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Anti-Casualisation

On the forthcoming strike…

Published: 7th February, 2020

Email sent to all Leicester UCU members, 7 February You will have received – and hopefully read – the recent email from Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary. You may also have seen the announcement on UCU’s website; or read newspaper reports, e.g. in the Financial Times or Times Higher. In a nutshell, our elected representatives on UCU’s higher education committee…

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The strike in black and white

Published: 10th December, 2019

How valued are the people who make universities? Meanwhile here are some beautiful photographs shot by Jacob, recipient of one of our awards for outstanding services to the strike.

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 7 [Under Pressure]

Published: 3rd December, 2019

And on the seventh day we rested… in fact, wanted to rest, but instead we decided to showcase the issues that have brought us to the point of exhaustion, particularly the excessive workloads and job insecurity that represent two of the four pillars of UCU’s “Four Fights” dispute. The #ExhaustionRebellion hashtag was started by our…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 6 [Danger! High Voltage!]

Published: 2nd December, 2019

As the industrial action carried on into its second week, and temperatures plummeted below zero, Leicester UCU warmed the cockles of striking staff with a disco theme on the picket lines, and much more besides. We received many visits of support throughout the day from students and bringers of cake, and we were especially pleased…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 5

Published: 29th November, 2019

Raise the Rafters: THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE! Day 5 on the UCU Leicester picket line and what a day it was. The official theme of the day was the Great Picket Bake Off, but unofficially, today was about singing, dancing, chanting and protest. As for the formal theme, there were delicious brownies, on-brand…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 4

Published: 28th November, 2019

Day four dawned with an initial feeling of the “the morning after the night before” – it was raining heavily for the first time, and we were worried. However, we should know by now, we didn’t need to have worried, as always Leicester UCU brighten up our day, with nearly 200 members turning out to…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 3

Published: 27th November, 2019

Today saw animals of all shapes and sizes unleashed on the Leicester UCU picket lines! Fierce foxes, passionate penguins and more delightful dogs than you can count supported strikers with love and wagging tails! All were here to support our message to the university management: get your paws off our pay and pensions! Whilst every…

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#LeicsUniStrike 2019 – Day 2

Published: 26th November, 2019

Having been featured as part of the face of the current strike on BBC News yesterday, Leicester UCU again came out in force, despite the rain, to protest in defence of our pensions and pay against a decade of steady decline, and to fight back against excessive workloads, casualisation of our professions and pay inequality…

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Statement on ballot result

Published: 24th February, 2019

Members will no doubt have heard the news about the outcome of the pay-and-equality ballot. Although 70% of those members who voted in England, Scotland & Wales backed strike action and 81% voted for action short of a strike, the turnout was only 41%, falling short of the 50% legal threshold. In Northern Ireland, where…

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Will you stand up for Sarah?

Published: 17th February, 2019

Dear UCU Friends, Many of you may not know me well, but this is a personal plea. I am the co-chair of Leicester UCU, a 30-something-year-old Research Associate who is a woman. During the USS strike this time last year I stood next to you every day in the snow and cold, the rain and…

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