Dear comrades,
We hope you’re having a lush summer and keeping well 🌞
We’ve been busy supporting restructures, meeting with our chief financial and people’s officers, and mobilizing for the recent pay ballot – now we’re back with a bumper newsletter.
Read on for key updates, info about possible upcoming strike action, and most importantly, a callout for a craftivism group 👀🧵
🎥 July Branch Meeting recording
> Branch meeting recording link is in the newsletter email (Subject: “UoB UNISON August updates”)
> Agenda: UOB UNISON Branch Meeting: 9th July 2025 at 12:00 – University of Bristol UNISON
👀 Keeping up to date with the branch
> Keep an eye on our website for the most up-to-date branch news.
> Email unison-office@bristol.ac.uk to join our WhatsApp community.
> Follow us on Instagram (@unison_bristol_uni) and Facebook (Unison University of Bristol)
Due to time constraints and to make our work more efficient, Vicky is no longer holding drop-ins on Wednesday afternoons. Instead, you can use her booking page to schedule online or in-person chats with her Book time with Vicky Redwood. If you think you need more time for your conversation or case, please fill out our case form, so we can arrange a meeting with you with the best person to help.
🎉 Branch Social – Wednesday 13th August
> Join us at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday 13th August at the Watershed (accessibility information).
Members and non-members welcome!
💰 Pay consultation results
An incredible 63% of our members turned out to vote on our employer’s abysmal offer of a 1.4% pay increase. 95% of those who voted, voted to REJECT. 🎉
This is a strong, defiant response clearly showing widespread dissatisfaction with the ‘offer’. We’d like to say a massive well done to our members who voted and helped to spread the word – it’s a HUGE achievement to be one of the most active branches in the country, and it takes our collective action to be so successful. ✊
Despite the result of the consultation, the 1.4% pay increase will still be imposed from August’s pay cheque.
> Read more: University of Bristol UNISON members vote overwhelmingly to reject pay offer – University of Bristol UNISON
✊ Possible ballot on national strike action
The pay consultation was part of larger national action.
> Read more: Higher Education Pay 2025/26 | UNISON National.
The overwhelming response from UNISON HE colleagues across the country was also to vote to reject. Your Higher Education Service Group Executive wants to work with the five other HE trade unions on a joint campaign to improve the pay offer. Those unions are currently concluding consultations with their members.
Likely next steps could involve balloting for national strike action. The previous ballot was a consultation; this would be the real deal!
As any full ballot will be by post, please ensure that your home address is up to date on my.unison.org.uk.
> Read more: Updating your details on My UNISON – University of Bristol UNISON
We need to keep up this amazing energy for the next vote, and ensure this time we hit the 50% turnout threshold to go on strike. Back in May, our ballot for local strike action was just 5% short of this (45%), despite 85% voting yes for strike action – which meant we couldn’t strike. The higher the turnout, the stronger our hand is for getting a better offer!
We can’t let senior management win again – in line with inflation, this year a 1.4% pay rise equals a real-terms pay cut of ~1.8 per cent. Higher Education is central to the economic success of our cities, regions and nations, yet it is falling drastically behind in terms of pay and conditions – we can’t continue to be insulted! Senior management keep us busy with the daily struggles of restructures, recruitment freezes and other BS so we don’t have time to mobilise – but we need to before it’s too late!
📢 National Delegate Conference
In June, co-branch secretaries Vicky and Nathan attended Unison’s National Delegate Conference (NDC) in Liverpool. NDC is where the union debates what to prioritise – delegates passed motions ranging from challenging the rise of far-right activity to supporting Palestine (especially the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement). It was a powerful reminder of our strength and solidarity as a union, and our branch is excited to campaign further on the motions discussed.
Vicky and Nathan both took to the stage to speak on some motions (👏). Vicky spoke on the struggle and crisis that HE is in, and urged conference to hold Labour to account and to not let the Employment Rights Bill be diluted any more than it already has been; she also called for more support for branch activists, highlighting the struggles we face as volunteers in branches. Nathan was the only delegate to ask a question about Unisons 2024 Annual Financial statements asking “On page 21 of the 2024 Financial Statements, it shows a total General Secretary salary and oncosts package of £197,937 for 2024.Given this will mean very large pay differentials between the General Secretary and our lowest paid UNISON members, should UNISON publish its pay differentials in the Financial Statements, like local authorities have to?”
You can find clips of these speeches and more updates from NDC in our ‘Dispatches from NDC’ series:
> Dispatches from NDC 2025 – Day One – University of Bristol UNISON
> Dispatches from NDC 2025 – Day Two – University of Bristol UNISON
> Dispatches from NDC 2025 – Day Three – University of Bristol UNISON
> Dispatches from NDC 2025 – Day Four – University of Bristol UNISON
> Dispatches from NDC 2025 – Day five – University of Bristol UNISON
🌿 Update from our Environmental officer – Lucie R.
