The Friday email: 7 February 2025

UCU Cymru rally and Cardiff University

On Wednesday 4 February, UCU Cymru held a cross-sectoral rally at the Senedd, when the first draft budget debate was taking place, to highlight concerns around the funding of post-16 education in Wales and to lobby Members of the Senedd to urge proper funding of this. UCU were joined by the National Union of Students (NUS) and many trade unions such as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the British Medical Association (BMA), whose members are deeply concerned with massive job cuts at Cardiff University as well as its plans to close entire departments including its nursing school.

UCU members at Cardiff University will be balloted for industrial action imminently; click here to read Cardiff University UCU branch's press release.

The Minister for Skills answers your questions

At the end of January, UCU general secretary Jo Grady met with the Minister of State for Skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern. This was an opportunity to put UCU members' concerns about the state of UK universities, and what the Labour government should urgently do about the sector, directly to the minister. Click here to watch the full interview.

UCU elections 2025

UCU has a national executive committee (NEC), elected by the union's members. The elections take place annually, and the ballots to elect Trustees, officers and NEC members opened on Monday 27 January. 

You can watch a video on the importance of taking part in UCU elections here. If you have not received your postal ballot materials, please request a replacement ballot via this form.

Hustings for the UCU vice president and honorary treasurer candidates took place online on Wednesday 5 February and you can watch a recording of the hustings here .

Tell college employers and the government: we need a New Deal for FE!

Thousands of you have signed our petition calling for a New Deal for FE that delivers pay parity with schoolteachers, action on workloads and a return to binding national bargaining. Next month we are going to be presenting the petition to the employers' body, the Association of Colleges (AoC) and to politicians as part of our submission to a new cross-party inquiry into further education.

This is your chance to tell decision makers that things have to change, so if you have not already signed the petition then please sign now without delay, ask your colleagues and friends to do the same and share on social media using our selfie poster tagged with #newdealforFE.

Strike ballot results at University of East Anglia

An overwhelming 82% of University of East Anglia (UEA) staff have voted in favour of strike action. The ballot resulted in the highest turnout UEA UCU has ever achieved, reaching 67%. The dispute is over management's threat to cut over 190 staff members to meet continued budget shortfalls.

This followed last week's strong ballot results at Dundee University (64% turnout) and University of Sheffield International College (72% turnout) in their disputes over job cuts.

Next week we are expecting ballot results from Newcastle University, Sheffield Hallam University and Brunel University London. If you are a UCU member from Newcastle, Hallam or Brunel and you have not voted yet, please get those ballots posted now.

Support UCU's petition: remove Coventry University vice-chancellor from government role

Coventry University is currently facing a crisis, with the potential loss of 300 staff members and severe cuts across faculties. Those who remain will be forced to work through a subsidiary company, and any new starters would be unable to access the industry-standard Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS).

Despite the institution being on its knees, Coventry vice-chancellor John Latham has been rewarded with a non-executive board position at the Department for Business and Trade. Taking a second job with staff morale at rock bottom shows a disgraceful disregard for Coventry University and raises serious questions about his judgement. To hold leadership accountable and signal our disgust, UCU urge all members to sign this petition, which already has over 2,500 signatories, calling for the immediate removal of John Latham from the Department for Business and Trade board.

Your support is needed: current disputes

Please support the following branches where UCU members in higher education are continuing to defend jobs and education:

• Canterbury Christ Church University: CCCU UCU has declared a trade dispute following the university's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. They have announced 400 FTE job cuts by the end of this academic year to save £20m
• Durham University: UCU is in dispute with Durham management over plans to axe 200 jobs and the university's failure to rule out compulsory redundancies
• University of Northampton: Northampton UCU and UNISON branches are calling on government for immediate help. Management is currently consulting staff on restructure plans which if not stopped could result in closure of programmes, departments and compulsory redundancies. A unique circumstance at Northampton is that its Waterside campus was paid through a bond guaranteed by a previous government which it now has difficulty paying due to decreased international student recruitment. It is in the government's power to support Northampton by adjusting the terms of the bond and in doing this the impact of current financial pressures would be mitigated. Please show your solidarity by signing this petition which implores the government to take action
• University of Sunderland: Staff threatened with a restructure by university management have been told they cannot tell colleagues they are at risk of losing their jobs. Upon returning from their Christmas break, a small team of academic staff were told they would be restructured and that at least one post would be deleted. However, university management forbade impacted staff from having any 'discussions with students, alumni or colleagues'. Please sign the petition to oppose the University of Sunderland's decision.

