Resolution: Turn the tide on despair – Support the Summit of Resistance

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

University of Leeds UCU notes:

  1. The Labour government has continued cuts in pay, pensions and benefits with  more to come
  2. 15 months of genocide against the Palestinians has left 45,000 dead and Gaza in ruins.
  3. The growth of far-right parties like Reform in Britain and abroad, Trump in the states..
  4. The depth of the environmental crisis across the globe. 
  5. The We Demand Change: Summit of resistance conference on the 29th March.

We believe:

  1. The UK is a highly unequal society where the richest are getting richer while more and more working class people live in poverty. In 2024, the wealth of UK billionaires climbed by £35m every day. Labour should be taxing the rich.
  2. Starmer’s attacks on benefits, public services, pensions and pay drive working class communities further into poverty, leading to despair in working class communities allowing Reform UK to present themselves as the saviours of the working class. Racism divides the working class.
  3. That we need to unite the inspiring movements across Britain including the movement for Palestine, the anti-racist movement, the movement against austerity and the trade union movement to create a movement of hope.

We resolve:

To support and formally back the planned Summit of Resistance.

This resolution was carried by members of the branch at the ordinary general meeting 11 March 2025. The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting. The original motion was proposed by Megan Povey, moved by Megan Povey, seconded by Jenny Rivas Perez. The meeting amended the motion as proposed by Natalie Koptyko and seconded by Nigel Bubb. The resolution above is the text as amended.

Resolution of support for Stop the War

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

This branch notes:

  1. Keir Starmer’s announcement on 25 February 2025 of the ‘biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War’
  2. That Starmer has no mandate for increased military expenditure funded through cuts to public services or overseas aid, and that these increases will fuel an arms race.
  3. That Starmer’s pledge to increase military expenditure by £6bn per year (from 2.3 to 2.5 per cent of GDP) for the next four years (funded by cuts to overseas aid) and by a further £15bn per year to 3 per cent of GDP in the next term of a Labour government is a betrayal of communities and our welfare state at a time all public services are being depleted.
  4. That Starmer’s pledge to ‘translate defence spending into British growth, British jobs, British skills and British innovation’ is empty rhetoric, since UK military spending takes place through global supply chains dominated by US weapons manufacturers.
  5. That defence spending generates less jobs than spending in any other sector of the economy.

This branch resolves:

  1. To oppose increases in military spending put forward in 2025, including in the government’s ‘Strategic Defence Review’.
  2. To demand a ‘Peace Dividend Now’ by working with anti-poverty and anti-austerity campaigners for the £3 billion of additional nuclear military spending announced for 2025/2026 to be restored to fund essential social needs.

This resolution was carried by members of the branch at the ordinary general meeting 11 March 2025. The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting. The original motion was proposed by Megan Povey, moved by Megan Povey, seconded by Jenny Rivas Perez. The meeting amended the motion as proposed by Natalie Kopytko and seconded by Nigel Bubb . The resolution above is the text as amended.

Early by-election for department reps

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The recent announcement of a review of the university’s strategic plan by the vice chancellor means that the UCU committee believes it is now more important than ever to have UCU department reps in every area across the university.  Department reps are local contacts for members and keep the committee and officers up to date about what is happening in their area.  They are a vital part of healthy, sustainable branch.

To this end, the committee is bringing forward the normal by-election for department reps. Nominations are now open, and nominations will close 12pm midday Monday 24 March.

The committee is working with UCU regional office to arrange additional training for UCU reps.

Please think about who would be good to be a UCU rep for your department, including yourself! For example, someone that colleagues have confidence in, whose judgement they trust, and who is a good listener.

The deadline for nominations is 12pm Monday 24 March.

See below the list for more about the role and how to make nominations.

Department reps and remaining roles available

Professional services

Digital Education Service

Claudia Rogers, department rep

Remaining roles available:
1 health and safety rep

Human Resources including ODPL

Jenny Rivas Perez, department rep

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
4 health and safety reps

IT

Andi Rylands, department rep

Louise Marr, department rep

Remaining roles available:
4 department reps
6 health and safety reps

Library

Emily Haikney, department rep

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Lifelong Learning Centre

Rachel Walls, department rep

Remaining roles available:
1 health and safety rep

Research and Innovation Service

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
3 health and safety reps

Student Education and Experience (not otherwise listed)