Rob Massie, Branch Secretary/Treasurer of our sister union Unite, attended the UCAP (University Climate Action Plan) Task and Finish Group on the 16th of July. This is now being headed by Naomi Gornall, Head of Net Zero Carbon & Sustainability in Campus Development as it has become apparent that finalising the University’s Climate Action Plan has gone somewhat adrift. The group are focused on getting the Action Plan agreed by the end of this calendar year, with final sign off from the University Executive Board and Board of Trustees scheduled for March 2026. The Action Plan will likely retain our ambitious target of a net-zero campus by 2030, with the expectation that this will not be met but must continue to be the goal. It does look promising that considerable carbon savings can be made with the Action Plan in place. I will continue to meet with Rob for updates on the group’s progress.
🗣️ Unison SU Staff Network
Central Unison is building a network of members working in Student’s Unions to discuss and network over issues particularly affecting SU staff. The network has met twice this year, and they are looking to arrange a further meeting in Autumn.
> Contact Chiara Compolo for more information, or register your interest here: Join the UNISON SU Staff Network
🏫 Upcoming training – from our Education officer Catherine R.
Unison college is open to all members – their training is free, and time off can be arranged for you to attend. Their sessions are brilliant for personal development as well as handy for work.
Some upcoming training for August includes:
> Communicating with Success August 2025 | UNISON College
> Conflict Management When Working with Students August 2025 | UNISON College
> Conflict Management (August) | UNISON College
See here for the full 2025 programme: All Member Offer – UNISON College offers 2025 – Member Learning
If you’d like to attend a session or find out more, email catherine.rutter@bristol.ac.uk
🎨 Craftivism Meet Ups – from our Disabilities officer Nat I.
After the success of the Unison supported Bake Sales in May, I was trying to think of other ways to engage members with the variety of issues currently going on.
This is where Craftivism comes in: a positive and mindful way to engage in activism. So, would you like to get involved in setting up and running a monthly Craftivism Meet up? Or are you interested in attending once it’s set up? Please fill in the Unison Craftivism Expresssion of Interest form so I contact you. If you would like to know more about what Craftivism is:
> BBC – Craftivism Making a Difference (YouTube)
⚖️ New Legal & General pensions app – from our Treasurer Sophie H.
I am part of the Pensions Communications group for UBGPP (University of Bristol Group Personal Pension Plan), and would like to share our new poster promoting the new Legal & General App: UBGPP Poster – 2025 June
The app is a great way to manage your pension in your pocket – with information and help always on hand. For pension support, contact pensions-uob@bristol.ac.uk
🌏 South Asian Heritage event – From our Black members officer David E. R.
The South Asian Heritage event will be taking place on 6th August . This will be a hybrid event and will take place at the UNISON Centre.
> Read more: https://www.unison.org.uk/events/roots-to-routes/
👶 National maternity, paternity, parental leave and pay survey
The Government recently announced a landmark review of the overall package of the parental leave and pay system in Great Britain. The intention is to consider the way in which it could be improved to better support working families while remaining viable in today’s economy. Unison is gathering its own research to help respond to this:
> Fill out Unison’s survey here – deadline 9am, 4 August 2025
🧑🔬 Consultation with Bristol’s REF 2029 Code of Practice
The Research Information and Evaluation Team have been in touch with Unison about consulting on their upcoming Code of Practice at UoB for REF 2029. We’re looking for any interested members – possibly someone in a school or faculty in a role relating to research – to help represent our union on this.
> Please get in touch if you think you might be interested.
📅 External Events and News
> Pass the Employment Rights Bill in Full | Megaphone UK
> Your Party – sign up.
> TUC training courses – https://www.tuc.org.uk/training/TUCcourses#southwest
SUMMER OF ACTION FOR GAZA
> 1 August – Stop Starving Gaza Pots and Pans protests, 5.30PM, Cascade steps, Bristol City Centre
> 9 August – National March for Palestine, Central London
Coach tickets from Bristol and Weston available via headfirst:
> 16 August – Protest at RAF High Wycombe
> 23 August – Stop Arming Israel Day of Action – _more details closer to the time https://palestinecampaign.org/events_
> 6 September – National March for Palestine, Central London
more details about the headfirst coach tickets will be available closer to the time
> 10 September – DSEI arms fair demo – no arms for genocide
> The Gaza Tribunal: Inquiry into War Crimes | The Gaza Tribunal