Brighton university bosses threaten to throw workers ‘back to the Victorian era’

Within 24 hours of the University of Brighton announcing plans to derecognise the UCU union a protest was held against it

Workers at the University of Brighton raged against union busting at an emergency demonstration this week.

The university has threatened to derecognise the unions on campus. In an email to workers, bosses said they have “formally notified our recognised trade unions that we will be commencing discussions on a new recognition agreement for the future.”

“This requires us to serve notice on the existing collective agreements,” they said.

The Brighton Unison union branch treasurer is Martin Loftus. He explained, “The university has given us a threat that within nine months, if we don’t agree to new terms and conditions, it will completely derecognise us.

“That’s the fight we are having,” he told Socialist Worker. “Our terms and conditions are under attack. What we think will happen is that they will have the opportunity to rewrite contracts and make mass redundancies. It will make this a very precarious place to work.”

Workers at Brighton have fought hard to defend their jobs and the education they provide. In 2023, UCU union members walked out on indefinite strike against job cuts.

They returned to work after 129 days with their heads held high. They inflicted damage on bosses, but didn’t stop the redundancies.

The bosses want to punish them for their defiance—and send a signal to other workers.

Unions at Brighton organised an emergency demonstration on Tuesday of dozens of people with less than 24 hours’ notice. They were joined by delegates from the TUC union federation annual congress taking place down the road. They included members of PCS, FBU, TSSA and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy unions and of the local Green Party.

UCU branch chair Ryan Burns told Socialist Worker, “The concept of derecognition takes us back to a Victorian era of workers without any rights whatsoever.

“That’s why it really animates any trade unionist to hear about this attack. And it’s an example of an employer emboldened to think that they can just tear up agreements.

“This can infect the whole workforce. If one employer thinks they can get away with doing this, then others will think that they have the chance to as well.”

UCU general secretary Jo Grady told the rally, “When they attack us, we will kick back. We are standing with this branch. We will defend our recognition agreement.”

The previous day, the TUC conference called for a campaign to pressure the Labour government to defend workers’ rights.

Labour housing secretary Angela Rayner told the conference that the government had delivered an Employment Rights Bill within 100 days.

But Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT union, argued that Labour had not moved fast enough and had not finished the job. It has failed to remove the 50 percent turnout threshold unions need to take industrial action that was introduced by the Tories’ Trade Union Act in 2016.

Wrack told conference, “The attacks on union rights have been central to delivering the agenda of the banks, the bosses, the billionaires—the agenda of privatisation, inequality and of shifting power to those at the top.

“That’s why we welcomed Labour’s pledges before the last election. And we do indeed welcome the changes that have been introduced.”

But he also argued there have been “significant failings in delivery”.

He said, “We were promised that legislation to abolish that Trade Union Act would be introduced within 100 days of the general election. So, why two years down the line is the 50 percent threshold still in place?

“Let’s tell the government no more delays, deliver the election pledges and abolish the threshold immediately.”

Unions should be campaigning for Labour to scrap the thresholds—and all anti-union laws.