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Come and join in with finding out about the Together Alliance march against the far right which will take place in London on 28 March! There will be materials and info at the stall in the Rose Bowl cafe on Wednesdays 1230-130.

Wishing all Leeds Beckett UCU members a pleasant and restful Xmas break! All the best for 2026!

IMPORTANT: We are the University HE industrial action ballot is closing soon

In UK higher education, UCU is conducting an industrial action ballot involving 137 universities/higher education institutions (corresponding to 145 UCU branches).

This HE ballot is conducted as a postal vote, as required by law. There is no online option to vote.

The HE ballot is closing on Friday 28 November.

Ballot eligible HE members should have received postal ballot packs at their preferred mailing address. The postal ballot pack looks like this (pink, with UCU and Civica Election Services branding). HE members must then return their vote by post to Civica Election Services using the pre-paid envelope, like these two UCU members are doing (with thanks to University of Glasgow UCU).

If you still have your HE postal ballot in hand, please vote as soon as possible. Wednesday 26 November is the last ‘safe’ date to post the HE ballot.

If you have not received a HE postal ballot, you can request a replacement via this form–please note that this form is for HE only and will close on Sunday 23 November (23:59). You will need your unique UCU membership number which is 85177.

If you have already voted, please click here to let UCU know; this will be an enormous help with UCU’s ‘get the vote out’ activities.

*Urgent call for solidarity – No arrests on terrorism charges for peaceful protest in Leeds* As part of the Lift the Ban campaign which challenges the use of terrorism laws to suppress dissent, activists are planning a peaceful act of civil disobedience in *Leeds on 18 November at 1pm in Dortmund Sq*. Sign this open letter to call on the police *not* to make arrests and pledge to support legal defence campaign if anyone participating is charged. Please share widely https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/open-letter-no-more-arrests-for-peaceful-protest-against-the-ban-on-palestine-action

Please attend if you are able to!

In solidarity Leeds Beckett UCU

LBU Library Motion.

This branch notes:

• The proposed restructuring of the university library from 104.05 FTE to 89.21 FTE, threatens the roles, working conditions, and livelihoods of valued colleagues.
• The vital contribution of library staff in providing support to academic colleagues and students through front-line library provision, academic skills development, resourcing, research support and managing the university VLE MyBeckett.
• The contribution of library staff to the academic mission, student experience, and institutional knowledge.
• That UNISON represents most of the staff affected and has already raised concerns about the process and its impact.

This branch believes:

• That the restructuring presents a significant challenge to staff welfare and undermines the university’s commitment to staff wellbeing and academic excellence.
• That the removal of a dedicated Library Disability Support Team presents a risk to students with disabilities by removing expertise in that area.
• That the matched and assigned job roles present significant equality issues; of the 39 matched or assigned roles, 41% have been assigned to men, despite 65% of the library’s workforce being women. There have been no matched or assigned jobs to people of colour.
• That solidarity across unions is essential to resist damaging changes and protect our colleagues.
• That library staff deserve our full support in defending their roles and resisting detrimental changes.

This branch resolves to:

• Offer full solidarity to all library colleagues impacted by the proposed restructuring.
• Commit to joint working with UNISON, including coordinated campaigning, communications, and industrial strategy, following consultation with Unison members.

At the AMM we asked UCU members:

• What they are prepared to do in support of library staff?
• That they are willing to register a formal dispute with the university.
• That they support beginning a process of industrial action, up to and including strike action, in defence of library colleagues.
• To publicise the impact of the restructuring on staff and students, and challenge the university’s narrative through press, social media, and internal communications.

At our Branch meeting last week we agreed to support this march and to take our UCU banner along. We will be assembling at the Art Gallery from 12 onwards. Come and march with us! It is important that we have a strong showing, and help to carry the banner will be appreciated. Please note this is a solidarity march against racism and the far right, it is not a confrontation with the far right, so feel free to bring children too. 

VOTE YES 

Our demands are straightforward, reasonable and achievable. We are calling for:

• a pay uplift that is at least RPI + 3.5% or £2,500, whichever is the higher, on all pay points
• joint action to protect national agreements relating to terms and conditions of employment
• a national agreement to avoid redundancies, course closures, and cuts to academic disciplines across the sector.

The below inflation offer for 2025/26 of a 1.4% increase from UCEA, the employers’ body, translates into another real-terms pay cut and was imposed by almost all university employers from 1 August 2025.

We entered talks this year committed to working together for the sake of the sector, and to protect our members’ pay, working conditions, and jobs. Unfortunately, the employers’ final offer fails to value university staff and forces you to bear the costs of a failed market sector that employers themselves have championed at every turn.

This position simply cannot go unchallenged and winning the industrial action ballot is the only way we can do this.

Our sister unions in JNCHES (UNISON, GMB, Unite and EIS) are also balloting their members. This joint response will increase both our bargaining power and workplace solidarity.

The ballot of members covered by the JNCHES negotiating umbrella, conducted by post as required by law, is set to open in the week commencing Monday 20 October. It will run for approximately six weeks.  

When your ballot paper arrives:  Opens new window
• Vote YES to tell UCEA that you want negotiation, not imposition.

• Vote YES to call for the broken market system to change.

• Vote YES to call for decent pay, conditions, and job security for all university staff.

AGM

Our branch AGM will be taking place on 8^th June from 12-2pm. All members are encouraged to attend if you can (it will be online). An invite has been sent.

As part of the AGM, we will be announcing the officer roles for the upcoming academic year. Any UCU member is eligible to run for any officer role.

The available roles are –

Branch Secretary (or Joint Branch Secretary)

Treasurer

Chair

Vice Chair

Health and Safety Officer

Membership Officer

LGBT Officer

Womens Officer

Anti-Racism Officer

Sustainability Officer

Disability Officer

Case Work Co-ordinator

The deadline to formally stand for any of these roles is the 25^th May at midday. If you are interested in standing, please read below and complete and submit the nomination form.

All nominations to be received in writing (via email) to uculeedsbeckett@leedsbeckett.ac.uk no later than 12.00pm on the 25th May 2023 (14 days before the AGM). Nominations sent after this time will not be accepted.

If more than one member stands for any role (and they do not wish to share the role) there will be an election with the candidate with the most votes winning. Voting will be anonymous and will be conducted online between the 26th May and the 7th June. The successful candidate will be announced at the AGM at 12.00-2.00pm (online) on Thursday 8^th June 2023.

If only one candidate stands for a role (or if they wish to share the role) they will automatically be elected at the AGM.

Nominations must be accompanied by the written consent of the nominee and supported by 2 members of the branch and should also provide a short supporting statement (no more than 200 words). If you do not have a proposer and seconder your nomination will not be deemed valid.

If you need any further information regarding the roles or process, please contact uculeedsbeckett@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Nomination Form

Post nominated for __________________________________________

Name of nominee ___________________________________________

Name of proposer ___________________________________________

Name of seconder ___________________________________________

Supporting Statement

Date ____________________________________________________________

Please send your completed form to uculeedsbeckett@leedsbeckett.ac.uk by 12.00pm on the 25th May 2023