Durham UCU
@ducu.bsky.social
Pinned
Waited until today to say this, to ensure we got in as many ballots as we could, but DUCU can confirm we passed the Tory anti-trade union 50% voting threshold for the current national ballot. Our team did a huge amount of amazing GTVO work, benefitting not just Durham but other branches. Respect.
Reposted by Durham UCU
Out Now, in Time for Xmas: Tintin and the Stolen Pay @ucu.org.uk @northumbriauni.bsky.social @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Out Now, in Time for Xmas: Tintin and the Stolen Pay @ucu.org.uk @northumbriauni.bsky.social @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social
Reposted by Durham UCU
the measure of a country doing well is if it's people are happy, free, prosperous, & healthy, not if an arbitrary number of people cross a border
in chasing that latter goal, countries like the UK have undermined the former ones - we a poorer, more divided, & literally sicker
in chasing that latter goal, countries like the UK have undermined the former ones - we a poorer, more divided, & literally sicker
November 28, 2025 at 1:29 PM
the measure of a country doing well is if it's people are happy, free, prosperous, & healthy, not if an arbitrary number of people cross a border
in chasing that latter goal, countries like the UK have undermined the former ones - we a poorer, more divided, & literally sicker
in chasing that latter goal, countries like the UK have undermined the former ones - we a poorer, more divided, & literally sicker
Yep. They'll come to you in private and say how glad they were you spoke up, but whenever they get the chance to *actually* back you up; crickets.
Have had to resist bullies a few times in my work life. And I can say this is *always* what happens with other people around.
Heads down, silence, waiting for it all to go away. Nobody else to stand up.
I don't know why. But it isn't just the press corps.
Heads down, silence, waiting for it all to go away. Nobody else to stand up.
I don't know why. But it isn't just the press corps.
Would it kill somebody to say “Nancy is not stupid.” It pains me to see the WH press corps just accept the abuse. Sends the wrong image to Americans and the world IMHO.
November 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Yep. They'll come to you in private and say how glad they were you spoke up, but whenever they get the chance to *actually* back you up; crickets.
Reposted by Durham UCU
Staff are so overwhelmed at @durham.ac.uk following ill-conceived staff cuts, but @ducu.bsky.social members still organised to beat the 50% turnout threshold in the ballot seeking UK-wide agreements to save jobs, pay, & conditions (cf 34.8% turnout at the @durhamcouncil.bsky.social 2025 election).
Waited until today to say this, to ensure we got in as many ballots as we could, but DUCU can confirm we passed the Tory anti-trade union 50% voting threshold for the current national ballot. Our team did a huge amount of amazing GTVO work, benefitting not just Durham but other branches. Respect.
November 27, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Staff are so overwhelmed at @durham.ac.uk following ill-conceived staff cuts, but @ducu.bsky.social members still organised to beat the 50% turnout threshold in the ballot seeking UK-wide agreements to save jobs, pay, & conditions (cf 34.8% turnout at the @durhamcouncil.bsky.social 2025 election).
Waited until today to say this, to ensure we got in as many ballots as we could, but DUCU can confirm we passed the Tory anti-trade union 50% voting threshold for the current national ballot. Our team did a huge amount of amazing GTVO work, benefitting not just Durham but other branches. Respect.
November 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Waited until today to say this, to ensure we got in as many ballots as we could, but DUCU can confirm we passed the Tory anti-trade union 50% voting threshold for the current national ballot. Our team did a huge amount of amazing GTVO work, benefitting not just Durham but other branches. Respect.
With apologies for the late notice, Roaa Elhag will be talking 1-2pm *today* in TLC101 about the situation in Sudan.
November 27, 2025 at 11:11 AM
With apologies for the late notice, Roaa Elhag will be talking 1-2pm *today* in TLC101 about the situation in Sudan.
Reposted by Durham UCU
SUBMIT YOUR BALLOT BEFOER 5PM TODAY!
And if you need five good reasons why it's worth digging that pink envelop out of the pile of post and get it in a postbox:
qmucu.org/2025/11/21/v... -- with huge thanks to @ducu.bsky.social
And if you need five good reasons why it's worth digging that pink envelop out of the pile of post and get it in a postbox:
qmucu.org/2025/11/21/v... -- with huge thanks to @ducu.bsky.social
a man in a suit is sitting in the driver 's seat of a car and making a funny face .
ALT: a man in a suit is sitting in the driver 's seat of a car and making a funny face .
media.tenor.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:01 PM
SUBMIT YOUR BALLOT BEFOER 5PM TODAY!
