51福利

We are the University: higher education industrial action ballot

The elected representatives on 51福利's higher education committee voted to call an industrial action ballot for all members covered by the JNCHES 2025/26 negotiating umbrella. In total, 137 higher education institutions/employers are involved, corresponding to 145 51福利 branches. 

51福利's ballot will be conducted by the independent election scrutineer Civica Election Services as a postal vote as required by law; please note that there is no online option available for voting for industrial action in the UK. The timeframe is the following:

• Monday 20 October: ballot opens
• Friday 28 November (17:00): ballot closes

The other campus unions (UNISON, GMB, Unite and EIS) are also proceeding with statutory industrial action ballots of their members.

We are organising a 51福利 Live online event on Thursday 2 October (19:00). This is your chance to hear directly about the We are the University campaign, what is at stake, and how you can help us win. We will send the link to this 51福利 Live event imminently. 

New Deal for FE: further education industrial action ballot

In further education (England FE), following decisions made by delegates at 51福利's further education committee (FEC) in May 2025, 51福利 has moved to set out disputes with England FE employers.

51福利 will be conducting an industrial action ballot, involving around 70 FE England college employers (corresponding to over 100 FE England 51福利 branches). The ballot will be conducted by the independent election scrutineer Civica Election Services as a postal vote as required by law; please note that there is no online option available for voting for industrial action in the UK. The timeframe is the following:

• Monday 13 October: ballot opens
• Monday 17 November (17:00): ballot closes

You can click here for the latest updates on the New Deal for FE.

Stop the Cuts! Disputes at UK universities

University of Edinburgh: fresh from their strike action earlier this month, Edinburgh 51福利 are re-balloting to extend their mandate for industrial action. With staff still facing brutal cuts and jobs being lost now its critical for members to return their ballot papers and vote YES to fight cuts and save jobs. The postal ballot runs until 28 October and you can send messages of solidarity to the branch here.

Sheffield Hallam University: a strike ballot is underway at Hallam as staff fight against job cuts and worsening working conditions. The ballot will run until Wednesday 1 October. The dispute centres on university management's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies, despite already having slashed ~450 jobs during 2024. 51福利 has also raised the alarm over spiralling workloads as fewer staff are left to do more work. The cuts are being driven by the university's decision to plough more than 拢200m into major building projects, while announcing further budget reductions of 拢28m for 2025-26.

University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI): 51福利 members at UHI's Executive Office have launched a petition this week to call on their employer to rule out compulsory redundancies. . The branch is also running an industrial action ballot to oppose these job cuts.

University of Nottingham: members began a period of industrial action for two weeks from 22 September. A further two weeks are planned from 13 October, in the ongoing dispute regarding job losses. University management is making significant cuts and in this first wave there remains 270+ support and academic related staff at risk; this is despite hundreds already leaving via various voluntary schemes. Academic staff will be next and this will likely be announced in the coming months.

University of Leicester: members are taking fifteen days of industrial action (29 September-17 October) in response to the university's plans to slash jobs. The action comes after an overwhelming 80% of staff backed strike action in a ballot with a turnout of 62%. University managers have told staff in six areas (geography, geology and the environment; education; chemistry; modern languages; history; film studies) that their jobs are at risk as they seek to cut staffing budget by 拢11m. Hundreds of professional services staff have also been told they face a review that may lead to job losses. You can send messages of solidarity to the branch, and .

Imperial College London: staff at Imperial voted to take industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions. The decision follows a ballot in which 77% of participating staff backed strike action, on a turnout of 59%. The dispute centres on management's refusal to increase its below inflation 2% pay award. When consulted, members of all three recognised unions (51福利, UNISON and Unite) voted to reject it.

University of Dundee: some eleven months after news of the financial and management crisis broke at Dundee, staff are still facing brutal cuts and the very real possibility of compulsory redundancies. After taking multiple days of strike action earlier in the year, Dundee 51福利 members are re-balloting to extend their mandate to fight cuts and save jobs. The re-ballot will run to 6 October. You can send messages of solidarity here.

Lancaster University: members are continuing to campaign against proposals to sack over 400 staff as part of management plans to slash 拢35m from the pay bill. 51福利 members have held stalls in Lancaster on Saturdays over the summer, and have spoken at a recent meeting of Lancaster City Council. They have scoured the support of both the Labour and Green groups on Lancaster City Council, and have launched a statutory industrial action ballot on Friday 12 September.

University of Sheffield: an industrial action ballot opened in late August, in a dispute over management's plans to put staff in five academic areas at risk of redundancy, as well as continued risk of redundancy to professional services staff across the university. The university announced reviews of staffing in chemistry, civil engineering, management, materials science, and East Asian studies.

