What we do

We are academics, researchers, administrators, librarians, computer staff, teaching postgraduates and other hourly paid teaching staff, whether on fixed-term or on permanent contracts; full-time or part-time.

For a list of committee members and School reps, go to Contact Us page.

UCU factsheet: What do trade unions do?

bernadette at a stall

Campaigning and negotiating for improvements

Members of UCU at the University of Hertfordshire negotiate directly with the University regarding your terms and conditions of employment. As a UCU member, we ensure that your voice is heard and your interests are represented. Every member increases our strength in negotiations. Your membership matters locally. 

We meet representatives from UH management at the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee. For more details on decisions made at these meetings, see the minutes on HertsHub – link on the Resources page.

We work closely with the other trade union representing UH staff, UNISON.

We are active on the following UH committees:

  • Payroll
  • workload model

Help and advice with problems at work

UH UCU advises on personal cases. range from requests for advice on more routine employment matters to more complex cases such as grading appeals, grievances and complaints of harassment. Personal casework forms a significant part of the work of the UCU Committee and there has been a noticeable year on year increase over the last three years.  All UCU Committee members dealing with personal cases attend formal training sessions, provided by UCU Regional Officers, prior to handling case work.

Building the union

UH UCU works closely with the Regional Office, UCU Eastern Region. We attend regional and national meetings and conferences, to represent your interests. Do you want your voice to be represented? Join us.

anti casualisation banner