UCU Left is committed to building a democratic, accountable campaigning union which aims to mobilise and involve members in defending and improving our pay and conditions and defending progressive principles of education.
UCU Congress 2025
Head over to our dedicated Congress pages to read our Congress Notes pamphlet and find out about our UCU Left fringe meeting: A World in Turmoil: War, racism and cuts – how do we resist? – at 7.15pm on Saturday 24 May at the Pullman Hotel.
Posts
- For a negotiated and fair settlement of the dispute with UniteLiz Lawrence – Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Secretary This year UCU members and staff prepared for Congress in the context of a long-running dispute between UCU as an employer and the UCU staff union, UNITE. At Congress 2024 the employment sector conferences didn’t happen due to industrial action by UNITE. We recognise and support the right …
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- Casualisation – a blight on post-16 educationChristina Paine (London Met UCU, NEC) and Cecily Blyther (Petroc UCU), both members of the Anti-Casualisation Committee Across the UK, the post-16 education model is broken as workers struggle under the weight of precarious contracts, redundancies, casualised job losses and impossible workloads. As working conditions continue to race to the bottom we must secure the casualised …
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- Welfare not Warfare: Defend Disability Benefits – Defend Our RightsRoddy Slorach (Imperial College UCU) and Christina Paine (London Met UCU and NEC) Keir Starmer’s government is in big trouble. Its strategy is already in tatters and its support is rapidly disappearing. Many voters are turning in desperation to the racists of Farage’s Reform UK. Labour’s answer is more scapegoating – of migrants, muslims and now …
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- Building anti-racist educationRegi Pilling – Westminster Kingsway College and NEC Racists and the far right have grown in confidence in the US, across Europe and in the UK. Last year, fascist Tommy Robinson organised several large, racist demonstrations under the name “Uniting the Kingdom”, where speaker after speaker claimed Britain was “under attack” from multiculturalism, Muslims and the …
- No more lip service on Racism – it’s time for action!Juliana Ojinnaka – Chair, UCU BMSC “The very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” – Toni Morrison As an education union, we have a pressing responsibility to combat racism. Under normal circumstances, this obvious statement would not …
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- Trans Rights Are Human RightsBee Hughes, LJMU UCU and LGBT+ Members’ Standing Committee On April 16th a group of women stood drinking champagne outside the UK’s Supreme Court in celebration of a ruling on the legal definition of ‘woman’. Many of us felt disappointed, upset and furious at such a callous display. Many of us cannot fathom the lack of …
- Organising for Palestine on campus: from repression to resistanceAnne Alexander, comms officer for Cambridge UCU and a member ofUniversity and College Workers for Palestine and BRICUP The past year has seen a significant escalation in repressive tactics by universities against protest for Palestine on UK campuses, mainly targeting students. Many UCU branches and activists have played an important role in building solidarity campaigns to …
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- Stop and reverse the cuts to Adult Skills FundsSafia Flissi, ESOL Lecturer at South and City College Birmingham and NEC The government’s recent announcement of a 6% cut in Adult Skills Funding (ASF) is yet another slap in the face for FE, ACE and our learners. Without resistance it will undoubtedly lead to mass course closures; making education inaccessible for many adults particularly those …
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- FE needs unity in action to improve fundingRichard McEwan (New City College) and Regi Pilling (Westminster KingswayCollege), both NEC and national FE pay negotiators The Starmer government has signalled its intent to continue austerity, cutting adult education budgets and slashing welfare and disability payments relied on by many students and staff. The DofE is recommending a 2.8% pay award, but it’s unfunded meaning …
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- From Boom to Bust to Fightback? We need to mobilise our members to defend the UniversitySean Wallis – London Regional Secretary After 15 years of seemingly limitless market-led expansion of Higher Education, the UK university sector is facing the biggest crisis in its history. It is worth briefly remembering how we got here. Any solution to the crisis has to talk about how we get onto a stable financial footing, and …