UCU Commons – UCU Commons

Moving On: the 17 March HEC Decision and Next Steps

Picture of a small child staring at a big staircase about to climb it.

In this blog, as members of UCU Commons on the Higher Education Committee (HEC), our priorities are to outline our position on the questions that were before HEC on 17 March and to suggest some ways forward. But we also understand that there is significant demand for a clear and measured account of what hasContinue reading “Moving On: the 17 March HEC Decision and Next Steps”

NEC election results

UCU Commons is proud of our campaign and candidates for NEC, and delighted to see so many of our slate elected.

Strategic Action Gets the Goods!

We are lthe union. We can all help the union to win. We can make a difference.

We declare!

Dave Harvie discusses how to make strike reporting a force for disruption against the employers.

We’re Fighting The Chaos

Note: This post discusses some matters from the UCU HEC meeting on 12 May 2022. Most of that meeting is highly confidential, but we checked with the chair that it was ok to share this bit and she confirmed that it was fine as it is not directly and immediately related to the disputes. I’mContinue reading “We’re Fighting The Chaos”

UCU Commons Blogs: 2021

summarized by Ben Pope It’s been just over a year since we published our first post, which marked the transition of our community from an informal discussion group to a fully fledged organising effort to bring about the change that we want to see within UCU and in post-16 education in the UK. Here’s aContinue reading “UCU Commons Blogs: 2021”

Creating Cracks for Collective Care in the Ruins of the University

Fostering collective care involves working together to create opportunities for rediscovering joy in what we do, as a priority need – without this joy, where do we find the necessary reserves to push for better higher education?

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): Student Number Controls

The following post is a short summary of the debate over ‘Student Number Controls’ in Higher Education. Readers can find a longer appendix of articles linked at the bottom of the piece. It is the first in a series of ‘TL;DR’ short explainers that UCU Commons will publish. *Note: This TL;DR was compiled by BijanContinue reading “TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): Student Number Controls”

Reissued: Candidate statement on transgender inclusion and academic freedom

Forward from Mark Pendleton, on why we are inviting representatives to sign this statement once again: “LGBT+ inclusion has been at the heart of our union’s politics for many years. We have also often led the trade union movement, being willing to defend LGBT+ members’ rights to safety and respect in work and beyond, andContinue reading “Reissued: Candidate statement on transgender inclusion and academic freedom”

UCU Commoners: What We’ve Been Doing

Members of UCU Commons come from diverse backgrounds and vastly differing levels of experience within UCU. Some of us have been active within UCU for many years, others since the USS Strikes in 2018, and yet more within in the last year or two. Our varying levels of experience within our Union to date areContinue reading “UCU Commoners: What We’ve Been Doing”