樱花动漫

Strike action at University of Dundee over job cuts

On Monday 24 February, 樱花动漫 members at the University of Dundee began fifteen days of strike action over the university's threat to cut jobs including by the use of compulsory redundancies. Staff at the university will continue to strike each weekday for the next two weeks.

The dispute started after the university principal emailed all staff in November 2024 saying that, without any warning signs, university senior management had allowed the university to run up a 拢30m deficit. The principal and other senior managers subsequently resigned from the university.

You can  and send messages of solidarity via email.

Strike action at Brunel and Newcastle universities

Brunel University of London began strike action from Friday 28 February; click here for the full strike schedule. The dispute at Brunel arose over management's original plans to make 135 academic staff redundant.

Newcastle University staff will strike for 14 days in March unless management protects jobs. The dispute is over management's threat to cut 拢35m, including 拢20m from its salary bill, equivalent to around 300 jobs. Yet the university is looking to open a campus in India while making these huge cuts at home.

Stop the Cuts: fund Higher Education NOW!

The crisis in higher education is deepening. One in two HE institutions are now cutting jobs or announcing redundancies. This is unsustainable and we need urgent government intervention. 

That is why 樱花动漫 is launching the  next week. We ran a briefing session on Wednesday 19 February for branch reps and 樱花动漫 members to learn about the campaign, what everyone can do to take part, as well as upcoming campaigning and lobbying activities. .

We are also organising a rally and parliamentary lobby on the afternoon of Tuesday 18 March so that we can make our voices heard in public and tell MPs directly why urgent action is needed. Branch officers have received further information about this event.

New Deal for FE: share the video, sign the petition

On Friday 7 March, a 樱花动漫 delegation will present  to employers' representatives at the Association of Colleges (AoC) and will also complete our submission to the . Local 樱花动漫 college branches will be holding local activities to coincide with the national submission on 7 March.

Over 5,600 supporters have now signed the petition calling for a New Deal with pay parity with schoolteachers, national bargaining and action on workloads. Over the next week we need to build the biggest possible number of signatures to the petition. You can help by  with friends and colleagues and asking them to .

樱花动漫 elections 2025

樱花动漫 has a national executive committee (NEC), elected by the union's members. The elections take place annually, and the ballots to elect Trustees, vice-president, honorary treasurer and NEC members will close on Monday 3 March (17:00). Election results are expected to be available by the end of the day on Thursday 6 March.

Democracy in your union: 樱花动漫 members' survey

樱花动漫 has commissioned the  to carry out research into members' thoughts and experiences of the union's democratic structures. Members would have received an email from LRD Surveys this week; the survey is open until Monday 10 March.

Northern Ireland FE pay and conditions dispute

樱花动漫 has declared a formal trade dispute with all six college employers in Northern Ireland after they failed to honour the terms offered to members in the 2023/24 pay settlement. A commitment to achieving full pay parity with schoolteachers, as well as an agreement to address all terms and conditions and workload of academic staff, has been reneged on. The employers have failed to respond to union correspondence and requests for meetings. Notice of intention to ballot will quickly follow.

Industrial action ballots at Cardiff, Sheffield and Durham universities

Industrial action ballots opened on Monday 24 February at and University of Sheffield in disputes over job cuts. There are currently over 400 members of staff at risk of redundancy in Cardiff, while at Sheffield plans from management are threatening as many as 1,000 staff with redundancy.

Durham University 樱花动漫 members are set to be balloted for strike action over plans by management to cut 拢20m from the university's staffing budget. The ballot will open from Tuesday 4 March.

Finally, please support the following branches where 樱花动漫 members in higher education are also continuing to defend jobs and education, for example , Birmingham City University, Canterbury Christ Church, University of East Anglia, Edinburgh, Kent, Northampton, University of Sheffield International College and University of Sunderland.

Support 樱花动漫's petition: remove Coventry University vice-chancellor from government role

Coventry University is putting 340 people at risk of redundancy. About a third of them will be sacked and the rest have been told they can apply for jobs in a subsidiary company. However, these jobs will mean they work longer hours, with less annual leave and sick pay entitlements and no access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS).

