UCU Branch Meeting – 3 April 2025
At our latest branch meeting (~30 members present), we heard from RP about the urgent financial position the university faces: a projected £22 million in savings is being sought. Business Case Documents (BCDs) are due the week beginning 28 April, after which UCU will have three weeks to scrutinise and respond.
UCU’s position remains clear: no compulsory redundancies.
We are not opposed to strategic decisions about the future of the university — but such decisions must be grounded in robust, transparent data and made with proper consultation, not reactive panic. This is not what we’re currently seeing.
The Compressed Timetable
- 5 May: Consultation invitations go out (VR phase begins)
- 12 May: Consultation meetings start
- Late May–June: Hiatus to explore redeployment, savings, ‘bumping’
- June–July: If savings unmet, compulsory redundancy phase begins, with staff leaving by 31 July
We are very concerned this is “the beginning of the end, not the end of the beginning.”
Be in the Pool. Support Each Other.
UoP Management are currently resisting an open VR process, instead targeting specific areas. But we want as many people as possible in the pool for Voluntary redundancy — whether VR or CR eligible — Pease inform your school reps of any intended action as soon as you are aware so that we can collectively support each other through this challenging and difficult process.
We now have five trained caseworkers (Victor, Hannah, Louise, Minchul and Richard) ready to represent and support any UCU member in the pool. Use them. Don’t go through this alone. As well as the caseworkers, School reps will be available to support at consultation meeting both collectively and individually.
What We’re Hearing from Staff
- Workload planning is being redone without consultation or transparency with UCU representation.
- Curriculum and programme changes are being pushed through at lightning pace, with little time for considered design.
- Redeployment is legally required, but often discouraged or blocked in practice, please keep UCU reps updated on any redeployment or redundancy mitigation you are aware of so the Reps can make sure these opportunities are being properly considered.
- Managers have vested interests in producing cases that justify cuts, any job losses must pass the redundancy test and not just about saving money. They must demonstrate the diminution of work.
- Professional services and teaching staff alike are being asked to clean up problems caused by poor senior decisions, particularly around marketing and recruitment.
- Last year’s BCDs consisted of partial and inaccurate data — we must be ready to challenge this again.
What We Do Now
- Be visible
Put UCU posters on doors. Host coffee/cake drop-ins. Let students and colleagues see a union that’s active, not passive.
- Don’t smooth the path
Work to time. Keep a log of tasks and conversations. If you’re asked to help make a business case, be honest — not compliant. Tell the truth about what time work takes and what’s needed.
- Build the procedural case
Start documenting now: throwaway remarks from managers, lack of consultation, flawed data, inconsistencies. These will matter later — for legal and strategic reasons.
- Promote the national campaign
This is part of a bigger crisis in UK HE. Contact MPs. Watch the Westminster debate. Talk about the real cost of underfunding.
- Bring students with us
We don’t want NSS weaponised, but students deserve to know what’s happening. Ideas on the table: rallies, parties, teach-ins. This is their university too.
And Finally…
We know the university can legally disinvest from specific areas. But that doesn’t mean it can do so without due process or on the basis of bad data. Our job is to demand accountability and defend fairness — not to rubber-stamp cuts.
We have 475 members in a staff body of 700. That’s power. Let’s show it.
Let’s refuse to carry the burden for decisions we didn’t make.
Let’s stand together — visible, organised, and impossible to ignore.
Please Join the National Rally on 10th May. Coach leaving Plymouth if you want to attend the Rally and Support your Union in Protecting education.
Look out for more information in the coming weeks…..
