Loughborough UCU

Latest Loughborough UCU News

  • LU Guest Lecture: The Criminalisation of Environmental Protest

    When: 6:30-8pm on Tues 11th March

    Where: James France – CC013

    As part of the University’s Sustainability Week for 2025, Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE will be on the East Midlands campus on Tuesday 11th March to deliver a guest lecture on “The Criminalisation of Environmental Protest”. 

    With police arrests of environmental protesters becoming increasingly common both in the UK and abroad, Jonathon will discuss the criminalisation of environmental protest and examine instances of arrests, imprisonment and other punishments.

    The right to protest has been intrinsic in the history of the trade union movement and, indeed, every progressive movement for social change. It is deeply concerning that a nominally left-wing government has continued the trend of persecuting those trying to exercise those rights, especially when their aim is to draw attention to an existential threat to our civilisation.

    The lecture will take place in James France, CC013 from 6:30pm-8pm on Tuesday 11th March. The lecture is free to attend and open to all staff and students. Booking is required and you can book your spot here. There will be an opportunity for questions during the event. Please submit any questions you may have in advance.

    About Jonathon Porritt

    Jonathon Porritt is an eminent writer and campaigner on sustainable development. Over his career, he has played a major role in helping to promote the importance of sustainability issues to government, the private sector and amongst the general public. He has provided strategic advice to leading UK and international companies to deepen their understanding of today’s converging environmental and climate crises.

    He is also focused on intergenerational justice, supporting young people in their activities around sustainable development issues as they face a future defined by the twin crises of the Climate Emergency and Biodiversity Emergency.

    He is President of The Conservation Volunteers and is involved in the work of many other NGOs and groups.

    In 1996, he co-founded Forum for the Future, a leading international sustainable development charity, working with business and civil society to accelerate the shift toward a sustainable future.

    Jonathon was formerly Co-Chair of the Green Party (1980-83) and Director of Friends of the Earth (1984-90). He stood down as Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission in 2009, after nine years providing high-level advice to Government Ministers.

    Jonathon was awarded a CBE in January 2000 for services to environmental protection.

  • International Women’s Day 2025

    When: Friday 7th March, 2-4pm

    Where: MS Teams

    Click here to download a meeting invite for your calendar, or use this link to join the meeting.

    LUCU is marking International Women’s Day with a discussion about feminist research at Loughborough. The histories of the women’s movement and the labour movement are deeply intertwined. The originally named International Working Women’s Day is at the intersection of the two, inspired by demonstrations for women’s enfranchisement and right to form our own trade unions. IWD should therefore be about more than celebrating women’s achievements or advocating for more women in leadership. As Bonnie Kreps argued, who wants a bigger slice of a ‘rotten pie’?1

    This event will begin with feminist researchers across the institution giving short insights into their current work:

    Angela Martinez Dy (Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship)

    Surya Monro (Professor of Sociology and Social Policy)

    Hilary Robinson (Professor of Feminism, Art and Theory)

    Pandora Syperek (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Institute for Creative Futures)

    Inês Varela-Silva (Senior Lecturer in Human Biology)

    Gemma Witcomb (Reader in Gendered Experiences and Wellbeing)

    This will be followed by an open forum for all attendees to discuss the current climate for feminist research, and the role of feminism within the trade union movement.

    Open to all, members and non-members, women and non-women. Join us and be part of the conversation!

    #IWD25 #breadandroses

    1. Kreps, B (1973) ‘Radical Feminism 1’ in Anne Koedt (ed.) Radical Feminism (New York: Quadrangle/ The New York Times Book Co.), pp. 234-239.

  • At What Cost? The Impact of the Voluntary Exit and Hours Reduction Scheme

    Across the University, there has been a substantial uptake of the Voluntary Exit and Hours Reduction offerings as part of the wider Cost Reduction Scheme. The University has now ‘saved’ in the region of £4m by encouraging people to leave or to reduce their contracts. Following the success of this scheme, Loughborough UCU are concerned about the impact on those left behind. 

    We are hosting an open meeting on Friday, February 28 from 2:00 PM to 2:50 PM on Teams to discuss the impact on workload for remaining Loughborough staff and doctoral researchers. All Loughborough staff and DRs are invited, whether you are a UCU member or not. 

    Are you an academic whose teaching has increased? Are you a DR who has taken on more research or marking without additional compensation? Is your Professional Services team now trying to cover the same amount of work with fewer staff? We want to hear from you!

    Come and share your thoughts and experiences, hear from other people about what is happening in their areas, and discuss how people are managing increases in workload across the University. Please feel free to invite others in your area to attend as we are keen to include as wide a view as possible.

    You can download an invite for your calendar here, or use this link to join the meeting.

  • Loughborough Senate Vacancy – Nominations invited

    Nominations have been invited to fill one vacancy on Senate for a non-Professorial member of the Academic Staff, elected by the Academic and Academic-Related staff members of the General Assembly.

    We encourage our members to put themselves forward for this role to increase the number of Union-affiliated voices on this important University decision making body.

    The branch will support UCU member nominations by encouraging the LUCU membership to vote for its candidates. Please let us know if you put yourself forward.

    Nominations must be received by the election team by 5.00 p.m. on Wednesday 12 February 2025, and more information can be found on the University website here.

  • Academic Related Professional Services Workplace Conditions Survey

    The academic related, professional services staff (ARPS) committee is undertaking a survey of ARPS members to better understand the experiences of physical issues in your workplaces and the implementation of hybrid working by employers.

    ARPS members are asked to complete this short survey, which will inform discussions at the ARPS annual meeting on 6th March and the work of the committee in the coming year.

  • Cradle to Grave 2025 Conference

    Registration is open for UCU’s Cradle to Grave conference, which will take place on Saturday 29th March.

