In communications about the upcoming (and past) strikes, our VC, Andy Schofield, often makes statements such as this recent one: "It is important to note that this action is part of a national dispute covering pay and pensions. Both are issues where the University cannot act independently to bring about a resolution as they are subject to … Continue reading Andy – here’s how to help your staff

Wednesday 1st February 2023Remember this date.  Remember what we did. On Wednesday the 1st February 2023 HALF A MILLION workers across the UK went on strike to fight for not just better pay and conditions, but a better and fairer higher education system, and better and fairer public services as a whole.  Nurses, teachers, railway … Continue reading Solidarity

It is not enough to just pay your subscription fee to the union. The union does not run on subs, it runs on solidarity.  The strength of the union rests on a large membership that stands together. Our solidarity is what makes the union come alive. Without that, all that remains is the bureaucratic husk … Continue reading The union does not run on subs

It is hard to withdraw your labour if it means abandoning your students, even for a while. It can be tempting to not strike, or to re-arrange your teaching on other days. But we need to think about what we are fighting for. Most immediately, it is about action on casualisation, declining pay, reducing gender … Continue reading Don’t let your students down!

There are many good, strong reasons to strike. Here are six of them. 1. We have reasonable demands It is reasonable to want secure jobs, so that we can do our jobs to the best of our ability and avoid the devastating uncertainty and stress of not knowing where your income will come from or … Continue reading Six Reasons to Strike

We did it!! On Thursday 24, Friday 25 and Wednesday 30 November 2022, alongside 70,000 colleagues at 150 universities, we will be going on strike to defend our pay, conditions and pensions. The National Union of Students (NUS) has backed the strikes, which will be the biggest ever to hit UK universities and could impact 2.5 million … Continue reading The opportunity to win

35% of Vice Chancellors have supported the restoration of our pensions. The evidence is now clear that there was no need to reduce our pensions as USS chose to do. We’ve worked hard for Lancaster University through the pandemic and beyond. We really want your support. So please add Lancaster University to the list of … Continue reading Andy – Staff really want your support

Self-reporting in the branch shows we have passed the 50% threshold in our recent ballot on more industrial action.  In this blog we want to share some fictionalised pen portraits of the kind of colleagues you help when you vote, come to meetings, read our emails and this blog and take part in industrial action … Continue reading THANK YOU

Numbers Matter to Ensure People Count At Lancaster UCU we are well aware of the struggles many of us and many in our community already face and how much worse it will get this winter. Before we embark on our fourth year of strikes, we want to show our solidarity beyond campus and recognise how … Continue reading People Matter  and Numbers Count

Please can you mend our Broken Partnership? Source: Wikimedia Commons On the 22nd of June 2022 Lancaster University terminated the Partnership Agreement with campus trade unions.  This action was taken unilaterally by Senior Management and reported to unions by the Interim Director of HR.  How significant is this action?  And what does it mean for … Continue reading Welcome to the new Director of HR (PoE)