The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
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ucudmu.bsky.social
The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
@ucudmu.bsky.social
130 followers 210 following 42 posts
Defend DMU!

ucu@dmu.ac.uk
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Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
qmucu.bsky.social
We need a mandate, because managers and their consultants have pivoted the purpose of our institutions from research & education to prioritising financial gain over everything.

Enough.

Staff and students need to be central in the decision-making processes and priorities again.
#SaveHE #WeAreTheUni
We are the university. Staff need each other; staff need visibility; staff need a voice. We need a seat at the table. Managers are actively playing divide and rule – leaving individual staff fearful for their jobs and entire departments anxious about their futures. We've proven we're stronger when we work together. This ballot is to go out with all unions in the sector. Staff are treated as a ‘payroll problem’, not the people who make institutions. We’re pushed aside because the harm to our livelihoods and wellbeing does not register in the metrics used to measure the ‘success’ of the sector. Action makes us visible. External consultants & senior managers hopping between institutions have distorted universities’ priorities. They are changing what a university is and have actively shut out staff from the decision-making processes and information on which governance is based. We reprioritise by retaking the initiative.
November 6, 2025 at 10:49 AM
ucudmu.bsky.social
There are a series of petitions relevant to the troubling situation at our fellow East Midlands institution, please do sign them if you can
November 7, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
uhertfordshireucu.bsky.social
Meanwhile, at last report, the University had cash including short-term deposits of £139.4 million.

For all these reasons and more, vote YES in UCU’s national ballot – a strong mandate is the only way VCs will begin to take fair pay and conditions seriously.
we are the university vote yes
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
ucunorthumbria.bsky.social
From a @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social member: "it is wrong to frame this as saying staff will have options, when all options correspond to a significant reduction from the status-quo, and the status-quo corresponds to decades long losses in academic pay. This endangers the future of the UK academia."
timeshighered.bsky.social Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 4d
Northumbria University attempts to move employees to cheaper pension scheme to bring down sky-high contribution rates
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/northumbria-freeze-staff-pay-if-they-refuse-switch-pensions
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 AM
ucudmu.bsky.social
We remind all members that we want to have a large show of solidarity - as large as possible - for our colleagues across the city. Please join us next Wednesday!
leicesterucu.bsky.social Leicester UCU @leicesterucu.bsky.social · 12d
UCU (@ucu.org.uk) has called a national demonstration against the planned redundancies at the University of Leicester.
Please come and march alongside us in Leicester on 12 November.
All welcome!
November 4, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
uonucu.bsky.social
Be like Lenka from UoN and Marek from @ducu.bsky.social! Cast your ballot in @UCU.org.uk's national industrial action campaign today!
A photograph of two people placing their ballots in a post box
November 3, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
ucu.org.uk
At a time when our society sees so much division, we need our colleges more than ever.

Yet FE funding has fallen by 60%, and staff earn less now than they did 20 years ago.

Vote YES for fair pay and to keep the colleges that hold our communities together.
#NewDealForFE
November 3, 2025 at 2:18 PM
ucudmu.bsky.social
Another story about university leadership appears in the Leicester Gazette:

www.leicester.news/de-montfort-...
De Montfort University threatened to report staff to Prevent in response to online meeting
Exclusive: the troubled university is facing allegations of stifling free speech, in yet another spat over job cuts
www.leicester.news
October 24, 2025 at 1:44 PM
ucudmu.bsky.social
DMU UCU is sad to announce the passing of Alan Ryan, our former branch chair and a beloved colleague and comrade to many. Please see the link below for information on funeral arrangements.

alan-james-ryan.muchloved.com
Tribute to Alan Ryan, 1954 - 2025
Dedicated to the memory of Alan Ryan
alan-james-ryan.muchloved.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
lboroucu.bsky.social
The @ucu.org.uk "We are the University" ballots will be posted to members on Monday. Look out for a pink envelope at your registered address arriving next week. We encourage all members to vote and make their voice heard. #WeAreTheUniversity #LboroUCU
October 17, 2025 at 11:10 AM
ucudmu.bsky.social
Private Eye once again reporting on the DMU leadership. Credit to the Leicester Gazette @leicestergazette.leicester.news who first broke the story.
October 1, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
leicesterucu.bsky.social
Day 2 - more sunshine and happy faces on the pickets!
September 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
jchoonara.bsky.social
Superb Rally Against Redundancies at the University of Leicester, with hundreds of staff, students and supporters. @leicesterucu.bsky.social begins its strike on Monday.
September 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
ucudmu.bsky.social
Our branch is proud to stand with our colleagues at @leicesterucu.bsky.social
Image of a UCU protest at the university of Leicester featuring a number of picket signs image of a protest at the University of Leicester featuring a student banner reading "students and staff unite and strike"
September 24, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
uonucu.bsky.social
Strike starts TODAY!!!

