Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

York College UCU

@yorkcollegeucu.bsky.social

120 followers 170 following 3 posts

We represent and support @ucu.org.uk members at York College. Staff working conditions are student learning conditions.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

York College UCU @yorkcollegeucu.bsky.social · 1d

Pay erosion in FE makes all of our jobs harder. Dedicated colleagues leave our workplaces every year and we have to do more with less.

Vote YES ✅

Academic staff 🤝 Support and Professional Services staff

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 1d

Staff in FE need real change now

Pay has fallen by a third in real terms while workloads have become unmanageable

Vote YES for a Better Deal for FE ✅

2 1

Reposted by York College UCU

UCU Equality @ucuequality.bsky.social · 1d

Job insecurity, discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and unmanageable workloads are all barriers to good mental health. Take time out for yourself! Look after your mental health

8 11

York College UCU @yorkcollegeucu.bsky.social · 1d

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 1d

Staff in FE need real change now

Pay has fallen by a third in real terms while workloads have become unmanageable

Vote YES for a Better Deal for FE ✅

2 1

Reposted by York College UCU

uculondonoffice.bsky.social @uculondonoffice.bsky.social · 1d

The Countdown has started

Ballot starts next Monday, 13 October: VOTE YES to put pressure on the employers to negotiate the settlement we need in FE

VOTE YES for a New Deal for FE www.ucu.org.uk/article/1419...

VOTE YES for a New Deal for FE

Members in around 70 further education college employers in England are to be balloted for industrial action following an inadequate offer for 2025-26 from employers' representatives.

www.ucu.org.uk

3 3

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 3d

Ballot papers are landing!

Ballots open on the 13th!

Vote YES for fair pay, safe workloads and binding national agreements.

This is our chance to win.
#VoteYes #NewDealForFE

9 10

Reposted by York College UCU

UCU Yorkshire & Humberside @ucuyorkshire.bsky.social · 2d

The #UCU #NewDeal4FE ballot opens on Monday 13 October. What's the dispute about?

2 2

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 3d

🗳 From 13 Oct, members in around 100 FE branches will be balloted for industrial action.

The AoC’s 4% offer fails to fix low pay, unmanageable workloads or broken bargaining.

VOTE YES for a #NewDealForFE 💪
✅ Fair pay
✅ Manageable workloads
✅ Binding national bargaining

5 5

Reposted by York College UCU

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · 18d

Do you want to know how UCU senior management has responded to UCU branches calling on them to remove their threat of deductions? This is how.

How would you react?

uniteucu.wordpress.com/2025/09/12/u...

Screenshot of email from UCU management which reads: ASOS Attendance Form - New Weekly Survey
Starting Monday 22 September, all staff will receive an email with a link to the new ASOS attendance form. This short weekly survey is mandatory for all staff, whether you were on ASOS or not. Please make sure to complete it each week, failure to do so may result in pay deductions. The cut off each week will be Friday at 5pm.

2 16 12

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 22d

“To truly deliver a new deal for FE, the AoC needs to come forward with a package of measures. UCU members demanding fundamental change are prepared to take action to achieve our aims.”

@DrJoGrady on the 4% pay recommendation

feweek.co.uk/staff-pay-re...

AoC: Pay recommendation unaffordable for 'many' colleges

Colleges with significant adult provision will find it 'impossible' to give 4% pay rise

feweek.co.uk

3 1

Reposted by York College UCU

University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 25d

Strike action is ON!!!

Next week will be the first of 4 weeks of striking from our members as we continue to say NO to the compulsory redundancies forced on us by the university for their poor financial choices.

#StopTheCuts #SaveHE

3 23 41

Reposted by York College UCU

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · Sep 6

UCU policy: “To work with the TUC and other TUs to campaign for a change to the law to prevent such deductions, including lobbying government and opposition parties”

Maybe while @drjogrady.bsky.social is at @tuc.org.uk in Brighton she can work on thi… oh!

policy.web.ucu.org.uk/motion-infor...

UCU: Fighting punitive ASOS deductions

Motion from UCU Congress 2022-2023: Fighting punitive ASOS deductions

policy.web.ucu.org.uk

19 16

Reposted by York College UCU

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · Sep 4

🚨 Third consecutive vote for industrial action 🚨

✅ strike action: 76%
✅ action short of a strike (ASOS): 80%
✅ turnout: 77%

ASOS begins today with @ucu.org.uk threatening staff: "We'll deduct your wages."

Double standards and vindictive attacks undermine us all.

#ReclaimUCU

Jo Grady calling Queen Mary management "vindictive" for making deductions from UCU members taking action short of a strike: Jo Grady, UCU's general secretary, said Queen Mary's senior management had "launched a vindictive attack" on its members, "punishing them for taking part in lawful industrial action" and "cementing its reputation as the worst university employer in the UK" She said: "It is wrong to do this at any time and all the more deplorable as staff struggle to make ends meet in a cost of living crisis."

Screen shot of the article from The Guardian about Queen Mary ASOS deductions in which Jo Grady is quoted

5 29 40

Reposted by York College UCU

Durham UCU @ducu.bsky.social · Jun 13

Humans and dogs, working together. You love to see it.

11 31

Reposted by York College UCU

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · Jun 12

😡 Imposition, not negotiated agreement
😡 Victimisation of reps
😡 Refusal to engage with the recognised union

☣️ All signs of a toxic organisational culture & not what we should see from a union employer.

Shame on @ucu.org.uk whose staff deserve so much better

uniteucu.wordpress.com/2025/06/12/1...

Safe & Professional Workplace Culture Dispute – Branch Update

A week ago today, SMT announced that they were walking away from ACAS talks. This came as a surprise to us given that it was our view, and the view of the ACAS conciliator, that we were progressing…

uniteucu.wordpress.com

4 14 15

Reposted by York College UCU

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · Jun 2

"We value the work that all of the staff at UCU provide to our branches, and expect them to have access to the same fair work practices that we fight for as a union."