(This covers all areas, unless listed separately, in Student Success and Educational Engagement, Student Curriculum and Operations, Student Experience and Support)

Simon Welsh, department rep

Remaining roles available:
4 department reps
5 health and safety reps

Professional services, except those listed separately

Remaining roles available:
13 department reps
13 health and safety reps

Facilities directorate

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
3 health and safety reps

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

School of Design

Eirini Boukla, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
3 health and safety reps

School of English

Tony Crowley, department rep

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies

Gill Park, department rep (equality)

Remaining roles available:
1 health and safety rep

School of History

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Languages, Cultures and Societies (except Language Centre)

Corinne Painter, health and safety rep

Fabio Sarranito, department rep

Ingrid Sharp, health and safety rep

Leah Wang, department rep

Ruba Khamam, department rep

Sarah Hudspith, health and safety rep

Sarah Waters, health and safety rep

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep

Language Centre

Angela Hume, department rep

Sara Montgomery, health and safety rep

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep
1 health and safety rep

School of Media and Communication

Helen Thornham, department rep

Joanne Armitage, department rep

Miriam Kent, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 health and safety reps

School of Music

Ewan Stefani, department rep

James Mooney, health and safety rep

Remaining roles available: none

Performance and Cultural Industries

ally Walsh, health and safety rep

Matty Elliot, department rep

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep
1 health and safety rep

School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (office / unless listed separately)

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep
1 health and safety rep

Faculty of Biological Sciences

School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
3 health and safety reps

School of Biomedical Sciences

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Biology

Chris Hassall, department rep (covering all the faculty)

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Faculty of Biological Sciences (office / unless listed separately)

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
1 health and safety reps

Faculty of Business

Faculty of Business (Leeds University Business School)

Abbie Winton, department rep

Alex Seehaus, department rep

Andreas Georgiadis, department rep

Gulbanu Kaptan, health and safety rep

Jane Holgate, department rep

Stefan Kesting, department rep and health and safety rep

Tao Jiang, department rep

Vera Trappmann, department rep

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
6 health and safety reps

Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences

School of Chemical and Process Engineering

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Chemistry

Lavinia Onel, department rep

Sandy James, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 health and safety reps

School of Civil Engineering

Barbara Evans, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
3 health and safety reps

School of Computing

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Mathematics

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
3 health and safety reps

School of Mechanical Engineering

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
3 health and safety reps

School of Physics and Astronomy

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (office and unless listed separately)

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep
1 health and safety rep

Faculty of Environment

School of Earth and Environment

Jonathan Busch, department rep

Natalie Kopytko, department rep

Valeria Tolis, health and safety rep

Remaining roles available:
6 department reps
7 health and safety reps

School of Food Science and Nutrition

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Geography

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
3 health and safety reps

Institute for Transport Studies

David Watling, department rep

Paul Timms, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 health and safety reps

Faculty of Environment (office / unless listed separately)

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep
1 health and safety rep

Faculty of Medicine and Health

Leeds Institute of Medical Research (LIMR)

Remaining roles available:
4 department reps
4 health and safety reps

Institute of Clinical Trials Research (LICTR)

Duncan Wilson, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
3 health and safety reps

Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM)

Remaining roles available:
4 department reps
4 health and safety reps

Leeds Institute of Health Sciences

Dan Howdon, department rep

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
4 health and safety reps

Leeds Institute of Medical Education

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM)

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

NIHR RDN CC

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
1 health and safety rep

Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA)

Remaining roles available:
1 department rep
1 health and safety rep

School of Dentistry

Nigel Bubb, health and safety rep

Remaining roles available:
3 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Healthcare

Remaining roles available:
Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Psychology

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Faculty of Medicine and Health (office and unless listed separately)

Remaining roles available:
4 department reps
4 health and safety reps

Faculty of Social Sciences

School of Law

Amanda Keeling, department rep

Carrie Bradshaw, health and safety rep

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

School of Politics and International Studies

Charlie Dannreuther, department rep

Lata Narayanaswamy, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 health and safety reps

School of Education

Richard Badger, department rep

Indira Banner, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 health and safety reps

School of Sociology and Social Policy

Claudia Raviden, department rep
Maria Rovisco, department rep

Remaining roles available:
2 department reps
2 health and safety reps

Faculty of Social Sciences (office / unless listed separately)

Remaining roles available:
1 department reps
1 health and safety reps

What does a UCU department rep do?

