We are UCU, Unite and UNISON local branch lay officers and representatives who support union members at all levels and in all areas of the University of Southampton.

We unequivocally support the rights of trans, non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people, and believe that the best way to protect everyone’s rights is to protect everyone’s rights: an injury to one is an injury to all. We support the right to self-identification, and we support full inclusion in the workplace. We reject the divisive notion that trans rights and women’s rights are in conflict – rather, as is increasingly clear from events in other countries, we rise or fall together. The Supreme Court Judgment in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers (16 April 2025), concerning the definition of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010, reaffirmed trans people’s rights to protection from discrimination and harassment, but also threatens the broader rights, dignity and inclusion of trans, non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people. We are dismayed that the UK Government appears to be prepared to allow this erosion of rights, rather than to legislate to avoid it.

In 2015, ILGA-Europe (the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) ranked the UK 1st in Europe for LGBTQ+ rights, with a score of 86.00%; in the most recent ranking, released 14 May 2025, the UK now stands at 22nd place, with a score of just 45.65%. This steep decline in LGBTQ+ rights in the UK should be a source of great national shame.

For many years, trade unions have been at the forefront of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in employment and wider society, and we will be advocating within our unions for this to continue and intensify. Further, we call on the senior leadership of the University of Southampton to continue to do as much as possible (within the law, including considering legal action and lobbying for changes to the law) to protect trans, non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming staff and students, to limit as far as possible any detrimental action taken to comply with guidance that emerges following the Supreme Court Judgment, to mitigate any negative impacts, and to consult fully with trade unions, the Southampton University Students’ Union, and LGBTQ+ staff and student groups before taking any action. Finally, there should be no changes to provisions or practices until the Equality Act 2010 Statutory Codes of Practice have been updated and approved by Parliament, and full consideration must be given to other key legislation, such as the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, the Gender Recognition Act 2004, and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If any union member requires support for these issues, or any other matter, please get in touch with your branch in the usual way.

University of Southampton UCU Branch Executive Committee
Unite Southampton University Branch Committee
UNISON Southampton District Branch, University of Southampton Executive Committee

Our e-consultation on the University’s ‘Transforming the Academic Year’ project opened late on 15 May and closed at 12 noon on 21 May.

The University is considering three options, which members were asked to rank in order of preference:

• Option 1: No changes to the academic year, but workload peaks will be addressed ‘through changes to process, practices, systems and behaviours’.
• Option 2a: 12-week teaching semesters retained, but earlier start to the academic year, shorter Easter ‘break’, and the addition of an intensive marking week for staff/short break for students between Semester 1 and Semester 2.
• Option 2b: Number of Semester 1 and Semester 2 teaching weeks reduced to 11, shorter Easter ‘break’, and the addition of an intensive marking week for staff/short break for students between Semester 1 and Semester 2.

We received 76 responses, which, while low, exceeds the quoracy requirements for branch votes. The results were as follows:

Option 2b is therefore the preferred option of those members that voted, securing an absolute majority of all 1st-preference votes. Option 2a was the least-favoured option, with fewest 1st-preference and most 3rd-preference votes.

Thank you to everyone who took part, and thank you to the Regional Office for organising the vote at short notice.

We held a General Meeting at 1-2pm on Thursday 15th May 2025. The Branch President gave a brief local update, which included welcoming the new Branch Administrator and Organiser, Laura O’Brien, summarising the information shared with us so far about the NousCubane benchmarking exercise the University recently undertook, and reporting on the progress of negotiations in our two local disputes. We then moved on to the formal business outlined below.

Review of the Academic Year

The University is consulting on possible changes to the academic year (details here). We discussed the various proposals, and took an informal indicative vote, which revealed that a majority of members present favoured Option 2b. As we discussed in the meeting, the branch will hold a formal e-consultation of members, to ensure that as many as possible have a say. Note that the results of this e-consultation will supersede the informal indicative vote held in today’s meeting, which was intended as a ‘backup’ in case the e-consultation could not be launched in time.

UPDATE: The e-consultation has now launched and will remain open until 12 noon on Wednesday 21st May – check your MyUCU-registered contact email for a message from ‘yoursay@ucu.org.uk’. In this consultation, you will be asked to rate the three options (1, 2a and 2b) in order of preference, from 1, for your preferred option, to 3, for your least preferred option.

Policies and Procedures

The University is intending to ask the branch to ratify three policies and procedures at the forthcoming JJNC and UCU JNC meetings on 22nd May. Members instructed the branch executive as follows:

• To approve the University’s proposed new Volunteering Leave Policy (for 35, against 0, abstain 4).
• To approve the University’s proposed new Student Complaints and Employee Disciplinary Interaction Process (for 33, against 0, abstain 7). This process, and associated changes to Regulations Governing Student Complaints, directly responds to concerns raised by the branch – see Motion 2 from our GM of 19th November 2024).
• To approve the University’s revised Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom (for 11, against 2, abstain 25).

2025 UCU Congress/Sector Conference Motions

We discussed the Second Report of the Congress Business Committee, which contains motions that are expected to be voted on at UCU Congress/Sector Conference, 24th-26th May 2025. The Executive Committee highlighted Motions 52 (p. 31), 72 (p. 41), HE6 (p. 66) and HE14 (p. 70) as ones that members may have views on. If you have opinions on any motion that you would like to share with the voting delegates who will be representing us at Congress, please send them to ucu@soton.ac.uk by no later than 9am on 22nd May, so that we have time to pass them on.

Motions

The following motion was overwhelmingly passed by members.

Motion: Southampton UCU’s Commitment to Trans Rights

The branch notes:

• That the UK Supreme Court ruling from 16 April declares sex in the Equality Act 2010 refers to sex assigned at birth.
• That the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued guidance on 25 April that states people must use single-sex spaces according to sex assigned at birth, reflecting earlier comments by the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson.
• That the EHRC guidance has no provision for intersex people, and is worded such that trans people could be excluded from single-sex facilities altogether.

The branch believes that the interim guidance:

• Undermines the basic human rights and dignity of trans, intersex, non-binary and gender non-conforming staff and students, including their right to privacy and to be free of harassment and discrimination.
• Contradicts current policy and practice at most post-16 institutions, including UoS, which allow all staff and students to use the gendered spaces appropriate to them (see the branch-ratified Inclusion and Respectful Behaviour policy).
• Encourages enforcement that would amount to harassment, given that a person’s sex assigned at birth and/or transition status are confidential medical information.
• Also threatens dignity at work for cis people, particularly cis women, due to its reliance on subjective assessments of gender presentation.

The branch resolves to:

• Call on the University of Southampton to maintain its existing, trans-inclusive Inclusion and Respectful Behaviour policy and to reiterate this policy to all staff and students.
• Ensure that we are consulted on any changes to policy, in line with our recognition agreement.
• Call on members to vote against ratifying any changes to policy that might weaken or dilute trans people’s right to use single-sex spaces that align with their gender identity.

For: 31
Against: 2
Abstain: 4

Motion carried.