    This annual conference is a chance for members to gather together to discuss some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the sectors where we organise. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Education for liberation: building progressive post-16 education policy’. You can find out more about the conference, here.

    The conference will be run as a hybrid event, with options to attend in person at the CCT Venue, Smithfields, London or online via Zoom. We expect spaces for the in-person event to fill up quickly so register as soon as possible to secure your place.

    The deadline to register is Thursday 13th March and the conference is free to attend. You can book your place here.

  • UCU Elections – Make sure your voice is heard

    Voting in the UCU Trustee, Officer and NEC elections positions has opened, with the ballot window closing by 5.00 p.m. on Monday 3 March 2025.

    This is a key moment for members to make their voices heard, especially since low voter turnout (often around 10%) means that members’ votes carry considerable weight. These elected representatives take important decisions – so whichever way you vote, we strongly urge you to use your ballot and make sure your voice is heard.

    You can find more information on the process and all of the candidates in your ballot pack, as well as on the UCU UK elections 2024-25 webpage.

    If you have not yet received the ballot pack, please contact UCU to request a duplicate ballot paper using this online form. The last day on which duplicate ballot material enquiries will usually be dealt with is Monday 24 February 2025. 

  • Leicester & District Trades Union Council Events

    Your Rights, The Law, and Empowerment Event

    Unite Community Leicester has organised an event “Your Rights, The Law, and Empowerment” on Sunday 19th January 2025 from 11am – 4pm. Everyone is welcome to join them at: Secular Hall, 75 Humberstone Gate, Leicester (LE1 1WB).

    Lawyers will give three presentations to update you on laws around protest and strike action, with each focusing on one of the following topics: “Unions”, “Palestine” and “Climate & Ecological Emergency”. The event is supported by Leicester & District Trades Union Council (L&DTUC). For more information, please see this flyer.

    Organising the next Workers Memorial Day

    The Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW) subcommittee of Leicester & District Trades Union Council (L&DTUC) will meet to start organising the next Workers Memorial Day event. The meeting will be on Tuesday 21st January 2025 starting at 6pm and, it’s hoped, will not last much more than an hour. All trade unionists are welcome. You do not need to be a trades council delegate to get involved. The organising meeting will be held on Zoom. If you’re interested in contributing, please use this link to join the meeting.

  • Annual Meeting for Members on Casualised Contracts

    The UCU national annual meeting for members on casualised contracts will be held on Saturday 22nd February and will be in hybrid format, both on-line and in London. The meeting is an opportunity to network, to find out what the Anti-Casualisation committee (ACC) have been doing over the past 12 months, to elect members to the committee and, to debate motions.

    The exact content of the meeting is still being finalised, but the intention is to have a panel discussion on how the union progresses its anti-casualisation work and workshops on the new Employment Rights bill, the launch of the Researcher manifesto and anti-casualisation and equality.

    For full details on how to register, how to send motions and how to make nominations to the ACC will be available shortly, here.

    UCU are encouraging members on casualised contracts to consider attending the event, raising motions for the meeting and to consider putting yourself forward to join the anti-casualisation committee as there are lots of places available this year. For more information please contact Jane Thompson here.

  • New Reps in ONCampus & London and Appointment of Branch Membership Secretary

    We are very pleased to announce that we now have two department reps in Lboro London. Matt Vidal has stepped back into the role following a short break and will work alongside our new London Rep, Anaïs Carlton-Parada. We are also delighted to announce we now have a department rep in Lboro ONCampus where Pedro Nunes has recently taken on the role. We know all three of these reps will do a great job representing members in London and ONCampus.

    In addition to our new reps, we also are also very happy to announce that Eleanor Roberts, who joined the branch committee in the summer as an ordinary member, has been appointed as the branch Membership Secretary. Eleanor will take a lead in the important areas of recruitment and organising in the branch.

    Anaïs Carlton-Parada, LUCU Rep for Loughborough London.

    “I’m Dr Anaïs Carlton-Parada and I’ve been a researcher and teaching fellow at Loughborough University London for four years in the Institute for Creative Futures. Prior to working at Loughborough, I was a graduate student at the University of South Carolina, U.S., in Anthropology. This is my first union role, although I have been involved in union actions since my start at Loughborough. My research and personal interests align through actionable care and moving toward equity in significant, tangible ways, so I’m looking forward to supporting as a rep and being a first point of contact for our union members.”

    Matt Vidal, LUCU Rep for Loughborough London.

    “I joined Loughborough London in 2017 as Reader in Sociology and Political Economy. I was deeply involved in union activism during my PhD programme at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I was an Organizing Committee and Executive Board member, Teaching Assistants’ Association, AFT #3220. I took some years off from formal union activism work after I got my first academic job at King’s College London, though was always active in following and supporting UCU and all other unions. I first started as department rep at Loughborough London in 2022.”

    Pedro Nunes, LUCU Rep for ONCampus.

    “I joined UCU during my time as an FE teacher, after coming into contact with the “Respect FE” campaign. Around a year and a half ago, I was employed by ONCampus at Loughborough University, right after the opening of the new pre-programme centre for international students. Previously, I took precarious teaching positions both at Durham and Leicester Universities. These experiences gave me insights into some of the most pernicious dynamics currently affecting the sector, and how unions are one of the main drivers of positive change. Consequently, it is fundamental for unions to stand by policies that empower our members and strengthen our collective voice.”

    We currently have vacancies for Reps in Computer Science, Lboro Sport, Chemistry, Student Services, Lboro Law & Wolfson. Interested members from those areas are encouraged to get in touch with our Branch Organiser, Callum Salfield, for more information or a chat about the role.

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