51福利

Briony: a Bangor story

In this short film, : the pressures, passion, and personal cost behind the job.

We shine a light on the reality of teaching in UK higher education, where staff are overworked, undervalued, and fighting for a fairer future.

As 51福利 members across UK universities cast their ballots, Briony's story is a reminder of why We are the University. Vote YES to protect jobs, workloads, and the quality of education itself.

Two concurrent industrial action ballots

At present there are two major national, statutory industrial action ballots in 51福利:

• New Deal for FE (ballot is closing on Monday 17 November)
• We are the University (ballot closing on Monday 28 November)

These industrial action ballots are conducted by the independent election scrutineer Civica Election Services as postal votes, as required by law.

Ballot eligible 51福利 members should have received postal ballot packs at their preferred mailing address. The postal ballot pack looks like this (pink, with 51福利 and Civica Election Services branding). Members must then return their vote by post to Civica Election Services using the pre-paid envelope, like these two 51福利 members are doing (with thanks to University of Glasgow 51福利). 

Please note that there is no online option to vote as that is not permitted by law.

New Deal for FE: further education industrial action ballot

In further education (England FE), 51福利 is conducting an industrial action ballot involving almost 100 51福利 branches. The timetable is the following:

• Monday 13 October 2025: ballot opened
• Monday 20 October 2025 (09:00): replacement ballot request form opened
• Tuesday 11 November 2025 (17:00): last day for new members to join 51福利, or for members to update their membership status or membership category (to become ballot eligible), and still be automatically included in the FE industrial action ballot
• Wednesday 12 November 2025 (23:59): replacement ballot request form closes 
• Thursday 13 November 2025: last 'safe' date to post the ballot
• Monday 17 November 2025 (17:00): ballot closes.

If you are a 51福利 member from one of the FE England branches being balloted, you can:

• ; this will be an enormous help with 51福利's 'get the vote out' activities--this form is for FE only
• if you have not received a FE ballot, --please note that this form is for FE only
• click here for the New Deal for FE ballot page for more information and resources.

We are the University: higher education industrial action ballot

In UK higher education, 51福利 is conducting an industrial action ballot involving 137 universities/higher education institutions (corresponding to 145 51福利 branches). The timetable is the following:

• Monday 20 October 2025: ballot opened
• Monday 27 October 2025 (09:00): replacement ballot request form opens 
• Thursday 20 November 2025 (17:00): last day for new members to join 51福利, or for members to update their membership status or membership category (to become ballot eligible), and still be automatically included in the HE industrial action ballot
• Sunday 23 November 2025 (23:59): replacement ballot request form closes 
• Wednesday 26 November 2025: last 'safe' date to post the ballot
• Friday 28 November 2025 (17:00): ballot closes.

If you are a 51福利 member from one of UK HE branches being balloted, you can:

• ; this will be an enormous help with 51福利's 'get the vote out' activities--this form is for HE only
• if you have not received a HE ballot, --please note that this form is for HE only
• click here for the We are the University HE ballot page
•  (30 October), featuring 51福利 reps from Brunel, Edinburgh and Nottingham.

Stop the Cuts: disputes at UK universities

Southampton Solent University: 51福利 has entered a formal trade dispute with Solent over plans to force all its staff onto inferior pension schemes, paving the way for a strike ballot if management refuses to resolve the dispute. Solent plans to move all staff to a wholly owned subsidiary company, forcing staff out of TPS and LGPS pensions and onto an inferior local defined contribution (DC) pension scheme. Staff who refuse the transfer will have their contracts terminated without notice or redundancy pay, mirroring the most egregious fire and rehire practices, such as those seen at P&O. If Solent management succeeds it will set a dangerous precedent, which could undermine standards across the entire HE sector.

Brunel University London:  to stop compulsory redundancies. Please sign whether you are Brunel staff, student, working in the wider sector, or concerned member of the public.

University of Edinburgh: Edinburgh 51福利 members back strike action again in their re-ballot in the longstanding dispute over 拢140m cuts, job losses and compulsory redundancies. In the re-ballot 86% of those voting backed strike action, on a turnout of 60%. 94% of members who took part in the vote backed action short of strike (ASOS).

