The Friday email: 9 May 2025

TOMORROW: Protect Education NOW national rally in London

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.

TOMORROW (Saturday 10 May) UCU is holding a national rally 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 tomorrow so we can stand united calling on the Labour government, employers, and public bodies to urgently invest and change their approach.

You can play your part by:

• downloading our materials from the Protect Education NOW webpage
• changing your social media profile picture in solidarity
• spreading the word among colleagues and friends.

Tomorrow 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. Click here for a large map.

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

Industrial action and ballots at UK universities

Keele University UCU members were on strike on 6 May and 8 May over the employer's plans to make £2.25m staffing cuts in the humanities, social sciences and business.

Newcastle University UCU branch were also on strike this week (7-10 May) in a dispute over job cuts and redundancies.

University of Sheffield UCU members called off strike action for 9 May and 12-16 May as members voted to accept an offer from the employer in the dispute over job cuts and the threat of compulsory redundancies.

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

University of Edinburgh UCU members are currently voting in an industrial action ballot (closing on 20 May) 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.

Bournemouth University UCU members are being 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.

University of Lincoln branch is preparing to ballot members for industrial action, following the failure of management to rule out compulsory redundancies. The University has announced up to 285 potential redundancies, including the closure of the UK's only Equality, Diversity and Inclusion institute. This is on top of the 200+ jobs that went via voluntary means last year. Please sign this petition in solidarity.

Finally, please support many other branches where UCU members in higher education are also continuing to defend jobs and education.

Stop the Cuts: Education Committee letter in May 2025

UCU's message on Stop the Cuts is getting through to the UK government.

After the deep-dive evidence session on 8 April 2025 (to which UCU contributed), the Education Committee published a letter on 7 May 2025 to the Secretary of State for Education demanding support of our universities in both the short and long term. You can read the Education Committee's letter here.

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

New Deal for FE: May 2025 update

Please click here to read an update on New Deal for FE from UCU general secretary Jo Grady. In summary: 

• At the end of May 2025, FE delegates at UCU Congress will make crucial decisions about the next steps of the New Deal for FE campaign. Members can read the FE motions (from page 44) here: UCU Congress motions.
• Some motions propose a strike ballot in the autumn. If these motions are passed, ballot eligible UCU members in England FE colleges will receive a postal ballot paper and clear information on why the vote is vital.
• Before any strike ballot, an electronic consultation will be held to assess member support.
• We encourage UCU members to take a moment to check and update your contact details by logging in to MyUCU.

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. 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.

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 six Northern Ireland further education colleges voted for industrial action. Action short of a strike (ASOS) began from Friday 11 April; affected UCU members can read this FAQ here.

The Minister for the Economy has now made an offer of 5.5% rise for 2024/25 and a 3% rise in 2025/26. The offer falls short on the promise of achieving pay parity with schoolteachers. Click here for coverage on BBC Northern Ireland with comment from UCU Northern Ireland official Katharine Clarke.

Havant and South Downs College: strike ballot

A strike ballot has opened 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.

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.

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.

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.

UCU Green Futures newsletter, May 2025

The second edition of Green Futures, the newsletter of the Climate and ecological emergency committee (CEEC), has just been published. It carries information on the UCU South West green reps network; prison education and climate change; Green and environmental motions at Congress 2025; and much more. Click here to download the Green Futures newsletter.

UCU on BBC Question Time

On Thursday 8 May UCU general secretary Jo Grady appeared on BBC Question Time; the panel was in Kingston upon Hull and you can catch up here on BBC iPlayer. The panel included James Murray MP (Labour), Graham Stuart MP (Conservative), Calum Miller MP (Liberal Democrat) and Richard Tice MP (Reform UK).

March for the Children of Ukraine, Sunday 1 June

In the shadow of war, a devastating humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in Ukraine--the forced abduction and displacement of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation. Along with the TUC and several other UK trade unions, UCU is supporting a demonstration to demand freedom for these Ukrainian children. The March for the Children of Ukraine will be held in London on Sunday 1 June (International Children's Day).