A network of department reps across the university is crucial for maintaining and increasing the strength of the union and ensuring the branch committee learns about problems in different areas.

UCU department reps are a point of contact for union members in that school, department, service or area, and they alert the branch committee to issues concerning members in their area.

Most, but not all, department reps also support members with individual problems at work (but only outside of their own department).  Department reps don’t negotiate with local management on behalf of the union – all consultation and negotiation with UCU is done centrally by the negotiating team.

Department reps will try to welcome new staff and make sure they know about the union.

You can find out more about the roles of UCU reps at ucu.org.uk/rep

Department rep roles

The committee changed the roles and boundaries changed for the 2024-2026 term of office, with the aim of members electing teams of reps to work together in their area.

See below for who your elected reps are and where there are still vacancies. (This is a by-election, which means you do not need to re-nominate reps who are already elected for 2024-2026.)

Instead of nominating for particular department rep roles or areas of focus (anti-casualisation, postgraduate, equality) these can be agreed later between the department reps elected. (Anyone taking a particular role is also still a general department rep.) This should give reps more flexibility if someone moves mid-term.

In a large department, if a rep wants, the website could list a specific work area to help members to find them and to decide who might best understand their issue. For example, a department rep for the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies might want to be listed with “(French)” after their name, but they would still be a rep for the whole school.

The number listed for health and safety reps includes workload reps. (You can specify “workload rep” or “health and safety rep” in your nominations if you wish but a health and safety reps can change focus to being a workload rep and vice versa, subject to appointment by the health and safety officer and appropriate training.)

Nominations

To nominate a colleague (with their agreement!) please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk, ideally include the word “nomination” in the email subject, saying, for example:

Dear UCU branch administrator

I wish to nominate James Smith for UCU department rep for the School of English

Yours faithfully

Maria García Sánchez

Each candidate needs two nominations by the deadline and to have confirmed by the deadline that they are willing to stand to be eligible for election. Nominations normally have to be from UCU members in the same department, but exceptions can be made for very small departments.

It would be helpful if candidates could arrange to be nominated by not more than two colleagues, copying you in so you know it’s been sent, as excess nominations create unnecessary work.

LeedsUCU podcast: branch news 28 February 2025

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

In today’s episode, recorded Wednesday 26 February 2025: committee by-elections, new casework officer, university strategic review, reviewing employment relations agreements and processes.

With Jenny Rivas Perez, Rachel Walls and Alan Smith.

If you prefer your union branch news direct to your ears, search for LeedsUCU wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe so you get notified about new episodes. 

See all the episodes and transcripts at https://www.leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/podcast/

To join UCU go to ⁠https://www.ucu.org.uk/join

Direct links to the LeedsUCU podcast 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ht1Iks9WPR6qbmGXXOXfS

Amazon Podcasts https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/1f16de89-30ec-444a-83ac-54bcbe0bcac6/leedsucu-podcast

Pocket Casts https://pca.st/pacoaeqd

Also available on Apple Podcasts

Transcript

Rachel

Hello! Welcome to the LeedsUCU podcast for members of the University of Leeds branch of the University and College Union. I’m Rachel Walls, one of your podcast hosts. I’m also a UCU department rep for Lifelong Learning Centre, branch committee member and saxophone or clarinet player in our occasional picket line band the Orchestrike!

Alan

And I’m Alan Smith, co-host for this podcast, and there’s a little bit missing from this script, which, it says, and also the branch administrator and organiser. We thought it would be useful for members of the branch to have an alternative channel for getting your local news because reading long emails or website posts is not everyone’s first choice.

Rachel

So we’re here to be a friendly voice from the UCU University of Leeds branch to keep you in better touch with what is going on, such as what the elected officers are working on and what opportunities there are for you to get involved in UCU discussions, socialising, activism and decision making.

[Brief music]

Rachel

For today’s podcast, which we’re recording on the 26th of February 2025, we have Jenny Rivas Perez to give us an update on Branch News. Hi, Jenny.

Jenny

Hi there.

Rachel

We have some committee elections going on and one has just finished.

