At the UCU stall at the National Stress Awareness Day event, 7 November in Parkinson Court, we asked people what they thought were the causes of stress for them. Many staff said job security was the main cause of stress, and many staff and students said money was the main cause of stress. The overwhelming majority of staff and students said workload is the main cause of stress.

UCU is campaigning to reduce workloads, but we’re facing opposition from senior management, some of whom are very dismissive, claiming they don’t think there is a widespread problem.

We’re setting up a new network of UCU workload reps to investigate and provide more evidence to show university senior management that they need to reduce workloads for the sake of staff health and safety and so we can all have a rewarding life outside of work. 

Find out who your UCU workload rep is, and, if there isn’t one, discuss with colleagues who would be a good UCU workload rep for your area: leedsucu.org.uk/about-us/departmental-representatives

If your workload is too high and you would like support from UCU to try to reduce it, contact ucu@leeds.ac.uk to request a UCU caseworker.