Unions

Diverging financial pressures are putting untold strain on common pay and pension arrangements. As recent pay awards constrain richer universities’ ability to reward their staff as they see fit while pushing others into further strife, might a breaking point be close? Tom Williams reports 

Employers say they will work with union on issues including contracts, workload and pay gaps – providing there is no ballot for industrial action

Case which could have significant influence on sector response to industrial action ‘jumps the first hurdle’

Survey respondents warn of misuse of process, inadequate consultations and impact on staff left behind

Pay negotiations ‘proceeding well’, administrators insist, amid argy-bargy on both sides of the Tasman

Call for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ is scarcely better than the ‘stop arming Ukraine’ motion that led to resignations a year ago, says Christopher Phelps

Universities must not use international education reforms as a smokescreen to jettison staff, Australian union says

It is heartening to have an education secretary who values universities as a public good, but public goods require public funding, says Jo Grady

Tories had wanted to extend legislation limiting impact of industrial action to higher education sector

Increasingly bitter relations could result in prolonged strike action in September

Industrial action turnout threshold set for axe, minimum service levels going nowhere, but new rules on zero-hours contracts on the way

Outcry after UCU motion claims landmark review into gender identity services for young people has ‘serious methodological flaws’

Increasingly bitter dispute focuses on claims of racism and broken industrial relations inside UK higher education union

Union demands parliamentary inquiry as instances continue to emerge

‘Constructive discussions’ reported in main sector union’s in-house industrial dispute

Strike dates organised to clash with briefings that general secretary had planned to outline her plans for her second term

Falling inflation and no strikes have taken the sting out of negotiations this year, but that hasn’t made reaching an agreement any easier

UCU says it has secured an average 15 per cent wage increase for supervisors at Cambridge, and pay raise of 14 per cent for some doctoral tutors at Sussex

Universities latest to see industrial disputes ramped up over plans to lose hundreds of jobs

Unite branch leads walkout, saying industrial relations in union are ‘broken’, just hours after general secretary delivers unity message in opening speech

In congress address, general secretary pledges to work to end in-house industrial dispute and to ‘hold Labour’s feet to the fire’

Surrey was one of only a handful of UK institutions that was found to have a negative flow of cash in its 2021-22 financial statements

Unite calling for independent investigation into institutional racism and how organisation is run

Public supports getting firms that hire graduates to foot higher education funding bill, says union research

The digital revolution is creating a sense of always being watched and judged in both teaching and research, say Chavan Kissoon and Terence Karran

Dozens of consultancy bigwigs feature in corporate-heavy council membership, according to union analysis

A quarter of modern institutions looking to shed upwards of 50 roles, with agreements on teaching loads and promotion also under threat, UCU survey finds

Further industrial action planned as union members try to resist wave of university cost-cutting

UCU members back more industrial action over job cuts at London institution but Northumbria dispute could soon end after compulsory redundancies ruled out

Legislation that places new conditions on union membership and funding already having an impact

Union branches accuse institutions of planning to breach agreement that protects research time and promotion prospects

Winchester, Surrey and Queen Mary latest to shed academic positions as industrial disputes heat up elsewhere

Incumbent’s narrow margin of victory does little to assuage critics of her first five years in charge of union 

Ewan McGaughey says ‘it’s not over’ after narrowly missing out on unseating incumbent Jo Grady

Incumbent run close by King’s College London professor Ewan McGaughey in poll

University of London institutions announce plans to restructure departments, affecting dozens of jobs

Panel claims its efforts have been met with ‘resistance, indifference, procedural setbacks and deliberate stalling’, in wake of THE article alleging discrimination against black workers

We won’t stop until staff and members in every branch, every department and every team feel that they are treated fairly and equally, says Jo Grady

Incumbent must overcome low turnout, member disillusionment and three challengers if she is to secure another five-year term in office

‘No less favourable’ provision a ‘major win’ for university staff or a handbrake on their salaries, depending on perspective

Staff warn of ‘stench of hypocrisy’ as union fails to address the issues it is campaigning on within its own office

Union and employer body clash on ways to prevent more industrial action as they appear in front of MPs investigating impact of last year’s marking boycott

Union members voting on who should be next general secretary, with incumbent under pressure from all sides 

Elitist, undemocratic activists’ revolutionary aspirations explain their enthusiasm for futile industrial action, say John Kelly and Adam Ozanne

Union ready to ‘robustly protect education’ amid widespread job cuts, as leader changes tone ahead of re-election battle

All but a handful of universities now tarnished by short-changing scandal, according to academic union

Delight and alarm in equal measures, as political manoeuvres and drafting technicalities limit both casual employment and its antidote

Commons Education Committee exploring whether institutions should adopt ‘standardised method of mitigation’

Union representing UCU employees hopes that decision will act as a ‘wake-up call’

Union members declare no confidence in vice-chancellor over proposed plan that would see closure of departments

With one dispute won but another floundering, some believe lack of strikes could actually benefit UK’s main academic union in latest talks with employers, but others are preparing to try to unseat the general secretary in an election that promises to be a ‘referendum on last five years’

The general secretary’s visibility makes her a natural target for discontent, but many of the blunders arose from committee decisions, says Dyfrig Jones

Union misses 50 per cent threshold for first time since holding sector-wide votes, leaving future of dispute in the balance

SCU decision the latest sign of doom for workplace agreements that lack union support

Union and employer association welcome delay to resolve ‘unintended consequences’

As the cuts to the USS scheme are reversed, the UCU’s battle for better pay and conditions goes on. Members must vote ‘yes’ to more action, says Jo Grady

Australian university to ‘review’ court’s dismissal of its appeal, as union urges it to abandon ‘stalling tactics’

Union says it is ‘committed to resolving this issue as a matter of urgency’ as Unite urges it to continue funding for postgraduate rights role

Staff union steps in to try to protect those responsible for mistakes, as anger grows among membership

Union mistakenly sends withdrawal notice to university amid confusion over who is and isn’t taking part in latest walkouts