Jenny

Yeah, that’s right. And I’m quite excited about this. So we have elections for an officer’s role – for the equality officer – and also elections coming up for committee member, new committee members. So we’ve had three people come forward who would like to be committee members and two people come forward for the role of equality officer. So we should be having some elections soon, they may even be ongoing when this podcast is published. And so we’ve got a new casework officer as well. So we had one candidate came forward. And that’s Jane Holgate, who’s been elected unopposed. And she’s a case worker with many years’ experience, so we’re really glad that we’ve got her, then she can start working on really the big strategic stuff and the things that we’ve got round about, case work, not just on the cases that we’ve got, but also in supporting the caseworkers and the in the role that they have there. So, she’s already getting started on that, I’m pleased to say.

Rachel

Excellent!

Alan

So on Tuesday this week, the branch had an extraordinary general meeting to focus on the university’s financial position and the crisis in student recruitment. Can you tell us a bit about the collective decisions that members of the branch took at that meeting?

Jenny

Yes. So at the EGM, we had five motions to get through in an hour and I’m quite pleased with myself that we managed to get through all five of them. So I’ll just give you a quick rundown of some of the things that came up there. So obviously what came out mostly from all of the motions is that members are concerned not just about the local problems that we’re having with student numbers and concerns about that, but also about the national crisis that’s going on in HE and redundancies and also the larger model that we’ve been working to in terms of recruiting larger and larger amounts of international students over, you know, a number of years and where’s that been going. So we had a motion that was about working and campaigning nationally on cuts and redundancies in HE and bringing in- working with the NUS on that as well because obviously it’s of concern to them. We had another which looks at the practical measures to improve recruitment, student recruitment and international student recruitment locally, and the conversion rates in the university. So there were a number of measures that they’ve put forward, the practical things that could be done. Another of the motions is a call for members to contact their local MPs about the crisis in HE. And then the 4th one that we had was another on pressing the university management to prioritise jobs and also to offer scholarships to boost increased opportunities for international and local students, and also campaigning against the hostile environment, so there’s some practical measures there, looking at the crisis. And then finally we had another which looks at the finances of the university and the values of the university. And has resolved that we should be asking for data on current and past admissions data and insisting that equality impact assessments are done ahead of any size and shape related changes which the VC was referring to in a blog back in January. So we would want to see that it’s want to see a equality impact assessment done before any changes were implemented by the university. So there’s quite a quite a lot of measures in there and ideas that were brought forward by staff so. They’re up on the website. And you can go and have a look at them, but you’ll be seeing things being brought forward by committee to implement what those motions have resolved to do.

Rachel

Great. Thank you, Jenny. So, what does the UCU committee know about the university management’s concerns and plans on this financial issue?

Jenny

So last week the trade unions attended a meeting with Sheara West, the VC, where she briefed us on the university strategy renewal ahead of its launch. So we’re – I’m speaking to you now on on …

Rachel

26th of February.

Jenny

Wednesday 26th of February, it was launched on Monday, 2 days ago. So we got sight of that late last week, before it was before it was sent out to the whole of the university. Given everything that else that is going on in the sector, the redundancies, the fall in international student numbers, the VCs own reflections on looking at the size and shape of the university, we are concerned. We will be meeting with the Deputy VC and the Director of Finance to be briefed on the finances on, I think it’s the second week of March. So we’ll see what is said then. With this approach to consultation the new VC’s taking over the next few months, we’d like to remain hopeful that there are solutions to the problems brought about by the fall in student numbers that are faced by the university. However, committee are also extremely mindful of what is going on in the wider sector and feel their approach should be to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. And so for that reason, we’re instigating a number of initiatives. We’ll be setting up working group looking at university finances. We’ll be setting up a working group looking at fundraising for our hardship fund. There will be information about these in coming weeks. We’ll probably talk a bit more about that at the next general meeting, which is on the 11th of March. And we’ll be asking members to come forward, particularly interested in members that have expertise in looking at finance. And there are other things that we’re doing. So there are a number of areas where we don’t currently have reps. And reps are a really important part of, you know, tool for organising in the university. So, we were planning on having rep by-elections in May, but we’re going to bring that forward so that we can get people in place and we can give them training that they might need as reps. And frankly, the more reps that the branch has on the ground, just the healthier it is for the branch, so that’s one of the things that we’re going to do. And we’ve had this push on filling officer and committee positions. So really this is the next phase in increasing the geographical spread of reps in different areas of the university. I can’t emphasise enough reps are very important. Do make use of talking to them, if you’ve got ideas, if you’ve got concerns. And you know, they are the people that talk to committee and raise things with committee so that we know what’s going on in the ground. And also that we can act on those ideas, if you’ve got them. Umm. I should also say that the meeting in on the 11th of March, we intend actually bringing in speakers from three of the universities. Across the country, who are currently out on strike, so we’ve asked for speakers from Dundee, Newcastle and Brunell. And it would be good for as many people as possible to come along to that meeting and show their support for, and listen to what those speakers have to say about the situations at their universities.

