For the sake of everyone working in UK higher education, it’s vital that staff return their ballot papers – and that unions clear the turnout thresholds imposed by anti‑union laws. A strong, UK‑wide mandate is the best way to resist further cuts to jobs, pay, conditions and programmes, and to support branches already facing local crises.

1. We need leverage

Unions only win serious concessions when they have credible industrial action mandates. High turnout and clear majorities give us bargaining power; without that leverage, employers push through redundancies, real‑terms pay cuts, heavier workloads and erosion of agreements. When mandates lapse or ballots fall short, offers deteriorate or disappear and negotiations stall.

Industrial action (and the credible threat of it) is one of the few mechanisms that has ever improved job security, pensions, pay and conditions in the sector. A weak ballot signal invites management to make things worse.

2. We need national as well as local leverage

Some core issues – the national pay spine, framework agreements, and overarching terms and conditions – can only be resolved in UK‑wide bargaining. Others – like workload models, grade mapping, or specific restructuring plans – are fought locally. A national mandate strengthens both fronts.

The current crisis is sector‑wide: universities across the country are proposing large‑scale job cuts, course closures and department shrinkage. A key demand of this ballot is a national framework to resist redundancies and protect disciplines everywhere, not just where branches can mount individual fights.

Pay erosion is national too. Since around 2008, staff on the HE pay spine have lost roughly a quarter of their real‑terms pay, depending on grade and inflation. The latest below‑inflation offer is yet another cut, while senior management pay has often risen in real terms. A strong national mandate also signals to governments that funding pressures cannot be “solved” by degrading staff terms and conditions.

3. We’re not asking for the earth – just for employers to stop making things worse

Given financial pressures, our demands are modest and defensive:

  • No more job cuts: a national commitment to avoid redundancies and protect programmes.
  • No more real‑terms pay cuts: after years of erosion, staff cannot absorb another hit.
  • No undermining of national agreements: employers must stop unpicking protections on workloads, hours, contracts and pensions.

Without strong, coordinated bargaining backed by action, individual institutions will continue to treat staff as a cost to be squeezed rather than the core of the university.

4. Solidarity with other unions and colleagues

All campus unions are balloting; coordinated mandates will be far more powerful than isolated ones. Unlike previous actions, by partnering with our sister unions we have the chance to shut down the university. Failing to reach the 50% turnout threshold in any union weakens everyone and gives employers opportunities to divide staff.

Migrant members can both vote and take action, but often have no vote in UK political elections; union ballots may be their only democratic channel. Allowing anti‑union thresholds to silence them is itself a form of disenfranchisement.

5. Make your union stronger and keep options open

Voting – whether yes or no – strengthens the union’s democratic structures. Not voting makes it easier for anti‑union laws to nullify members’ decisions. A successful ballot gives branches leverage in both national and local negotiations over the next six months, and even where national thresholds are missed, a high local turnout still strengthens the branch in future disputes.

However you intend to vote, use your ballot. Not voting is the only guaranteed way to let employers and anti‑union laws win without a fight.

If you have not received your ballot, lost your ballot, or suddenly realise that you do want to make sure staff gets heard after all: you can still request a replacement ballot via this webpage by the deadline of 23 November. Submit your ballot by 26 November.

Gratefully adapted from the excellent blogpost by Durham UCU listing no less that 28 reasons to vote. And check out the leaflets on campus — or pdf here.