UCU Newcastle University@newcastleucu.bsky.social · 3w agoMany more people in universities will lose their jobs if nothing changes in the way HE is (under) funded. Even more prospective students will not be able to go to university, especially here in the Norheast. @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social @markfergusonmp.bsky.social @chionwurah.bsky.social
“Doing nothing” would have indeed been the better option here. By a staggering amount
Northumbria UCU Branch@ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · last mo.On 6/11/25 @andylong6.bsky.social told @northumbriauni.bsky.social staff that "doing nothing is not an option" when it came to the costs of @teacherspensions.bsky.social. Turns out doing nothing would have been a helluva lot cheaper than...
spraying money at consultants like Mercer, paying for IFAs, and giving staff a bung to compensate for ripping off their pensions.
On 6/11/25 @andylong6.bsky.social told @northumbriauni.bsky.social staff that "doing nothing is not an option" when it came to the costs of @teacherspensions.bsky.social. Turns out doing nothing would have been a helluva lot cheaper than...
Northumbria UCU Branch@ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · last mo.And yet management @northumbriauni.bsky.social press on with plans to cut the pay of hundreds of staff on @teacherspensions.bsky.social. This is vindictive, unnecessary, a permanent stain on the university's reputation, and, with job losses imminent, is destroying morale. For what?
I’m very pleased that the trade press is giving space to the Exeter horror. Next challenge is for them to look a little further down the league tables - Northumbria perhaps, or my own place. We have feelings too.
Andy Brockman@andybrockman.bsky.social · last mo."The idea that people will be able to hold it together and deliver a term of teaching before they vanish off into the horizon, is bizarre, spiteful and naive as well.” The Times HE's punchy account of Exeter University's #BonfireOfTheHumanities & what one academic describes as "existential terror".
@danhollandnews.bsky.social @julietterowsell.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social @chroniclelive.co.uk @chionwurah.bsky.social @alancampbellmp.bsky.social @nickhartleygreen.bsky.social @privateeyenews.bsky.social @ukhenews.bsky.social @moneyontheleft.bsky.social @21group.bsky.social
Northumbria UCU Branch@ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · last mo.Management @northumbriauni.bsky.social want to pay staff in @teacherspensions.bsky.social a 1% one-off, taxable, unconsolidated sum between £411 and £695. The national offer from @ucea.bsky.social to @ucu is 2%. USS staff will be given 3%. This is a massive paycut for some staff. Is this equitable?
And there it is… www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...
Revealed: Reform’s £24 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests
Reform UK has received £24 million from oil and gas interests, accounting for more than two thirds of its total income, DeSmog can reveal. Led by Nigel Farage, the party is calling for new North Sea o...
desmog.com
Northumbria UCU Branch@ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · 2mo agoFirst management @northumbriauni.bsky.social came for our pensions and pay - for no good reason. Now they're coming for our colleagues. This is terrible news for staff, students, and the region. @timeshighered.bsky.social @chroniclelive.co.uk @ukhenews.bsky.social @21group.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Nigel Farage. A proper football fan who hasn't moved an inch in almost two years.
Meanwhile, management @northumbriauni.bsky.social are pressing on regardless with (very costly) plans to cut the pay of those who stay in @teacherspensions.bsky.social. @ucu.org.uk @ucea.bsky.social @timeshighered.bsky.social. Hence this:
Chris Havergal@chrishavergal.bsky.social · 2mo agoSheffield Hallam University abandons plans to transfer staff to subsidiary firm to save on pension costs ahead of expected falls in employer contribution rates next year www.timeshighereducation.com/news/sheffie... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social
Today @drjogrady.bsky.social wrote to the University of Reading. Trans staff and students are being forced into formal grievances just to find out why policies that affect their daily lives exist. That is not legal compliance. It is institutional opacity. We’re calling on Reading to act.
Looks like employer contributions for @teacherspensions.bsky.social will be going down next year. What does that mean for @northumbriauni.bsky.social bosses saying they need to save £11m by cutting staff pay unless people move from that scheme to USS? Nothing. Cuts still planned. Thanks a lot.
30% real-terms pay cut since 2011. Vice-chancellors attempting 15,000+ job cuts since last September. UCU & sister unions are fighting back - submitting our 2026/27 pay claim to UCEA demanding fair pay, protected jobs & an end to casualised contracts. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1443...
University staff demand fair pay & an end to sector wide cuts
UCU alongside its sister unions, Unison, Unite, EIS & GMB has today (Tuesday) demanded university bosses protect pay, protect jobs and improve working conditions across the sector.
ucu.org.uk
An understated part of this: teaching staff, PhD students, research support staff, technical staff, facilities workers + more ALL voiced zero confidence in university leadership. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get all these people to agree on anything. The boss is truly the best organizer.
Unions pass no confidence vote in University of Nottingham bosses
They say it follows "years of shocking financial decisions and governance failures".
bbc.com
Please sign and share this petition to stop an indefinite, unjustified pay freeze @northumbriauni.bsky.social @georgeclarke.bsky.social . Let's get past 1000! www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
Northumbria Pay and Pension Petition: Stop the Steal!
If Northumbria does this, other universities will too. These cuts will harm thousands of people, their students, families, and their local communities now and into the future.
megaphone.org.uk
Can we get to 1000 signatures in 2026? Help save pay and pensions @northumbriauni.bsky.social by signing and sharing this: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
Northumbria Pay and Pension Petition: Stop the Steal!
If Northumbria does this, other universities will too. These cuts will harm thousands of people, their students, families, and their local communities now and into the future.
megaphone.org.uk
Ulster University spent £24k on a trip to the 2024 THE Awards If 60 unis did the same, UK universities shell out ~£1.6m on #THEAwards Hard to justify this spend when many face certain job prospects -- morale is better boosted by real improvements or pay rises than glitzy ceremonies
Jennifer Welch on Riley Gaines: “You’re an insufferable twat. Nobody likes you and no matter what you'll always have been the dumb bitch that tied for 5th place. Nobody likes you except for the other fake Christians that enjoy their spare time watching children get ziptied. So fuck you Riley Gaines”
University HR Directors & Heads of Legal are openly weeping & distraught Universities are one of the big users of Non Disclosure Agreements to cover up abuse & misconduct No more, it's stopping gov.uk/government/n...
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
The Verge@theverge.com · last yr.Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
I mean, you’d have thought they’d have been pleased. Must be incredibly difficult at The Telegraph to balance their core philosophy of the inalienable right of everyone to own a second home in another country with their other core belief in a visceral hatred of foreigners. So they don’t bother.
Frédéric Moreau@goodclimate.bsky.social · 10mo agoThis lurid headline is about British tourists no longer getting away with overstaying in Schengen. Or being 'illegals', as it's often called in the UK.
🔥 Finally an EU leader says it out loud: “We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies.”
Defend Democracy@defenddemocracy.eurosky.social · 10mo agoPresident Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up! We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet. After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵
Nine jobs Nigel Farage hasn't updated his register of interests in months. Potentially hundreds of thousands of ££££ from his many "outside interests" remain undeclared observer.co.uk/news/politic...
‘Nine-jobs Nigel’ Farage denies not declaring extra earni...
Roles outside Parliament make Reform leader the highest-earning MP, but register of interests has not been updated since end of May
observer.co.uk
