and concerned about what this means for themselves as migrants or for their migrant colleagues, loved ones, and international students. See our website for more information on support and campaigns for migrant members.

Congress 2025: Final details

UCU Congress, the supreme policy-making body of our union, will take place this weekend, 24th – 26th May. Our branch will be represented by Alan Barker, Lisa Rull and Gertjan Lucas. Congress decides the policy of our union for the forthcoming year and often beyond and thus is a fundamental element of our democracy. For more details, see our guide to Congress. 

The agenda, including late motions and amendments submitted, and documents including financial statements, have been published. You can make your views heard on the motions here.

Members may also wish to read the reports from the pay and conditions negotiators and the USS negotiators for an overview of progress in the past year and the proposed strategy for these important areas.

Know your rights – Reasonable Adjustments 

Under the Equality Act 2010, our employer has a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments if you have a disability – including long-term mental health conditions. This could mean workload changes, flexible hours, or even bringing a support animal to work. Adjustments must be based on your needs, not what’s easiest for management. 

Reasonable adjustments and timetabling

The branch has been pushing the University to rework its policy concerning timetabling-related exemptions to account for those needing reasonable adjustments. We are happy to report that the EDI team in HR have responded positively to this.

Currently the wording of this policy leads to confusion. In addition, the requirement for Occupational Health reports creates a barrier to staff accessing these reasonable adjustments. A proposal incorporating branch suggestions will be submitted for the planned January 2026 review of the timetabling exemptions policy.

In the meantime, if you find that timetabling related reasonable adjustments are not meeting your needs, we advise you to work proactively with your line manager and HR partner to explore options. Where further support is needed to determine reasonability of any proposed adjustments, a referral can be made to the Review Panel. In that situation, we recommend you ask for casework support from the branch.

Branch Committee meeting summary

Your Branch Committee met on Wednesday 14th May and discussed;

• • Wording to be put into the authorisation form for an industrial action ballot
  • Industrial action strategy
  • Facility time allocation for committee members and caseworkers
  • Strategy for supporting at-risk staff in the Language Center

The Branch Committee meets weekly. If you would like Committee to discuss a particular topic please email the details to: uonucubranch@gmail.com

Workload Campaign

The workload campaign has now managed to successfully present the case for a Workload and Work-related stress Task and Finish Group, affiliated to the Performance and Talent Joint Negotiation and Consultation Committee (JNCC). This is a result of reporting the university to HSE for failure to meet basic stress prevention legal requirements. 

We note that there are still no Business Unit Stress Risk Assessments (BUSRA) in place, even though we have been asking for these for nearly 12 months now. Instead our employer has hastily produced an ‘Organisational Stress Risk Assessment’, without realising that it is invalid without the BUSRAs. The Organisational Stress Risk Assessment has Future Nottingham as a stress mitigating factor, which clearly we will be challenging. 

We will keep you posted on the Task and Finish group, as well as wider workload campaign issues. In the meantime, if you are on over 100% workload, please ask your Line Manager for an Individual Stress Risk Assessment. 

Local and national campaigning

Sign UNISON UoN’s petition to oppose job cuts
In Phase 1 of Future Nottingham, staff represented by UNISON will be most affected. Please sign their petition to oppose cuts and show solidarity with your fellow workers.

Stop the redundancies at the University of Derby
Up to 35 Professors and Associate Professors are facing a compulsory redundancy process at the University of Derby. UCU Derby have written an open letter you are invited to sign, opposing these cuts at Derbyshire’s only University and critiquing the poor engagement with the Union as it has unfolded. 

60 Years of the Tricontinental Conference: Context, Impact, Legacy, and Future
Parvathi Kumaraswami, an academic at the University is crowdfunding for travel grants for scholars, artists and activists from the Global South to attend the above January 2026 conference at the University of Havana. This will celebrate the original event and prioritize contributions from the Global South and stimulate important debates about the original event and its relevance to anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and decolonisation. 

Please consider making a donation if you’re able. More information and donation link here.

Call on Nottinghamshire County Council to divest from apartheid
Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign is leading a movement to demand Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) divests its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) from companies and organisations complicit in the genocide in Palestine. Currently the LGPS holds £170 million in shares in genocide-complicit companies. In line with the branch’s BDS motion and solidarity with Palestine motion the branch has given official support to the campaign.

We encourage all members resident in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County to sign the petition here.

Report anti-trans discrimination
Have you been questioned, stopped or challenged using a single-sex space? Fill in this form to help Transactual advocate on this issue at a national level.

Joining link and further information

Remember to pass on the online joining link to your colleagues.

Having trouble at work? Please log a case with our large, competent casework team!

Need to talk to your Departmental Rep? Find the full list of UoN UCU reps here. If you are interested in becoming a departmental rep, get in touch!

Struggling with your mental health or wellbeing? UCU members get free access to confidential support service educationsupport.org.uk who can be called 24/7 on 08000 562 561.

Yours sincerely,

L Scott Blankenship and Will Paterson-Bassett, Branch Communications Officers, on behalf of UoN UCU Branch Committee

Branch website: https://uonucu.org/