The Friday email: 2 May 2025

Protect Education NOW: UCU national rally in London, Saturday 10 May

Post-16 education is in crisis. It is our duty to bring together UCU members, workers from across the trade union movement, students, supporters, and activists to fight back against cuts, attacks in the media, financial mismanagement, and the erosion of professional pride.

We have just one week to go until the national rally that will take place on Saturday 10 May in Central London for us to all come together like never before.

Whether you work, study, or want to actively support higher education, further education, prison education, or adult and community education--please join us on Saturday 10 May so we can stand united calling on the Labour government, employers, and public bodies to urgently invest and change their approach.

The countdown begins now, and you can play your part by:

• letting us know that you are intending to come (you are not required to fill out this form to come but doing so will help with the planning work done by UCU staff)
• downloading our materials from the Protect Education NOW webpage
• changing your social media profile picture in solidarity
• spreading the word among colleagues and friends.

On Saturday 10 May, we will meet at Bessborough Gardens, just off Millbank in Central London at 13:00, and will then march to Old Palace Yard, opposite the Houses of Parliament for speeches and rally cries from special guests and supporters from 14:00 to 16:00.

With so much at stake this is sure to be an important and special day--make sure you are part of it!

Cardiff University: no compulsory redundancies in 2025

Previously, Cardiff University UCU gave notice of a marking and assessment boycott (MAB) that would begin on 6 May, with a number of strike days that would target exam boards and other key dates. The planned industrial action has now been called off after a pledge from Cardiff University management that there will be no compulsory redundancies in 2025.

Stop the Cuts! Industrial action and ballots at UK universities

We are asking everyone to continue to sign and share UCU's Stop the Cuts petition.

Keele University UCU members were on strike for three days this week over the employer's plans to make £2.25m staffing cuts in the humanities, social sciences and business. The strike days next week will be Tuesday 6 May and Thursday 8 May.

Newcastle University UCU branch declared an additional 21 days of strike action, starting from Monday 28 April. Newcastle UCU members had already been on strike for 14 days in a dispute over job cuts and redundancies.

Birmingham City University UCU members were on strike on Thursday 1 May in a dispute over job cuts and performance targets.

Durham University UCU branch has also been on strike this week in their dispute over management's plan to cut £20m in staff costs and refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. 

University of Sheffield UCU members took part in one day of strike action on Wednesday 30 April; this will be followed by a nine-day walkout from Tuesday 6 May until Friday 16 May if management fails to address the branch's demands.

University of East Anglia UCU began strike action this week in a dispute over compulsory redundancies, financial accountability, and transparent governance. Click here for the full schedule. 

Dundee University has announced an alternative recovery plan. Under the proposals, the university will shed around 300 roles through a voluntary programme, after initially forecasting around 700 jobs would go. See also coverage on BBC Scotland.

University of Edinburgh UCU members are currently voting in an industrial action ballot in a dispute over management's threats of £140m of cuts and failure to rule out compulsory redundancies. Around 350 staff are reportedly opting to take voluntary severance.

A strike ballot also opened on Wednesday 16 April at University of Bradford over plans to axe at least 300 jobs that will see chemistry and film and television courses shut down.

From Tuesday 6 May, members at Bournemouth University will be balloted for strike action over a proposed restructure and redundancy dismissals which will put 150-200 staff at risk. The branch is seeking a commitment of no compulsory redundancies, or a sizeable reduction in job cuts from the employer.

Finally, please support the following branches where UCU members in higher education are also continuing to defend jobs and education, for example: Bangor, Bedfordshire, Canterbury Christ Church, Cardiff Met, Kingston, Lincoln, Sheffield Hallam.

Northern Ireland FE colleges in action short of a strike

Following broken promises by the Minister for the Economy, and the employers' inaction over workload, lecturers in Northern Ireland further education colleges voted for industrial action. In a resounding result 98% voted for action short of a strike (ASOS) and 90% for strike action. ASOS began from Friday 11 April and will be continuous until the Minister for the Economy allocates a budget to college employers honouring both the pay and non-pay elements of the 2023/24 pay agreement. Affected members can read this FAQ here.

