Campaigns
The University and College Union campaigns for the improvement of the pay and conditions of further and higher education staff through the UK, and for the provision of high quality education opportunities.
Our colleges, our community, our union - help get a better deal for FE staff
The 2007 pay offer for FE staff in England is worth 2.55%, yet with prices increasing at nearly 4% a year this means pay would buy less than it did twelve months ago. Pay levels may be just one issue important to members - alongside rising workloads, increased stress, the threat of privatisation, course closures, overwhelming bureaucracy and cuts in funding for the needy - but it is a mark of the respect they have from employers and government.
Save ESOL
There is deep concern over the new funding restrictions on English as a Second Language. The changes to the funding mean that for many people with ESOL needs, course costs will shift from the public purse to the individual, unless employers make a contribution. Find out more here.
Student qualification funding cuts
In September 2007 the government announced that, from 2008, it proposes to withdraw £100m of funding for students studying for a higher education qualification equivalent to, or lower than, a qualification (ELQ) that they have already been awarded. These plans for students contradict the government's own lifelong learning agenda and will hit universities offering courses to adults and part-time students the hardest.
Protect HE: oppose privatisation
UCU members working at a number of universities are now being faced with the threat of privatisation. Private companies are approaching universities and offering to provide services which in many cases covers work that would normally be done by academic and related staff employed by the university or HEI.
The blight of casualisation
UCU is concerned about the treatment of fixed-term and hourly paid staff in universities and colleges across the UK and we are campaigning for improved recognition, contracts and parity with full-time staff.
The Life Changer
UCU is proud of every single one of its members. They are the teachers, lecturers, professors, researchers, administrators, librarians and computing staff who, often with limited resources, put something back into society every day - improving the lives of millions. It is time to raise our profile and show how proud we are of what we do.
Fair pay for Northern Ireland college staff
College lecturers in Northern Ireland have been battling to get pay parity with schoolteachers since 2000 when an independent report highlighted that their earnings potential was significantly lower, and that teachers had greater opportunities for promotion and various allowances.
After a sustained campaign of industrial action, the pay gap has been narrowed significantly; partly thanks to the introduction of shorter salary scales and special payments. But UCU members, who work across the region in its six newly created 'super colleges', have just rejected a three-year pay deal on the grounds that its proposed salary rises came hand-in-hand with unacceptable increases in workloads.