Alan

OK. And so segwaying from the importance of union reps, HR have come to the unions with plans to review employment relations agreements and policies and procedures with the unions. Where’s that coming from and what do we know so far about their proposals?

Jenny

OK, so this is something that I’m actually they’ve been signalling for a long time. It’s something that they’ve been wanting to do and in some ways we are also keen to talk to them about some things, about the time that caseworkers have – because currently we have – case workers do that role voluntarily, they are entitled to time off in order to carry out those union duties, however, it would be better if we could be bit more organised around the university and actually to free up time to allow people to do that important work. And other things that we’d like to talk to them about is facility time for officers. Obviously we have a lot of work that we’re doing. We spend a lot of time in meetings with HR and talking about policy and about change across the university and we all have day jobs as well, and there’s a lot of that work, so we need, really, some more facilities time for officers and to allow officers to do things like, perhaps, job share and sort of pool the way that we organise that kind of work in the branch, into the 21st century. So having that time to actually do that kind of flexible working as well would be a big help. So those are things that we really, really would like to get sorted out. HR wants to look at, they’ve told us, how we organise those meetings. So the meetings called HR-TU, which is the HR and trade union negotiating— … well, not negotiating meeting, but actually just discussion meeting. And also how we organise things like our actual negotiating meetings and things like the organisational change group meeting as well. So how all of those things they’ve put on the table that they would like to discuss. So there are some incentives for us, but we also are aware that they want to talk to us about our procedural agreements, which is our recognition agreement as well as the facilities time. So this project that they’ve that they’ve proposed to us it does look as if it’s going to be something which is going to be quite long and drawn out, and also, but actually, you know, committee hasn’t decided whether or not they want to take part in that yet. So that’s one that I’ll probably be talking to you about in the next podcast, whether we go ahead with this or not.

Rachel

OK. Thank you. So moving on to what’s coming up. What is next in the Leeds UCU calendar?

Jenny

Well, if you didn’t know already, having listened to this podcast because I’ve said it several times already and we’ve got an ordinary general meeting on the 11th of March where we’re hoping to have some speakers. It’s the deadline for motions. If you want to bring motions to that, that meeting is the is 12:00 on Tuesday the 4th of March. That’s seven days before. And if you want the branch to send a motion to UCU’s national Congress in May. This is the meeting to submit that motion to.

Alan

So if members want to raise issues, if they’ve got concerns, they’ve got things that they want the union to be aware of, or they want the union to do in relation to this. What should they do?

Jenny

OK, so it’s a difficult time, I get that and there are a number of things you can do. One of the things you could take the lead from one of the motions that was passed at the EGM, which is to write to your local MP about your concerns, I think that’s a really useful thing to do. The other thing is you could talk to your union rep and talk about your concerns there. And if you have, you know, local concerns about what’s going on locally that you think committee need to know, then please do talk to your rep, that can be passed on. And if you don’t have a local department rep, think about who you could talk to pass that on. It might be that you just get in in touch with the inbox, but it’s also you should maybe think about, you know, if you’ve not got a department rep, who would you like to be a department Rep? Who could you persuade to be your department rep? Somebody that’s, you know, that you think would be good at the role that you know would have your back basically. And then the next thing that you could think about doing is actually if you want the union to have a collective position on something is think about that 11th of March general meeting and write a motion for it. If you’ve never done that before, you can get in touch with us and we can help you to do that. So you just contact ucu@leeds, but there’s also if you don’t want to do that but you’re musing on how to do it, then actually there’s a really good advice sitting on our website as well about the mechanics of motions and how all of that works and how to put one together. And then I guess the other thing is that you could —  Nationally, there is actually a Stop The Cuts campaign, which brings me back round to writing to your MP because one of the first things that they ask you to do is to write to your MP, but there will be a week of action around that and perhaps we’ll talk a bit more about that at the next podcast.

Rachel

OK

Alan

So thanks Jenny for bringing us the branch news!

Rachel

Thanks Jenny!

Jenny

Thank you!

Rachel

[Brief music]

That’s all for today’s LeedsUCU podcast. Thank you for listening. Please subscribe on whatever platform you’re listening to us on so you’ll know as soon as we publish our next episode.