And if you need five good reasons why it's worth digging that pink envelop out of the pile of post and get it in a postbox:
qmucu.org/2025/11/21/v... -- with huge thanks to @ducu.bsky.social
And if you need five good reasons why it's worth digging that pink envelop out of the pile of post and get it in a postbox:
qmucu.org/2025/11/21/v... -- with huge thanks to @ducu.bsky.social
Reposted by Durham UCU
@ducu.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk @sheffielducu.bsky.social @ducuuo.bsky.social @unison.org.uk @umucu.bsky.social @uswucu.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Durham UCU
POST IT POST IT POST IT POST IT
November 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
POST IT POST IT POST IT POST IT
To put this in perspective, £600m is 0.0488% of the national budget. If the UK was a median earner *in* the UK, that's a yearly bump equivalent to finding a £20 note in your birthday card.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 25, 2025 at 3:10 PM
To put this in perspective, £600m is 0.0488% of the national budget. If the UK was a median earner *in* the UK, that's a yearly bump equivalent to finding a £20 note in your birthday card.
Thought it might be interesting to update our graphs so they show our VC's salary for comparison. There's lots of chop, but the VC salary is *up* in real terms from where it was in 2008. Inflation handled in same way as for all spine points. A minor error: the 2019 value should be £333k, not £351k.
And here we are! Literally every spine point is paying less in real terms than it was back in 2008. Spine point 5 (now replaced by the real living wage) is down by about 3.4%. By spine point 10, we're down over 10%. By spine point 23, over 20%, ultimately reaching a 22.1% reduction. 3/3
November 25, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Thought it might be interesting to update our graphs so they show our VC's salary for comparison. There's lots of chop, but the VC salary is *up* in real terms from where it was in 2008. Inflation handled in same way as for all spine points. A minor error: the 2019 value should be £333k, not £351k.
Reposted by Durham UCU
Pssst… #UCU members… last safe day to post your ballots (a cold walk to postbox & a quick email to reps to confirm vote). We need to regain leverage. Employers (& govt) need to know they can’t keep ‘solving’ financial issues by cutting jobs/pay/conditions. Workers are already at/past breaking point.
As we near the last safe day for ballot posting in the current national UCU ballot (get 'em in by Wed, preferably sooner), let's remember what we're fighting for. We'll start with the graphs we made last week. Decades of pay erosion has left many of us a full pay spine point below where we should be
And here we are! Literally every spine point is paying less in real terms than it was back in 2008. Spine point 5 (now replaced by the real living wage) is down by about 3.4%. By spine point 10, we're down over 10%. By spine point 23, over 20%, ultimately reaching a 22.1% reduction. 3/3
November 25, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Pssst… #UCU members… last safe day to post your ballots (a cold walk to postbox & a quick email to reps to confirm vote). We need to regain leverage. Employers (& govt) need to know they can’t keep ‘solving’ financial issues by cutting jobs/pay/conditions. Workers are already at/past breaking point.
Reposted by Durham UCU
always a good time to be us 🤗 ✊ #injurytooneinjurytoall #injusticetooneinjusticetoall
November 24, 2025 at 9:37 PM
always a good time to be us 🤗 ✊ #injurytooneinjurytoall #injusticetooneinjusticetoall
Reposted by Durham UCU
WE LOVE TO SEE IT
November 24, 2025 at 7:34 PM
WE LOVE TO SEE IT
Looks like it's a good time to be us!
I regret to inform you that I do, in fact, have yet another degree 😁👩🎓
November 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Looks like it's a good time to be us!
Reposted by Durham UCU
Successive governments' views of the UK higher education sector
November 23, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Successive governments' views of the UK higher education sector
Reposted by Durham UCU
Seriously, UK establishment, try to show your humane side in this.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
Props to the first journalist who asks how international students are actually doing while being turned into a political football.
Could start with the dangers of reporting bullying and the way university’s research reputations are upheld by those they make most precarious (and try to silence):
Could start with the dangers of reporting bullying and the way university’s research reputations are upheld by those they make most precarious (and try to silence):
November 24, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Seriously, UK establishment, try to show your humane side in this.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
Reposted by Durham UCU
Anyone who can look at the current underfunded state of UK universities and think there's half a billion quid you can take out of the sector without doing catastrophic damage is just not fit for office.
November 24, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Anyone who can look at the current underfunded state of UK universities and think there's half a billion quid you can take out of the sector without doing catastrophic damage is just not fit for office.
Feels like a good time to remind people: pensions are deferred wages. Moving someone forcibly to a worse pension is wage theft. Always unjustifiable, but particularly appalling in the context of years and years of real-terms pay cuts. Why do they NEVER have any solution other than paying us less?
Please sign and share: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
November 24, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Feels like a good time to remind people: pensions are deferred wages. Moving someone forcibly to a worse pension is wage theft. Always unjustifiable, but particularly appalling in the context of years and years of real-terms pay cuts. Why do they NEVER have any solution other than paying us less?