Open letter for all @ucu.org.uk members to sign in support of @uniteucu.bsky.social
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Letter to UCU Trustees and NEC

Dear National Executive Committee and UCU Trustees, As members of UCU, we are writing to you to raise serious concerns about the continued breakdown of industrial relations between UCU and its staff. ...

docs.google.com

8 7

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · May 29

Bradford UCU votes YES.

Staff are backing strike action to stop £16m cuts that put 300+ jobs and key courses on the line.

Enough is enough. It’s time for real accountability.

#UCU #StoptheCuts

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Strike action threat over University of Bradford cuts

The UCU says hundreds of staff face being put at risk of redundancy at the University of Bradford.

www.bbc.co.uk

8 16

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · May 25

At #UCU2025 we passed motions to reaffirm our commitment to trans rights.

We’ll keep fighting for inclusive spaces, supportive policies and real solidarity.

#TransRightsAreHumanRights #UCU2025 #UnionPower

7 110 390

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · May 26

#UCU2025 congress has passed a motion to prepare to raise a formal dispute with the Education Secretary over the devastating funding crisis in higher education.

Our message is clear: if Labour won’t intervene, we will.

#UCU2025 #ProtectEducationNow #UnionPower #Post16Crisis #HigherEducation

Motion passed to raise a dispute with the education secretary over the goverment's failure to fund our sector

1 24 35

Reposted by York College UCU

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · May 1

Uplifting turnout at our strike rally earlier, with added support from a #MayDay2025 meet-up in Scotland.

No sign of our employer, needless to say.

#ThriveNotSurvive

Unite and UCU branch banners held by strikers and supporters in front of UCU’s head office in London.

Unite UCU May Day solidarity from members in Edinburgh.

9 14

Reposted by York College UCU

London May Day Organising Committee @ldnmayday.bsky.social · May 1

#LDNMayDay2025 🌹

Solidarity forever.

#MayDay #MayDay2025

14 30

York College UCU @yorkcollegeucu.bsky.social · May 1

✋🏼✋🏽✋🏻✋🏾✋🏿

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · Apr 30

Hands up who thinks trade unions should be model employers?

✋🏽 ✋🏾 ✋🏻 ✋🏿 ✋🏼

#ThriveNotSurvive

Question....

Which employer has lost the following number of days to work-related stress and mental ill-health absences:
• 2022: 123.5
• 2023: 468
• 2024: 912.5 ?

Clue 1: They were sanctioned by the HSE for a failure to address stress in 2023.

Clue 2: They still can't demonstrate compliance with statutory minimum safety legislation in 2025.

.. Asking for a friend

Reposted by York College UCU

Durham UCU @ducu.bsky.social · Apr 28

Sign sign sign!
Our jobs are on the line!

Dr Lauren Wroe ~ she/her @lauriewroe.bsky.social · Apr 28

ON STRIKE as a member of Durham UCU in response to Durham University management’s proposed staff cuts of £20m. University management has refused DUCU requests to stop compulsory redundancies & to work with us to find non-staff cost savings. Sign the petition: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Join UCU

Why join UCU? Over 120,000 of your colleagues have chosen to belong to UCU - the largest union and most effective voice for people like you working in post-school education.

www.ucu.org.uk

11 12

Reposted by York College UCU

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · Apr 28

🕯️ Today is International Workers Memorial Day.

We remember every worker lost to unsafe conditions.

We recommit to fighting for safe and fair workplaces.

Remember the dead. Fight for the living.

#IWMD2025 #UCU

8 17

Reposted by York College UCU

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · Apr 28

Thank you to all the amazing UCU branches who’ve been solid & vocal in supporting us. And huge #solidarity to those taking their own action.

UCU isn’t one person, it’s its branches, its activists & its members. We want to work for & support you; being unable to properly do so is beyond upsetting.

ulivucu.bsky.social @ulivucu.bsky.social · Apr 25

We unequivocally support UCU staff on strike today! They have been so supportive, knowledgeable and hard working for our branch over the years. We can always count on them to have our backs. It's time to have theirs. Read our branch statement to Jo Grady the GS too. It's time to resolve this dispute

Dear Jo,

I am writing on behalf of the University of Liverpool and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine UCU regarding the current dispute between UCU staff (members of Unite) and UCU as their employer.

We have been following the dispute closely and we are supportive of the Unite members and see their issues as legitimate and serious.

The fact that these longstanding issues involve bullying, and the unequal treatment of black staff is especially dismaying. These behaviours undermine the core principles of what trade unions are built on and have caused reputational harm to UCU within the wider trade union movement.

The support provided by UCU staff is vital to the normal functioning of local branches. In particular, the support, advice, and commitment we have received in our current dispute from regional officers and other staff has been exemplary. Along with many other branches currently in dispute, we urgently need these staff to be able to do their work in conditions that are equal, fair, and reasonable.

We urge senior managers in UCU to remain in talks with Unite and to resolve this dispute as a matter of urgency, in the spirit of good faith, solidarity and the union values we all share.

Mark O’Brien,

Branch President

22 34

York College UCU @yorkcollegeucu.bsky.social · Apr 28

We were proud to stand alongside the trans, non-binary and gender diverse communities in York on Saturday. Their fight is our fight! 🏳️‍⚧️

1 1

Reposted by York College UCU

Sol Gamsu @solgamsu.bsky.social · Apr 28

Great turnout today on @ducu.bsky.social pickets. On strike to protect professional services staff jobs.

An attack on one is an attack on all!

Management tried to pit academics against professional services staff - they've failed!

We are *all* the university!

2 32 62