Alan

And if you’re not yet a member of UCU, head to ucu.org.uk/join to find out more if you work in the University of Leeds in an academic or academic-related professional and managerial role or as a postgraduate student doing paid teaching. Wherever you work, make sure you join the union for your workplace.

Rachel

This podcast is made on behalf of the Committee of the University and College Union, University of Leeds Branch. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail our branch office at ucu@leeds.ac.uk. See our website leedsucu.org.uk for alternative contact details and for a transcript of this episode.

Branch policy: university values and finances

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The following motion was carried at the branch extraordinary general meeting 25 February 2025 so is agreed collective policy (unless a more recent motion has superseded it). The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting and the approved minutes will be the correct version.

This branch notes that:

  • Our university values are compassion, inclusion, integrity and collaboration.
  • We are a multicultural campus with almost 15 000 international students
  • From 2014/15 until 2022/23 the number of Leeds students from the Gulf has been raising and was about 10% of all International students yearly
  • We are one of only 10 of the UK universities on the Gulf Coalition Against Normalisation (Gulf CAN) boycott list, in part due to repression observed on campus

This branch believes that:

  • The Gulf CAN boycott could have a significant negative impact on the University finances
  • The university should act in accordance to its values, including taking concerns expressed by unions and students seriously

This branch resolves to:

  • Ask university to provide current and past admissions data for comparison
  • Insist on university carrying out an equality impact assessment ahead of any ‘size and shape’ related changes, with UCU consulted during the assessment process
  • Insist on university protecting staff and students rights to freedom of expression and the academic freedom of staff as a part of conversation about the university financial situation

(179 words.) Proposed by Anja Komatar. Moved by Anja Komatar, seconded by Sinéad D’Silva. The motion was carried.

Branch policy: defend the HE sector at a time of crisis and ‘internationalisation’

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The following motion was carried at the branch extraordinary general meeting 25 February 2025 so is agreed collective policy (unless a more recent motion has superseded it). The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting and the approved minutes will be the correct version.

This branch notes:

  • the HE sector is in a funding crisis
  • that 1,000 job cuts have been announced across the sector, with announcements from 87 institutions
  • universities have become overly dependent on international student fees
  • the large gap between corporate-level pay for VCs and colleagues on low grades
  • the hostile environment for international students and their families makes the UK a less attractive destination
  • while UoL is currently not planning redundancies many colleagues on insecure contracts are already risking or losing their jobs

The branch believes that

  • the marketized model of HE weakens the sector threatening the value of education
  • the university should be truly open to international students as well widen participation from local disadvantage communities
  • an ‘extractivist’ approach towards applicants from developing countries is neither ethical nor sustainable
  • that the commoditisation of education has detrimental impact on worker conditions

The branch resolves to

  • contribute to UCU’s “Reclaim HE” campaign and demand a clear lobbying strategy to increase public funding for universities
  • demand ongoing consultation and transparent reporting on the University’s financial situation.
  • pressurise management to prioritise job saving and to cut inefficiencies
  • increase scholarship and opportunities for both local and international students
  • show active solidarity (donations/demonstrations) to other universities already affected by redundancies
  • campaign against the hostile environment, which is having a detrimental impact on our sector and worsen migrant students and migrant workers’ conditions

(227 words.) Proposed by Gabriella Alberti and Jane Holgate. Moved by Gabriella Alberti, seconded by Jenny Rivas Perez. The motion was carried.

Branch policy: members contact local MPs regarding the HE Crisis

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The following motion was carried at the branch extraordinary general meeting 25 February 2025 so is agreed collective policy (unless a more recent motion has superseded it). The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting and the approved minutes will be the correct version.

This branch notes the catastrophic crisis in UK Higher Education (UKHE), characterised by severe underfunding, unsustainable workloads, precarity and ongoing redundancies and course closures across the country. It also notes the Labour government’s wholly inadequate response to this crisis, need for decisive political action and detrimental impact on local communities.

This branch believes that urgent, concerted political action is required to address the gravity of this situation and pressure the government to take action. This must show the human cost of the cuts while highlighting the political, social and economic consequences. It must also highlight how the crisis to disproportionately affects vulnerable groups and creates long-term problems for this country’s global reputation.