Reposted by Durham UCU
What a way to end our fifth strike week of the academic year! Back to the office on Monday but the fight goes on to stop subject closures and job cuts.
With an explosive subject showcase from Chemistry, today we conclude 5 weeks of strike action.
November 21, 2025 at 6:11 PM
What a way to end our fifth strike week of the academic year! Back to the office on Monday but the fight goes on to stop subject closures and job cuts.
Reposted by Durham UCU
Lancaster University UCU members have beaten back compulsory redundancies.
After weeks of pressure management has agreed to halt all forced job cuts until July 2026.
This is a victory for jobs and every branch fighting cuts across the sector. We are the university.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
After weeks of pressure management has agreed to halt all forced job cuts until July 2026.
This is a victory for jobs and every branch fighting cuts across the sector. We are the university.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Strikes suspended in Lancaster University staff job cuts row - BBC News
The university is trying to save £30m amid rising costs and a fall in international student numbers.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Lancaster University UCU members have beaten back compulsory redundancies.
After weeks of pressure management has agreed to halt all forced job cuts until July 2026.
This is a victory for jobs and every branch fighting cuts across the sector. We are the university.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
After weeks of pressure management has agreed to halt all forced job cuts until July 2026.
This is a victory for jobs and every branch fighting cuts across the sector. We are the university.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Durham UCU
The University launched a new Academic Workload Framework to be fairer. My Faculty saw an opportunity to slash R&E track Research by 20%, cut Citizenship by 10% & raise Teaching time by 17%. But if we jump through enough of the right hoops, we might earn back 10% for R & C. VOTE!
@ducu.bsky.social
@ducu.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM
The University launched a new Academic Workload Framework to be fairer. My Faculty saw an opportunity to slash R&E track Research by 20%, cut Citizenship by 10% & raise Teaching time by 17%. But if we jump through enough of the right hoops, we might earn back 10% for R & C. VOTE!
@ducu.bsky.social
@ducu.bsky.social
As we near the last safe day for ballot posting in the current national UCU ballot (get 'em in by Wed, preferably sooner), let's remember what we're fighting for. We'll start with the graphs we made last week. Decades of pay erosion has left many of us a full pay spine point below where we should be
And here we are! Literally every spine point is paying less in real terms than it was back in 2008. Spine point 5 (now replaced by the real living wage) is down by about 3.4%. By spine point 10, we're down over 10%. By spine point 23, over 20%, ultimately reaching a 22.1% reduction. 3/3
November 21, 2025 at 8:11 AM
As we near the last safe day for ballot posting in the current national UCU ballot (get 'em in by Wed, preferably sooner), let's remember what we're fighting for. We'll start with the graphs we made last week. Decades of pay erosion has left many of us a full pay spine point below where we should be
Reposted by Durham UCU
Numbers for TU members to remember: 30-45-90
30: the number of days it takes an employer to get rid of 20-99 of us.
45: the number of days it takes an employer to boot 100+ of us.
90: roughly how long TU’s need to get a mandate.
Do the math. VOTE!
@ucu.org.uk @ducu.bsky.social
30: the number of days it takes an employer to get rid of 20-99 of us.
45: the number of days it takes an employer to boot 100+ of us.
90: roughly how long TU’s need to get a mandate.
Do the math. VOTE!
@ucu.org.uk @ducu.bsky.social
Home
UCU is the largest trade union and professional association for academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers and academic-related staff working in further and higher education throughout the UK.
ucu.org.uk
November 20, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Numbers for TU members to remember: 30-45-90
30: the number of days it takes an employer to get rid of 20-99 of us.
45: the number of days it takes an employer to boot 100+ of us.
90: roughly how long TU’s need to get a mandate.
Do the math. VOTE!
@ucu.org.uk @ducu.bsky.social
30: the number of days it takes an employer to get rid of 20-99 of us.
45: the number of days it takes an employer to boot 100+ of us.
90: roughly how long TU’s need to get a mandate.
Do the math. VOTE!
@ucu.org.uk @ducu.bsky.social
Reposted by Durham UCU
@ucu.org.uk @ducu.bsky.social @sheffielducu.bsky.social @ducuuo.bsky.social @uclucu.bsky.social @unison.org.uk @unisonnorthern.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @tucglobal.bsky.social @tucnorthwest.bsky.social This cause is close to my heart - please sign: 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.
www.megaphone.org.uk
November 20, 2025 at 12:45 PM
@ucu.org.uk @ducu.bsky.social @sheffielducu.bsky.social @ducuuo.bsky.social @uclucu.bsky.social @unison.org.uk @unisonnorthern.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @tucglobal.bsky.social @tucnorthwest.bsky.social This cause is close to my heart - please sign: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...