Big pay win for postgraduate researchers on UKRI stipends

Last week UCU celebrated the biggest real-term increase in the stipend for UKRI-funded postgraduate researchers (PGRs) in over two decades as a major win for its 'PGRs as staff' campaign, and called on other funders to confirm they will now match it.

The union also called on UKRI and universities to peg their stipends to the Real Living Wage after UKRI's report into stipend levels found institutions may be willing to match annual stipend rises.

Annual meeting for members on casual contracts

A reminder that the annual meeting for UCU members of all forms of casual contracts is being held in hybrid format on Saturday 22 February with the in-person part of the event being at UCU head office in London. We will discuss how all parts of the union work together in our fight against casualisation and there will be workshops on the new Employment Rights Bill, casualisation and equality, and the launch of our new research staff manifesto. There will also be updates, motions and plenty of time for networking. Moreover, we are looking for 12 new members of the anti-casualisation committee so if you are interested please get your nominations in as soon as possible. Click here for full details.

Cradle to Grave 2025 conference, 29 March

Registration is open here for UCU's Cradle to Grave conference, which will take place on Saturday 29 March.

This annual conference is a chance for members to gather together to discuss some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the sectors where we organise. The theme of this year's conference is 'Education for liberation: building progressive post-16 education policy'.

The conference will be run as a hybrid event, with options to attend in person at the CCT Venue Smithfields, London or online via Zoom. We expect spaces for the in-person event to fill up quickly so register as soon as possible to secure your place. The deadline to register is Thursday 13 March; the conference is free to attend.

Protect Student Choice campaign

UCU is part of the Protect Student Choice campaign relating to Level 3 BTECs, led by the Sixth Form Colleges Association. The Conservative government had planned to phase out BTECs through de-funding. However Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, has agreed to give a 'stay of execution' to some BTECs, allowing 70% of the courses earmarked for defunding under the Conservative government, to continue up to 2027.

UCU LGBT+ research conference 2025

UCU LGBT+ research conference 2025 is now open to presentation proposals. Please submit your proposal using this link; the deadline is Thursday 13 February.

The hybrid conference will be held on Friday 16 May at the University of Manchester and on Zoom. Registration details to follow.

UCU continuing professional development workshops

Join us this term for the following 90-minute online interactive workshops that are free and open to all UCU members:

• Menopause is a workplace issue: Monday 10 February, 14:00-15:30
• Connecting with industry and the local community for climate justice: Tuesday 11 February, 14:00-15:30
• Students and staff collective organising for climate justice: Monday 31 March, 14:00-15:30

Please look out for our Monday CPD email with details of all the online workshops running this term.

On International Women in Science Day: science under scholasticide

The next Fobzu/UCU Education, Occupation and Liberation webinar will take place on Tuesday 11 February, 17:00-18:00 and you can click here to register. In this webinar, three leading  Palestinian scientists will share their experiences of conducting research and teaching under occupation, and how women in Palestine are advancing scientific knowledge despite these barriers.

In addition, UCU held a webinar earlier this week with Sundos Hammad, coordinator of the Right to Education Campaign--a grassroots Palestinian movement founded in 1988 to document, research, and raise awareness about the oppression faced by Palestinian students, teachers, and academic institutions under Israeli military occupation. You can view a recording of the webinar here.

Demonstration at the Russian Embassy, 22 February

As part of the union's international solidarity work, UCU is supporting a march and rally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and in support of the people of Ukraine. This will be held in London on Saturday 22 February, on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's invasion. For more information click here.