New Deal for FE: pay claim 2025-26

UCU has reached agreement with the other further education trade unions (GMB, NEU, Unite and Unison) on the Joint FE trade unions' pay claim (2025/26) and it has been submitted to the Association of Colleges (AoC). You can click here to read the full claim here.

The claim is built on the core demands in the New Deal for FE campaign:

• FE pay parity with schoolteachers' pay
• national workload agreements
• a new binding national bargaining framework.

We will provide further updates on negotiations as they come through.

Havant and South Downs College: strike ballot

A strike ballot will open at Havant and South Downs College on Wednesday 7 May in a dispute over proposed restructure and redundancies that puts up to 106 staff at risk. College management has stated that it needs to reduce staff costs by at least £4.5m by 2025-26. If you are a UCU member at Havant and South Downs College please look out for your postal ballot.

We also encourage UCU members across the country to sign this petition in solidarity.

Academic boycott of Brunel University over mass redundancies

UCU has declared an academic boycott of Brunel University London in response to the institution's continued pursuit of mass redundancies.

Brunel is pressing ahead with plans to impose further compulsory job cuts. UCU believes that the future of entire academic departments are under threat. The union has condemned the university's refusal to engage meaningfully with staff representatives.

The elected representatives on UCU's higher education committee (HEC) has unanimously backed the boycott, also known as 'greylisting', which is the most serious sanction the union can impose.

The boycott has begun on Tuesday 15 April 2025, unless the university withdraws the threat of compulsory redundancies, provides transparent financial information, enters collective conciliation talks through Acas, and reinstates those already involuntarily dismissed.

UCU is asking members, supporters, and the international academic community to observe the boycott by:

• not applying for jobs at Brunel
• not attending or organising academic or other conferences at the university
• not giving talks or lectures at Brunel
• not accepting visiting appointments at Brunel
• not contributing to academic journals edited at or produced by the university
• not taking on roles as external examiners for Brunel's taught courses.

Coventry University: sign the petition!

Coventry University staff and students have been protesting against the fire and rehire cost cutting exercise that vice-chancellor John Latham has embarked upon. You can continue to help Coventry UCU's campaign by signing the petition demanding Latham's removal from his government appointed non-executive post on the board of the Department for Business and Trade. The petition now has over 4,000 signatures, and you can add yours here.

Stop redundancies at the University of Derby: sign the petition!

Like many UCU branches, University of Derby is going through mass redundancies following a voluntary scheme. The first target are the professorial and associate professorial grades. The entire group were put at risk but the university have now changed this to 35. This is still a near 50% cull of those grades. UCU remains in consultation but the branch have set up a petition, and you can add your signature here.

UCU Congress and sector conferences 2025

The union's supreme policy-making body is its annual Congress, which is taking place in Liverpool from Saturday 24 to Monday 26 May. Please note that this year's Congress is in a hybrid format, so delegates could attend in-person or online. The deadline for the registration of delegates is now closed.

Congress includes separate annual meetings of UCU's further and higher education sector conferences, where policies particular to those areas are decided. You can click here for more information and motions to be debated will also be available on that page.

Gina Gwenffrewi receives Scottish TUC 2025 Equality Reps Award

At the Scottish TUC Congress this week, Dr Gina Gwenffrewi from University of Edinburgh UCU branch received the Scottish TUC Equality Reps Award. She was presented with the award by the First Minister, John Swinney MSP, and you can view a short film about Dr Gwenffrewi here. We send our heartfelt congratulations to Dr Gwenffrewi!

UCU green rep and branch survey

We are asking all members interested in UCU's sustainability work to please take 10 minutes to fill out the green rep and branch survey. The deadline is Tuesday 6 May.

This survey will help the union understand the priorities, challenges and opportunities to progressing a Green New Deal in your workplace and how we can better support. It will help provide an evidence base for more work we can do to support members and branches.

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade webinar

On 25 March 2025, UCU commemorated the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and hosted a special webinar entitled 'Education, reparations and justice: the legacy of slavery in post-16 learning'. 

The keynote speaker was Dr Leona Vaughn, academic and researcher in the field of equalities and social justice based at the University of Liverpool, and the webinar was hosted by UCU president Maxine Looby. You can listen to a recording of the webinar on this page.