Branch members will be picketing from 8 to 11 today, tomorrow, and Wednesday at UP's west, south, and north entrance and Jubilee's main entrance on Derby road.

Come show your support!

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE
uonucu.bsky.social University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · Sep 15
Strike action is ON!!!

Next week will be the first of 4 weeks of striking from our members as we continue to say NO to the compulsory redundancies forced on us by the university for their poor financial choices.

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE
September 22, 2025 at 6:33 AM
ucudmu.bsky.social
Our friends at @leicesterucu.bsky.social are holding a rally tomorrow at 1pm. All DMU UCU members who are in the area, please consider stopping by to show solidarity!
September 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
uniteucu.bsky.social
Do you want to know how UCU senior management has responded to UCU branches calling on them to remove their threat of deductions? This is how.

How would you react?

uniteucu.wordpress.com/2025/09/12/u...
Screenshot of email from UCU management which reads: ASOS Attendance Form - New Weekly Survey Starting Monday 22 September, all staff will receive an email with a link to the new ASOS attendance form. This short weekly survey is mandatory for all staff, whether you were on ASOS or not. Please make sure to complete it each week, failure to do so may result in pay deductions. The cut off each week will be Friday at 5pm.
September 22, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
leicesterucu.bsky.social
Leicester UCU will be on strike from Monday 29 September until Friday 17 October.
Support our striking members, donate to the fighting fund if you're able.
More details here: www.uculeicester.org.uk/leicester-uc...
September 19, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
brookesucu.bsky.social
Our branch secretary, @stuartwhigham.bsky.social, explains why our members should vote yes ❌ and yes ❌ in the local ballot. Stuart outlines the impact that wider cuts to workload tariffs will have on our Associate Lecturer colleagues.
September 16, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
uonucu.bsky.social
Strike action is ON!!!

Next week will be the first of 4 weeks of striking from our members as we continue to say NO to the compulsory redundancies forced on us by the university for their poor financial choices.

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE
September 15, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
ucu.org.uk
Staff at @uniofleicester.bsky.social to strike for three weeks over plans to slash hundreds of jobs

www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicest...
Three weeks of strikes announced for university staff
Entire degrees could be axed
www.leicestermercury.co.uk
September 15, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
qmucu.bsky.social
As a union, we have been fighting employers’ attempts at making 100% pay deductions for ASOS legal since 2019. As a branch, we’ve been at the forefront of that fight since 2022.

Our own union going against our policies, workers’ interest, and legal cases hurts.

Letter: qmucu.org/2025/09/12/l...
QMUCU branch committee statement. We learnt with dismay about UCU Senior Managements’ threats of 100% pay deductions for Actions Short of Strike against Unite UCU members. We oppose these threats in the strongest of terms. They breach union policy voted on in congress. They replicate the worst employers' practice. They contravene our legal work challenging ASOS deductions. We express our solidarity with Unite UCU and call on UCU senior management to revoke these threats, protect all workers from disproportionate deductions, and negotiate with Unite UCU without preconditions.
September 12, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by The UCU branch at De Montfort University Leicester
froschlein.bsky.social
We don’t want to strike. We want managers to sit down with us so we can work together to find alternative solutions!
leicesterucu.bsky.social Leicester UCU @leicesterucu.bsky.social · Sep 12
Leicester UCU will be on strike from Monday 29 September until Friday 17 October.
September 12, 2025 at 10:19 AM
ucudmu.bsky.social
This would surely be dependent on retaining all the academic staff across both institutions?
September 11, 2025 at 3:37 PM
ucudmu.bsky.social
Thanks again to @leicestergazette.leicester.news for following up on this story. £5m spent on consultants.

www.leicester.news/de-montfort-...
De Montfort University spent over £5m on consultants in five years
Exclusive: Campaigners question why huge sums are being handed to multibillion-pound companies when staff's jobs are on the line
www.leicester.news
September 11, 2025 at 12:14 PM