Visa holders and redundancies webinar, 2 October

51福利 is holding a webinar on Zoom entitled 'Visa holders and redundancies' on Thursday 2 October (13:00-14:00). .

51福利's migrant members' standing committee (MMSC) has received many queries from migrant members who are facing redundancy and are understandably concerned about how this may impact their visa and visa fees that they have paid. Specialist immigration lawyers Bindmans LLP will be delivering a webinar on the implications of redundancy for those on a visa.

International conference on academic freedom, 15 October

51福利, with the support of Education International (EI), is hosting an international conference on academic freedom on Wednesday 15 October. The conference will hear from international trade unions and experts about global and national challenges to academic freedom and will discuss how to build effective union responses, including in the UK. The confirmed keynote speaker is Robert Quinn, executive director of the .

The conference is free and will be run as a hybrid event. 51福利 members can either attend online or in person at the Hamilton House Meeting Rooms, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD. In-person places are already all full, but you can .

UK officer and NEC elections 2025-26

Nominations for 51福利 officer and national executive committee (NEC) members are now open.

More information about these elections, including all the necessary guidance and forms, can be found on the 51福利 website. The closing date for nominations is Tuesday 11 November (17:00).

The results of the 2025 elections for two casual vacancies on the NEC have now been declared and are also available on the 51福利 website.

Power Up! New Organising 4 Power course

The international organising programme, Organising 4 Power (O4P), has a new online course. It's called 'Power Up!' and is open to all regardless of previous organising experience. The course focuses on building capacity and developing winning campaigns. It will run over four sessions, two in November and two in December, coupled with support sessions from 51福利 facilitators. .

51福利 equality group conferences 2025

This year each of 51福利's equality groups will have a one-day hybrid conference. The venue will be 51福利 head office, and the online platform will be Zoom. Those joining remotely will be able to participate fully in the conference, including voting on motions and attending workshops. When registering for the event delegates must select if they wish to attend the conference/s in-person or remotely.

The days of the conferences are outlined below (all from 11:00-16:00):

• Friday 14 November: women members' annual conference
• Saturday 15 November: LGBT+ members' annual conference
• Thursday 20 November: disabled members' annual conference
• Friday 21 November: Black members' annual conference
• Friday 5 December: migrant members' conference

This year the equality groups conference will have a broad theme of 'Organising against division: building inclusive workplaces, resisting reactionary politics'. To register please use this link, which will take you to the main equality groups conference page.

Gender Pension Gap Day

Last month (21 August), the Trades Union Congress (TUC) marked the 'Gender Pension Gap Day'. This is the date that an average retired woman would run out of pension income, if she were receiving it at the same rate as an average retired man. It is based on research showing that the gender pension gap in the UK is 36.5%.

This level of inequality is unacceptable. The gender pension gap in schemes open to 51福利 members is also far too high, for example 27.2% in the Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) according to the latest valuation.

Thankfully, progress is being made. Some 51福利 members are covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales), which recently consulted on proposals that would close its gender gap significantly, including making all statutory parental leave pensionable.

51福利 is pushing for similar measures in all pension schemes covering our members, including in all other public service pension schemes. You can take a simple step to support our campaign, regardless of the scheme you are in yourself, .

DivestUSS campaign

DivestUSS has launched a campaign to clean up the USS pension scheme. As the climate crisis worsens, USS is still investing our members' pension money in the fossil fuel companies and banks that cause the crisis. DivestUSS wants USS to commit urgently to divest from fossil fuels and use our members' money to transition companies to clean energy. .

Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) call for Second Employment Rights Bill

The CTUF recognises the progress made in improving workers' rights in the current Employment Rights Bill. It believes, however, that a second bill is needed to strengthen further the rights of all workers. To this end, it has launched the Finishing the Job campaign and .

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Caucus survey

The , based at Heriot-Watt University and a major research initiative funded by UKRI and the British Academy, is conducting a survey focusing on the lived experiences of bullying and sexual harassment. Specifically, they are seeking responses from anyone employed in UK's research and innovation sector, including PhD students, since 2023.

They are especially keen to hear from individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds (particularly Black respondents) and those working in non-STEM disciplines. , which is open until 1 October 2025.

Labour Party conference

This weekend 51福利 will be at the Labour Party conference, using every opportunity to raise awareness of our fight on pay, terms, and conditions in further education, higher education, adult and community education, and prison education. Pleas keep an eye for updates from the conference floor.