This branch resolves to urge all members to write to their local MPs demanding:

  • Immediate and sustained government investment in UKHE to address the current funding crisis and prevent further job losses.
  • Government action to address unsustainable workloads and precarity, recognising that institutions may exploit these existing conditions to make unnecessary cuts.
  • Commitment to equitable access to HE for students of all backgrounds, acknowledging that cuts disproportionately harm educationally disadvantaged groups (e.g., especially through the closure of regional and post-92 universities, and arts and humanities subjects).

This action demonstrates members’ strength of feeling over the UKHE crisis, and sends a united message that the Labour government has failed to act sufficiently and must do so now to safeguard our profession and the future of education.

(240 words.) Proposed by Miriam Kent. Moved by Miriam Kent, seconded by Jenny Rivas Perez. Amended to remove editing error. The motion was carried.

Branch policy: improving student recruitment and conversion rate

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The following motion was carried at the branch extraordinary general meeting 25 February 2025 so is agreed collective policy (unless a more recent motion has superseded it). The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting and the approved minutes will be the correct version.

The 2024/25 postgraduate intake has fallen over 40%. Coupled with a decline in applicants’ conversion, this represents an unprecedented, major crisis of student recruitment. The University has lost its dominant position in all major. In the Business School alone, the conversion rate of last recruitment went down from 15% to 9%.

A steep increase in tuition fees have put the University of Leeds in a disadvantaged position. Centralisation of professional services has gradually removed the agency away from academics and currently prevents us from effectively promoting our programmes at a time when the University’s key competitors demonstrate greater flexibility and take swift, decisive measures.

The branch is worried about these developments and their potential impact on the University’s financial sustainability, academic and professional services staff.

This branch resolves to request from management three measures to take immediate action to improve international student intake for the next academic year.

First, we request to introduce conditional offers for international students as many other Russell Group Universities did and benefited from.

Second, we request to significantly extend the University’s scholarship provision to make Leeds more attractive for international students. The branch believes that scholarships are the most effective immediate measure that, if adopted promptly, could materially improve international students’ conversion to this recruitment cycle.

Third, we request to reconsider a heavily centralised approach to student recruitment and ensure active engagement of faculties with ad hoc faculty-based marketing professionals leading and assisting academic programmes leads in the design, management and implementation of recruitment activities.

Initial motion proposed by Vera Trappmann and Alex Seehaus. Moved by Vera Trappmann, seconded by Alex Seehaus. The motion was amended as proposed by Valeria Tolis, moved by Valeria Tolis, seconded by Jenny Rivas Perez. The motion above is as amended. The motion (as amended) was carried.

Branch policy: funding crisis

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

The following motion was carried at the branch extraordinary general meeting 25 February 2025 so is agreed collective policy (unless a more recent motion has superseded it). The text here is subject to approval of the minutes of that meeting and the approved minutes will be the correct version.

This branch notes:

There is a developing crisis in higher education funding largely due to a drop in the number of international students.

There are cuts and threats to jobs at a number of universities and ballots for industrial action with strikes planned in the next couple of months.

There is a lack of a joined approach by UCU nationally treating each dispute in isolation and not linking action on the ground to national campaigning on HE funding.

This branch believes:

The funding model in higher education is broken and needs a radical overhaul.

Increasing student fees is not the answer; fees should be scrapped and there should be a return to government funding of higher education as a social good.

We need a national campaign against redundancies in higher education and for a sustainable funding model that doesn’t bankrupt students.

This branch resolves to call on the UCU leadership to:

contact the National Union of Students with the aim of organising a national demonstration for the full funding of higher education and the scrapping of tuition fees in England;

classify all disputes in universities in the current period involving cuts and compulsory redundancies as disputes of national significance;

organise a conference against cuts and redundancies in higher education with the branches currently fighting cuts and redundancies, inviting delegates from all HE branches to raise solidarity and form a national campaign.

(231 words) Proposed by Simon Hewitt, seconded by Tasia Scrutton. Moved by Simon Hewitt, seconded by Jenny Rivas Perez. The motion was carried.

Branch casework officer elected

UCU University of Leeds Branch Posted on by

At the general meeting 29 January 2025 members voted to create a new role of branch casework officer.

Jane Holgate has been elected unopposed as the first member to hold this new role.

The branch casework officer role is about co-ordination of casework, identify trends and supporting the many UCU reps who support colleagues with casework.

If you need individual support from the branch please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk, or, if email is not accessible to you, leave a message on 0113 343 5904.