The UCU National Executive Committee election results are in and there has been "a near clean sweep" for UCU Commons and allies. Because of the election of two current members of NEC to officer posts, there are two casual vacancies which will be filled after (by-) elections but we can see what the breakdown is like. UCUC and allies hold twenty of the currently occupied forty seats on the Higher Education Committee, which means they should be able to do as they please on many matters, and form a solid block of support for the General Secretary.

Last week, on Wednesday 19 February, a special meeting of UCU’s Higher Education Committee was held to decide whether or not to proceed with a ballot on industrial action over pay. Members of…

Short version: even if the ballot happens, it will be too late for industrial action this year; there are no proposals for anything else; branches will have to look out for themselves. Next week, on 19 February, two members of a UCU faction are bringing a motion to a special meeting of the union's Higher Education Committee. For convenience, I reproduce it here:

The question is now being raised of whether or not UCU can take UK-wide strike action over the wave of redundancies at Higher Education institutions. At the time of writing, there is a live decision to ballot for industrial action over pay, which has yet to be implemented or formally reversed, and there are demands for UK-wide strikes to resist the redundancies which are already happening.

This year, unusually, a "constitutional" issue has become important in a UCU election. The question of the union's democracy and its structures has been raised as a dividing line, in particular between the two candidates for Vice-President Rhiannon Lockley of UCU Left,and Dyfrig Jones supported by UCU Commons, respectively. UCU Commons have also distributed a contribution to the debate from…

Earlier today, members of UCU in Higher Education received an email from the General Secretary: We wanted to provide an update on what is happening in the national industrial action ballot on pay.  As you may be aware, UCU's higher education committee (HEC) backed a ballot on pay in December 2024, which was expected to take place early in the year, aiming to take industrial action before Easter.

The bosses' rag reports today that "as university deficits continue to grow, prompting ever more redundancies, more universities seem likely to resort to subsidiary hiring". In particular, post-92 universities which are obliged to enroll staff on the Teachers' Pension Scheme, are getting round that requirement by employing new staff in subsidiary companies: if a member of staff is not technically employed by you, you have no obligation to give them the rights of an employee.

On 3 December 2024, UCU issued a statement on immigration saying, among other things, In reality, Tory immigration restrictions did great harm to crucial British sectors, higher education not least among them. Such damage has been compounded by Labour's refusal to change course. Britain's world-leading universities, for example, are now much less appealing for international students thanks to cruel, family-separating visa restrictions.

In the arguments about a possible hybrid UCU Congress this year, there has been discussion of electronic voting, which is occasionally put forward as a means of speeding up the voting at Congress and reducing the time spent on recounts or disputes over counts. The main objection to electronic voting is that it is undemocratic because delegates should not be able to vote in secret, given that they represent branches and not only themselves.

When I wrote previously about the UCU Higher Education Committee decision to ballot for industrial action on pay this calendar year, I questioned the argument made by some people that the Terms of Reference on non-pay issues were an opportunity to improve working conditions and that we squandered this opportunity when the employers withdrew them after the HEC decision to ballot…

Last week, UCU's Higher Education Committee decided that the union would ballot for industrial action on pay in the new year, after members in Higher Education rejected the employers' offer in an online consultation. On a 27% turnout, 53% of those voting indicated they were prepared to take industrial action. In response, the employers have decided to "withdraw the terms of reference for joint work and the other aspects of our offer beyond the implemented pay award…

I have been an active trade unionist in higher education for more than twenty five years, as a caseworker, branch officer, regional chair, negotiator, and NEC member. I am a migrant and I drafted and moved the motion which led to the first extension of the union's legal scheme to immigration issues. I am not a member of any faction in UCU.

I have been an active trade unionist in higher education for more than twenty five years, as a caseworker, branch officer, regional chair, negotiator, and NEC member. I am a migrant and I drafted and moved the motion which led to the first extension of the union's legal scheme to immigration issues. I am not a member of any faction in UCU.