Leicester UCU Fighting Fund 2025

Published: 12th September, 2025

Donate

Please donate by transfer to our account at Unity Trust Bank (details below).

NOTE: Most banks now impose a variety of checks on payments. Please use the exact details as below. If you are asked to describe the type of payment, our account is classed as a “business” account rather than a personal one. In some cases it may take up to 3 days for the payment to reach our account.
Name of account (if required): UCU Leicester LA30
Sort Code: 60-83-01
Account: 20444031
Many thanks to those who have already made generous donations. Please spread the word and encourage others to donate.

Background

The University of Leicester is currently threatening to launch a redundancy programme in November 2025 with the goal of cutting the staffing budget by £11m. Six academic areas have been targeted for potential redundancies — Chemistry; Geography, Geology & the Environment (GGE); Modern Languages; History; Film Studies; and the School of Education. Hundreds of professional services staff across the university have also been through a pre-change engagement process, which may also lead to redundancies. Leicester University executive has also now announced the first compulsory redundancy programme for the new academic year—targeting a group of academic-related professional services staff in the Division of Biomedical Services.

The branch is determined to resist these redundancies. In the ballot for industrial action, there was an impressive 62% turnout of which 79.5% voted in favour of strike action and 87.0% in favour of action short of a strike. In light of this result, we are calling members to go out on strike for 3 consecutive weeks starting the 29th of September. This will mean a considerable financial loss for hundreds of members, as well as being a morally challenging period for them. Therefore, we are asking for both your financial support and solidarity for our action.

We invite you to consider donating to the branch (priority will be given those most in need: e.g. colleagues on temporary contracts, PGR students, colleagues on lower grades). Really, any donation matters. We also warmly invite you to send a message of solidarity to our branch members (email ucu@uculeicester.org.uk).