twitter facebook

Health & Safety

Leicester UCU has ‘paused’ health and safety dispute

Published: 4th December, 2020

Thanks to all members for feeding back your views on the status of our dispute over health and safety concerns and for voting on how to proceed with this dispute. The email sent to all members with that survey outlined the position we had reached through the dispute resolution process can be accessed here. A…

Read more


Seven months of prioritising health, safety and wellbeing. Plus…

Published: 29th October, 2020

It’s been hard work keeping up with all of the University exectutive board’s emails of the past 7 months. For those who couldn’t quite manage it, here’s our handy summary. April 2020 The health, safety and wellbeing of all staff and students is our top priority. Plus, here’s an emergency workload model that we’ve designed…

Read more


Bolting Horses & Stable Doors: Responding to COVID-19 Cases on Campus

Published: 12th October, 2020

University of Leicester staff were notified of the University’s COVID-19 Strategic Response Framework for the first time on Friday 9 October, 5.45pm, in an email from the Chief Operating Officer, two weeks after students returned to campus. In this email, the COO reported that the “Strategic Framework has been agreed by the local Public Health…

Read more


Lost for Words: Working in Higher Education, Oct 2020

Published: 9th October, 2020

A University of Leicester employee offers some personal reflections on their experience of working in Higher Education as the 2020-21 academic year begins. I’ve been trying to think of a metaphor for working in Higher Education over the last few weeks. It’s not easy because the conditions, quite simply, feel incomparably appalling. I’d like to…

Read more


Campus Safety – Important Information

Published: 5th October, 2020

Email sent to all members of Leicester UCU, 5 October 2020 Following our declaration of a formal dispute with the University over its position on on-campus working, and related Health & Safety concerns, Leicester UCU has received concerning reports from members about their experiences working on campus last week, highlighting flaws in the University’s safety…

Read more


Lives and Livelihoods: in dispute with Executive Board

Published: 2nd October, 2020

Communication sent to all members of Leicester UCU, 2 October 2020 Following an unsatisfactory response from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, on 30 September 2020, to our requests regarding on-campus working arising from the EGM on 24 September 2020, Leicester UCU has formally notified the University’s Executive Board of a local dispute. We are writing to you today to…

Read more


As teaching approaches…

Published: 28th September, 2020

A University of Leicester employee reflects on our good fortune. As the first teaching term of 2020/21 is about to start, I feel more anxious than I normally feel at this time of the year. My anxiety mainly originates in the fact that, despite the increasing number of daily new coronavirus cases in the UK…

Read more


Promises, Promises

Published: 27th September, 2020

Our employer has initiated what it’s calling a Safe Citizen Promise. We have some comments.

Read more


Outcome of EGM on Campus Working: University of Leicester Act Now!

Published: 25th September, 2020

Email to all Leicester UCU members, 25 September 2020 Yesterday (24 September 2020), Leicester UCU held an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss rapidly escalating member fears and concerns about the return to on-campus face-to-face working during the Coronavirus pandemic. With near record attendance, a powerful consensus emerged from our membership, who have directed the LUCU…

Read more


Raising the alarm on our University’s ‘Safe Working’

Published: 24th September, 2020

Leicester UCU has serious concerns about the University’s response to the UK’s move from Level 3 to Level 4 COVID-19 alert level (announced 21 September), which has major implications for the health and safety of all members of the University community and the communities in which we live.  [There is an emergency general meeting –…

Read more