The Friday email: 27 June 2025

New Deal for FE consultative ballot

In the New Deal for FE consultative ballot that closed on Friday 20 June, the response from England FE members to the question 'Are you prepared to take strike action to secure an above inflation pay rise, binding national bargaining structures and a national workload agreement?' was very clear, with 86.1% of members voting YES.

The further education committee (FEC) will consider the results in detail and decide on the next steps in UCU's campaign for a New Deal for FE, when the committee meets on Friday 4 July. Branch-level results will be available to branch officers, via their regional offices, after the FEC on 4 July.

Adult and community education campaign briefing, 10 July

UCU is intending to launch a major new campaign on adult and community education (ACE) in July. More information and materials will be available imminently. Join us for the online ACE campaign briefing meeting on YouTube, which is scheduled for Thursday 10 July (18:00-19:00). The briefing will be recorded so you can catch up later.

Stop the Cuts! Disputes at UK universities

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

University of Dundee: following last week's publication of the Gillies Report into the financial crisis at University of Dundee, former members of Dundee senior management gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Education, Children and Young People Committee on Wednesday 25 June and Thursday 26 June. Click here for comments from UCU's Scotland official Mary Senior.

Newcastle University UCU has beaten back the threat of compulsory redundancies. The announcement from management came as Newcastle UCU members downed tools for their 44th day of strike action in their long-running dispute. Further negotiations have taken place and Newcastle UCU members will determine the next steps of their campaign; meanwhile their re-ballot is still live.

University of Bradford UCU members will begin 10 days of strike action next week over plans to slash hundreds of jobs and close multiple courses. Click here for the full strike schedule. The dispute is over £16m of cuts that management wants to force through. The university has so far failed to set out precisely where all the cuts will fall, but 230 professional service staff and a further 230 or so academics are already at risk. The employer could begin issuing staff their notices next month and compulsory redundancies are likely.

Liverpool Hope University intends to axe 39 staff. The threatened cuts will fall on the faculties of education and social sciences, creative arts and humanities, and human and digital sciences. Management claims it needs to make the cuts due to its own predicted deficit, with staff set to go as soon as November 2025. Members are now voting in an industrial action ballot which will close in July.

University of Bristol: following the overwhelming vote for strike action by UCU members in Bristol's Centre for Academic Languages and Development (CALD), 21 days of strike action have been announced across July and August. Currently, 45 CALD members are at risk of compulsory redundancy; CALD staff have described the proposed job cuts as being pursued as a 'first resort rather than a last resort'. Bristol UCU's position is that these staff are very much needed at the university, and the cuts are financially unnecessary, increase casualisation and impact workload. They urge the university to take compulsory redundancies off the table and focus on the many viable alternative proposals. Donations can be made to the Bristol UCU local hardship fund and you can also show support by signing and sharing this petition.

Bournemouth University UCU members resumed industrial action on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 June, in opposition to management's plans to cut academic and professional services staff. The walkout follows an overwhelming vote in favour of strike action on a turnout of 78%.

University of Lincoln UCU members will be on strike on Friday 4 July. They voted to take industrial action in a dispute over plans to threaten nearly 300 staff with redundancy. An overwhelming 86% of UCU members who voted backed strike action in a ballot that had a turnout of 61%.

University of Nottingham UCU members are facing mass redundancies over two phases of drastic restructuring. During the first phase, at least 258 professional services staff are currently under threat with several thousand employees in related redundancy pools. The second phase from September onwards is likely to involve a similar number of academic staff. An industrial action ballot will close on 30 June.

University of Edinburgh UCU members took strike action last week, as their employer refuses to rule out compulsory redundancies. Their next strike days will be in September. You can support UCU Edinburgh colleagues by donating to their hardship and fighting fund.

Lancaster University management is threatening to make deep cuts by axing over 200 academics, equating to almost one in five of the academic workforce. Overall, university management intends to get rid of 400 FTE staff by July 2026. Management argues it is making the staffing cuts because it wants to axe over £35m per annum. It has refused to rule out compulsory redundancies and is putting every single department and area of work at risk, leaving no part of the university unaffected.

Management at University of Surrey is planning to employ all future professional services staff through a subsidiary, which offers worse pay, pensions and conditions, and risks creating a two-tier workforce as well as threatening the strength of sector-wide pension schemes. Please sign this petition, which calls on Surrey management to halt the proposal, protect existing staff and start discussions on bringing current subsidiary employees into direct university employment.

University of Derby is going through mass redundancies following a voluntary scheme. UCU remains in consultation but the branch have set up a petition, and you can add your signature here. You can also click here to read latest coverage in BBC News.

University of Plymouth announced up to 200 jobs at risk with over 100 of these jobs being academic roles. Job losses will impact arts, humanities, business, science and engineering, as well as health particularly the social work and nursing programmes. You can show your support by signing this petition.