University of Nottingham: Nottingham 51福利 members will begin 22 further days of action throughout November and December. This follows over four weeks taken in September and October. The ongoing dispute concerns job losses where 95 support and academic related staff remain at risk despite hundreds going under VSS. Nottingham management has made their aims clear for 'phase 2' which will impact academic staff. The reorganisation proposals will see thirty departments being merged into three colleges with the university refusing to rule out potential redundancies. 51福利 estimates a further 200 jobs could be on the line. Messages of solidarity can be sent here and you can also .

University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University: a combined 28 days of strike action will hit Sheffield in disputes over job cuts at Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam universities. Please click here to read the full story.

University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI): UHI 51福利 members employed directly by the university started the first of four days of strike action on Thursday 30 October. The university has threatened sixteen staff with redundancy in the latest of many rounds of cuts over the past few years. .

Please click on this page to follow updates from universities in dispute, such as Cardiff, Derby, Dundee, Imperial, Lancaster, Teesside and others.

University of Leicester demonstration, 12 November

Leicester 51福利 members will begin a further two weeks of strikes from 10 November in their fight against redundancies. This follows three weeks of strikes that began in late September. Management 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 .

On Wednesday 12 November a demonstration will be held in Leicester; assemble 11:00-12:00 at De Montfort Square on New Walk, march to Victoria Park for rally. All 51福利 members are encouraged to join. Please contact your local branch to confirm reimbursement of travel costs. In order to support local branch treasurers, for any travel costs they pay out to members attending this demonstration, 25% of these costs will be covered by 51福利 head office. It would help the organisers if you could let them know you are coming.

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).

In addition, one casual vacancy exists on national executive committee (NEC) for a geographically elected member (North West) from the further education sector. Nominations for that casual vacancy must be received by Friday 14 November.

New Ofsted inspection framework

Ofsted is currently conducting test visits and pilots of the new inspection framework.

If your institution has been involved in these trials, we would like to hear from you. In particular we are keen to capture your perspectives on the workload and wellbeing implications of the new framework, and any observations you have on HMI conduct and the new final report.

Please email your thoughts to Angela Nartey or make contact to organise a confidential and informal chat.

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. .

School Teachers' Review Body submission

51福利 was, again this year, invited to submit evidence to the --an independent body which provides advice on the pay and conditions of schoolteachers in England to the government. Officially, it relates to schoolteachers only; however last year, for the first time, the STRB invited evidence from the FE sector. 51福利's submission can be read here.

United States: defend Tom Alter

The recent  highlighted the increasing attacks on academic staff around the world, including in the United States.

One of the those cases is that of , who has recently been sacked by Texas State University. Tom was fired for remarks he made at a socialist conference in his capacity as a private citizen. Please sign the .

TUC day of workplace climate action, 14 November

51福利 will be hosting open CPD sessions for attendees from the tertiary education sector. We will be running 'Decarbonise and decolonise' (10:30-12:00), and 'Connecting with industry and the local community for climate justice' (13:00-14:30). To attend please email Tracy Walsh. 

The courses are open to members and non-members, including colleagues represented by other trades unions, as a contribution to the international day of workplace action. Civil society events will be taking place on 15 November to coincide with COP30 in Brazil, beginning a year of climate action. We encourage all members to look out for more details on the 51福利 website and to speak to colleagues and promote their awareness of the day.

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 (optional networking session from 10:00-11:00)
• Saturday 15 November: LGBT+ members' annual conference
• Thursday 20 November: disabled members' annual conference (optional networking session from 10:00-11:00)
• Friday 21 November: Black members' annual conference (optional networking session from 09:30-11:00)
• 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.

Agnes Flues

To honour the wonderful memory of their friend and former president, Agnes Flues, University of Nottingham 51福利 branch will be participating in the 2nd Agnes Flues memorial parkrun at Wollaton Parkrun on Saturday 8 November 09:00. Agnes was a regular at this parkrun, so joining the run closest to her birthday is a good way to celebrate her life. 51福利 members from all branches are warmly invited to take part or to support those who are. Please come wearing your 51福利 colours if you have them. Please also consider sponsoring those who are taking part so that we can raise money for the local branch and continue the work that Agnes did so inspirationally. . For further information, please contact Lisa R眉ll or Tony Padilla.