The branch’s annual general meeting is coming up fairly soon, Thursday 1 May 12.45pm – 2pm (on Zoom). Nominations are now open for the branch committee for the academic year 2025-2026. (Not to be confused with the current by-elections for department reps and current committee vacancies). All committee roles are elected each year (except the ‘immediate past president’). Get your nominations in! The deadline for nominations to the committee is the day before the AGM…

HESC believes:  UCU should support clear, evidence based policy to prevent abuses of power in HE, which must account for intersectional power relations  Clarity on staff-student relationships protects both staff and students HESC notes: Regulatory requirements on harassment and sexual misconduct in effect in England from August 2025  most students are uncomfortable with staff student relationships HESC resolves to:  Consult with UCU’s Equalities Standing Committees and Anti-Casualisation Committee, NUS, 1752 Group, and…

Sector conference notes: Endemic:discrimination, bullying, boundary crossing and sexual violence within and between institutions. abuse of early career researchers including plagiarism of ideas by academics in secure staff positions, encouraged by funder’s recommending seniors lead on early career ideas. Institutional policies protecting staff who abuse collaborators from other institutions. Sector conference believes: The right to freedom from abuse at work is universal. Abusers should not be immune to claims from…

UCU Congress notes: The successful second Campus Voice for Palestine speaking tour that took place in November 2024 with Sundos Hammad (Birzeit University and Right to Education Campaign). The tour organised by British Campaign for Universities in Palestine (BRICUP), University Workers for Palestine in conjunction with the Emergency Committee for Universities in Gaza and the Right to Education Campaign and financially underpinned by UCU. UCU Resolves to: Authorise up to…

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

This branch notes: Keir Starmer’s announcement on 25 February 2025 of the ‘biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War’ 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. That Starmer’s pledge to increase military expenditure by £6bn per year (from 2.3 to 2.5 per cent of…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…