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

FE colleges: update on action and ballots

Havant and South Downs College UCU members were on strike for three days (13, 18, 19 June) following their recent successful ballot. They were taking action alongside colleagues from our sister union, NEU, in defence of job cuts and compulsory redundancies. We encourage UCU members across the country to sign this petition in solidarity.

At Truro & Penwith College, UCU members overwhelmingly voted to take strike action in defence of jobs and student provision. The dispute is over management's plans to axe up to 100 employees in redundancy plans.

Staff at Cheshire College South and West (CCSW) will take industrial action for four days in a dispute over pay. Staff across the three CCSW campuses in Crewe, Ellesmere Port and Chester will down tools on Monday 7 July and again on Thursday 21, Friday 22 and Tuesday 26 August.

Strike ballots, in separate disputes over pay, opened at Warrington and Vale Royal College and INTO Manchester, on Monday 23 June.

UCU members at Myerscough College in Lancashire are campaigning against plans to close the Witton Park campus in Blackburn, which have put 19 jobs at risk. The campaign has already won the support of the local council and the local MP, who has tabled an early day motion (EDM) in Parliament. UCU members are encouraged to sign and share the petition, and to ask their own MP to sign EDM 1464.

Academic boycott of Brunel University over mass redundancies

UCU declared an academic boycott of Brunel University London in response to the institution's continued pursuit of mass redundancies. The boycott began on Tuesday 15 April; Brunel UCU demands that 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.

For the latest developments please see the Brunel University UCU branch website.

Save the Skills Academy: protect UCU members' jobs, protect vulnerable learners

The Education Training Collective (ETC) must urgently reverse its decision to close the Skills Academy in Billingham. UCU is calling on ETC to protect this vital provision for vulnerable learners and guarantee the jobs of the dedicated staff who support them. Please see here for UCU's press release and sign and share this vital petition.

Casual vacancies on UCU's national executive committee

Nominations are now open for two casual vacancies on the national executive committee (NEC): one HE UK-elected member; one HE geographically-elected member (North East). The nomination deadline is Thursday 10 July at 17:00.

More information about this election, including branch circular and nomination form, can be found here.

Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) training session

Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) is hosting a divestment, reinvestment, and ethical finance training session for UCU members, to take place online on Tuesday 8 July. This is your opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge needed to campaign effectively and influence how your institution manages its investments. Click here for more information and registration.

English college membership body and college unions sign agreement for a just transition to a net zero future

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has reached agreement with college unions (UCU, Unite, GMB, NEU and Unison) for a just transition road map for colleges. The agreement lays out a local strategy for colleges to work towards a more sustainable future with a focus on playing a bigger role in the green economy and new skills. Click here for the full story and here for the Just Transition Framework webpage.

USS conditional indexation interim report, June 2025

Members may be aware that UCU, through our superannuation working group (SWG), has been engaged with Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) for some time to investigate Conditional Indexation. As part of this work, USS has just published an interim report and you can find the report on the USS website or download it directly here. You can also click here for information on the UCEA website.

UCU's pensions official (USS), Dooley Harte, has written a brief explainer which you can read here.

Results for UCU Congress 2025 ballots

The results of the ballots conducted at UCU Congress 2025, further education and higher education sector conferences have now been published on the UCU website.

CDBU draft code of ethical university governance

The Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU) is currently consulting over its draft code of ethical university governance. It is intended to sit alongside the Committee of University Chairs' (CUC) code and aims to provide more relevant help to current and future governors as they enact their role within the institution. CDBU is interested in views on their draft code and their consultation is open until Thursday 31 July.

UCU and Pride 2025

UCU is organising for presence at a number of LGBT+ Pride 2025 events. If you are interested in volunteering to help, please complete this form.

Welfare Not Warfare demonstration, 1 July

Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) will be organising a demonstration on Tuesday 1 July on the cuts to benefits and welfare which will have a disastrous impact for disabled people and their families. UCU general secretary Jo Grady has written to the Secretary of State for Social Security and Disability, expressing UCU's concerns.

We encourage all to attend this demonstration if you can, whether disabled or an ally, from 13:00 onwards at Old Palace Yard outside Parliament. The vote is expected to be in the early evening.

Workplace day of action for Palestine, and statement on Palestine Action

The 9th Workplace day of action for Palestine is taking place on Wednesday 2 July; please click here for more information. You can also click here for UCU's Ceasefire NOW! page which includes UCU's statements.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to which UCU is affiliated, has released a statement against the proposed ban on Palestine Action. UCU's policy, determined by delegates at UCU Congress, is to support the right to protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine (see for example motions 64 and 65 carried in UCU Congress 2025).