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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you ❤️

Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 1d

9 years since Paul was murdered - I think about the wild, daft teenager, getting him to work out songs I liked on his guitar, and the tragic trajectory of a life that should have been full of creativity but was ultimately destroyed by addiction, violence & despair ❤️

Sepia image of a teenage boy with dark curly hair and an intense expression

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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 12d

This is how my day began - beautiful sunrise #KreizBreizh

Bright yellow light behind a cloud at sunrise. A wind turbine and trees in the foreground

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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 12d

On my way from Guingamp to Rome on the train - stopping over in Milan tonight. Hard to capture the spectacle - mountains, clouds, and tiny churches but I’m glad I’m sticking to my decision not to fly in Europe. And looking forward to talking about disability, art, time & AI with colleagues in Rome.

Image taken from a train window of grey clouds around a mountain at dusk. Taken just outside Chambéry

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Helen Barnard @helenbarnard.bsky.social · 15d

Just to be clear:
- Paracetamol does not cause autism.
- Sadiq Khan is not introducing Sharia law in the UK
- We do not have a massive free speech problem here.
- Britain is not on the verge of civil war.
These are not controversial subjects or contested, they're just not true.

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15d

In a corporate owned care home, charging £1,800 a week.

Residents face neglect/cruelty.

Left in urine-soaked clothes, wet bedsheets, calls for help ignored, not showered for weeks, excrement in corridors, staff shortages.

Cruelty is the norm when profits come before people.

Families accuse care home of 'neglect' and 'cruelty' after secret filming

A BBC Disclosure reporter saw vulnerable elderly people left sitting alone for hours in urine-soaked clothes.

www.bbc.co.uk

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🎃Tamara what goes bump in the night deeay🎃 @moiness.bsky.social · 16d

Oi. BBC. Many experts are not skeptical. It is utter bullshit and you should call it out as such. This is the MMR bollocks x 1 million

BBC News App headline
Trump will reportedly link pain reliever Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical

22 Sep 2025, 12:33

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Joss @josstified.bsky.social · 16d

Why are you threatening #UCU staff with pay deductions for ASOS?

UCU policy is to oppose punitive deduction for ASOS

And why are you asking staff to fill out a form when UCU members at QMUL were advised not to do this?

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 16d

QMUL deducted a lot of people it shouldn't have deducted, such as people on bereavement leave or sick leave who didn't check their email. It's a toxic tactic and note one any decent employer should engage in.

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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 16d

oh, we know how we reacted, because we were advised by UCU HQ on that... Nobody fills this in. Absolutely nobody. People who are not taking action should should that kind of solidarity to ensure this doesn't get implemented because it's going to harm your workplace disastrously if they allow it.

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Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · 16d

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.

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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · 27d

@lavietidhar.bsky.social - we thought we might have to rearrange our ferry tickets in case we missed the delivery of Golgotha but thankfully not.

Three shelves of colourful books with Lavie Tidhar’s novels Golgotha and Six Lives on display.

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UCU Westminster @ucuwestminster.bsky.social · 29d

There should be a joint statement from the five unions in the next day or so (which also mentions pay, jobs, and nationally agreed employment conditions).

For now, here is some further detail on what our dispute is about and what we UCU members will be balloted on nationally:

#WeAreTheUniversity

Our dispute relates to the 2025/26 joint HE trade union national claim, specifically:

1. A pay uplift that is at least RPI + 3.5% or £2,500, whichever is the higher, on all pay points;

2. National agreement to avoid redundancies, course closures, and cuts to academic disciplines across the sector;

3. The protection of national agreements relating to terms and conditions of employment, including the 2004 framework agreement, the Post-92 contract for Post-92 institutions, and HE2000.

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

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

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Ruth Fletcher @ruthfletcher.bsky.social · Sep 5

This is unbelievable @ucu.org.uk

How can you be threatening 100% deductions for ASOS that is working at home rather than in office?

UCU policy is against disprop ASOS deductions

ASOS deductions breach workers Art 11 rights

You contradict UCU support for members’ cases against employer deductions

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · Sep 5

100% deductions for ASOS is inhumane and destructive. We thought we had the backing of our own national union on this point. To see them implement what is a draconian policy (and not yet fully tested in the courts) against the colleagues who keep our branches running is devastating.

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

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · Sep 5

Drafting a more extensive response, but for now we think that (1) @uniteucu.bsky.social rock [branch position, voted on in motions], (2) that this is no way of treating staff [union position, voted on in Congress], and (3) everyone should read this blog: uniteucu.wordpress.com/2025/09/04/u...

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Goldsmiths UCU @goldsmithsucu.bsky.social · Sep 5

🔥 Third ballot win in 18 months: 76% YES on 77% turnout for @uniteucu.bsky.social members! UCU Management’s response? Threats & intimidation 🤦

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

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · Sep 5

100% deductions for ASOS is inhumane and destructive. We thought we had the backing of our own national union on this point. To see them implement what is a draconian policy (and not yet fully tested in the courts) against the colleagues who keep our branches running is devastating.

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

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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · Sep 4

Yep

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Wil Hardman @wilhardman.bsky.social · Sep 4

Shocking that UCU SMT are threatening to dock pay just for ASOS in Unite UCU’s dispute. Our branch is donating £150 + our Admin’s strike pay to their fund, with more to follow. We urge all UCU branches to donate asap to support our UCU staff strikers.

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

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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · Sep 4

What a mess - when will the @ucu senior management team realise that this awful & aggressive strategy (a) isn’t working and (b) damages the reputation of the union and its members’ interests? uniteucu.wordpress.com/2025/09/04/u...

UCU deploys “vindictive” union-busting tactics in attempt to crush staff union

Unite the union members working for the University and College Union vote to take further industrial action with a 76% Yes vote for strike action on a 77% turnout This was their third consecutive s…

uniteucu.wordpress.com

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Vicky Blake UCU (she/her) @vickyblake.bsky.social · Sep 4

Why is our trade union emulating the worst behaviour of our employers towards UCU staff? How many of our letters, motions, attempts to bring motions from lay members pressing for resolution have been ignored now? Solidarity with all @uniteucu.bsky.social #UnionStrong #ReclaimUCU

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

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

Unite UCU @uniteucu.bsky.social · Sep 4

We wonder what @qmucu.bsky.social thinks about their own union’s threat to make 100% deductions for ASOS.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

University accused of ‘vindictive attack’ as staff lose 21 days’ pay over protest

Academics fear docked wages after marking boycott at Queen Mary University of London are start of a wider crackdown

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Lucy Burke

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

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Lucy Burke @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social · Aug 26

Ah I love speculative sci-fi bollocks though

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