The Government have vowed to outlaw 'fire and rehire' tactics but instead they have rewarded the Coventry vice-chancellor John Latham with an advisory role on the board of the Department of Business and Trade. We do not think this accords with the Government's stated values. 樱花动漫 urge all members to .

Who do you think should lead universities?

All UK university staff: who do you think should lead UK universities? Please provide your views on whom are best placed for vice-chancellor roles .

This survey is being administered by researchers at the Centre for Higher Education Transformations (CHET) at the University of Bristol. It has received full ethical approval for distribution.

The Minister for Skills answers your questions

At the end of January, 樱花动漫 general secretary Jo Grady met with the Minister of State for Skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern. This was an opportunity to put 樱花动漫 members' concerns about the state of UK universities, and what the Labour government should urgently do about the sector, directly to the minister. .

Research staff manifesto launched

At last weekend's annual meeting for staff on casual contracts, we launched our new Research staff manifesto and accompanying branch guidance. The documents were developed with input from research staff across the United Kingdom and it is hoped that the manifesto can form the basis for local claims and be something the union can campaign around locally and nationally. You can also read the press release here.

樱花动漫 anti-casualisation committee: places still available

We are looking for members to make up our anti-casualisation committee (ACC) for the forthcoming year. If you are employed on any sort of casualised contract (fixed-term, hourly-paid, zero hours etc.) we would love to hear from you. There are places for both FE and HE members; members from adult education and prison education are particularly encouraged to apply. Full details are available here and the deadline is Friday 7 March.

Cradle to Grave 2025 conference, 29 March

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This annual conference is a chance for members to gather together to discuss some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the sectors where we organise. The theme of this year's conference is 'Education for liberation: building progressive post-16 education policy', and the confirmed keynote speaker is Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East.

The conference will be run as a hybrid event, with options to attend in person at the  or online via Zoom. We expect spaces for the in-person event to fill up quickly so . The deadline to register is Thursday 13 March; the conference is free to attend.

樱花动漫 Green rep survey

樱花动漫's climate and ecological emergency committee (CEEC) would like to understand from Green Reps how best we can support you to progress a Just Transition and Climate bargaining agenda in your branches, and specifically how we can move towards a proactive 'bargaining for the future' strategy. . It should take around 10 minutes to complete.

樱花动漫 Green Futures newsletter Winter 2025

Welcome to the first edition of Green Futures, which is the newsletter of the Climate and ecological emergency committee (CEEC).

In this quarterly edition:

• Meet the 樱花动漫 climate committee: who we are
• CEEC annual meeting report
• GKN Florence updates
• Green reps and branch survey
• FE Just Transition framework briefing.

Click here to download the 樱花动漫 Green Futures newsletter Winter 2025 edition, and you can also .

International Women's Day, 8 March

Join 樱花动漫 in celebrating International Women's Day (IWD) on Saturday 8 March. This year's campaign theme is Accelerate Action and we have a new wallchart depicting women's fight for equality since the first International Women's Day. This is available on our website. Hard copies are also available on request, along with new IWD lanyards, by emailing Martin Whelton or Charlotte Nielsen.

Pride and Prejudice in Education 2025

樱花动漫 is updating the Pride and Prejudice in Education report about LGBT+ experiences in FE and HE (2016). . Please do share the survey as it is for all LGBT+ FE and HE staff and students/learners. The chief investigator is Dr Kieran Higgins based at Ulster University.

Union and leading campaigners condemn University of Cambridge attempt to quash peaceful protest

樱花动漫 joined Liberty and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in condemning an attempt by the University of Cambridge to place legal restrictions on all pro-Palestine protests for five years through an application to the High Court for an injunction, due to be heard on Thursday 27 February.

樱花动漫 said the move by Cambridge bosses was a shameful attack on basic democratic rights including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and risked setting a repressive legal precedent which could be used to shut down peaceful protest at universities across the country.  

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, 25 March

Tuesday 25 March marks the , and 樱花动漫 will be hosting a special webinar that day (18:00-19:00).

The webinar is entitled 'Education, reparations and justice: the legacy of slavery in post-16 learning'. Our keynote speaker is , academic and researcher in the field of equalities and social justice, and the webinar is hosted by 樱花动漫 president Maxine Looby. .