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University and College UnionEssexBranch
340 STILL AT RISK IN PHASE 2PHASE 2 PAUSED IN ACADEMIC SECTIONTELL US WHAT PHASE 2 IS DOING£9.2M SAVINGS TARGET — AND RISING97% NO CONFIDENCE IN THE VC28 DAYS TO APPEAL A REDUNDANCYDEFEND SOUTHEND CAMPUSJOIN UCU — ORGANISE — WIN340 STILL AT RISK IN PHASE 2PHASE 2 PAUSED IN ACADEMIC SECTIONTELL US WHAT PHASE 2 IS DOING£9.2M SAVINGS TARGET — AND RISING97% NO CONFIDENCE IN THE VC28 DAYS TO APPEAL A REDUNDANCYDEFEND SOUTHEND CAMPUSJOIN UCU — ORGANISE — WIN

The line

Campaigns

Jobs. Southend. The Academic Framework. No confidence. These are not separate stories — they are one management project, and one union response.

01 / Now

Stop the 400-job cull

Phase 2 still has 340 people at risk (296 FTE). Management want a further 146 FTE gone. The savings target is now £9.2 million.

  • 425 at-risk letters went out at the start of Phase 2; 340 people remain at risk.
  • 59 professional services colleagues were already made redundant in Phase 1.
  • Phase 2 is paused in Academic Section and departmental administration — not elsewhere.
  • A second voluntary-redundancy window is uncommitted. Unions are still pushing.

02 / Campus

Defend Southend

Closing Southend abandons students from low-income families and contradicts the university’s founding principles.

  • Running costs have been withheld from the City Council and local investors.
  • The closure decision was pre-determined before consultation.
  • Pathways provision — which widens participation — is in the firing line.

03 / Conditions

Defeat the Academic Framework

A new Academic Framework would recast teaching, workload and academic judgement. We treat it as a dispute, not a consultation exercise.

  • Workload intensification dressed as ‘clarity’.
  • Threats to academic freedom and professional autonomy.
  • A published timeline and a plan to win — read them, organise around them.

04 / Leadership

No confidence

97% of staff voting on 15 April 2026 had no confidence in Vice-Chancellor Frances Bowen and her senior team.

  • Essex UCU had already recorded no confidence on 11 March 2026.
  • The branch is demanding resignation, an apology, and a reopened consultation.
  • Compulsory redundancies must halt.

What members do now

01

Contribute your skills

This is a fight on many fronts. We need an army of volunteers — organising, research, design, casework, communications.

02

Talk to your dep rep

Share developments that have not yet reached the committee. If your department has no rep, volunteer to become one.

03

Update MyUCU

Ballot papers go to the address on your membership record. Wrong details mean you do not get a vote.

04

Come to meetings

Strategy is decided by members in the room. All-member meetings are where the fight is shaped.

Volunteer formRequest a buddyHardship fund

We have done this before

2026

Local strikes and no confidence

Fifteen strike days. 97% no confidence. Phase 2 paused in Academic Section. 340 still at risk.

2023

Marking and assessment boycott

Members withheld assessment labour. The local hardship fund kept people in the fight.

2022–23

UCU Rising

National strike action over pay, pensions, casualisation and equality. FAQs remain on file for students, strikers and supporters.

2020–21

Covid workplace safety

The branch organised around UCU national advice so members were not forced into unsafe buildings.

Not a member? The fight is already underway. Join UCU.