Dyfrig Jones

Mark Pendleton wears a pink UCU beanie, while standing on a train platform in the dawn light

Been a while since the pink beanie came out. Sheffield pickets here we come.

Our message to management is simple: No redundancies. Stop the incessant restructures. Listen to your staff. There is no University of Sheffield without us.

Wales generally has a left of centre political identity.

This is how Caerphilly voted.

Reform may win a lot of seats in Wales, but it will be so hard for them to ever form a Government as most ppl don't agree with them.

This is why proportional systems are so much better.

Well, that's the lesson for Labour in tonight's Caerphilly by-election: keep obsessing about losing votes on the right, placating Reform voters...and lose votes on to the left. Here, Plaid Cymru benefitted.

I wrote about Labour's strategic dilemma here:
www.opendemocracy.net/en/labour-st...

Dwi’n argymell cylchlythyr Will Hayward yn gryf iawn. Rhifyn da iawn bora ‘ma, sy’n cynnwys y graffeg pwysig yma. Mae ‘na fwyafrif blaengar yng Nghaerffili, ac mae hynny’n wir am weddill Cymru hefyd, dybia i.

Learn a Welsh word: Gobaith (It means hope)

Learn a Welsh word: Gobaith

Feeling a lot of joy after the Caerffili by-election result.

medium.com/@DyfrigJones...

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Plaid Cymru WIN Caerphilly
💚 Plaid Cymru yn ENNILL Caerffili.

Llongyfarchiadau Lindsay Whittle - the new Member of the Senedd for Caerphilly.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

One of the things I love about In Our Time is that I can both listen to it properly, and also use it as sleep ASMR.

Poster: Defend Wales’ Nation of Sanctuary, Stand Against Racism. Caerphilly CF83 1JL, 12pm Saturday 18th October

(Ballots will start to arrive on the 20th of October, UCU members)

Of course management will always try to find ways around it, and of course we need to build member density to increase disruption. But even under current conditions, HE strikes can be effective.

This just isn’t true. Not only is refusing to teach a significant disruption, it also has a financial cost. When @newcastleucu.bsky.social took action this year, the university paid out £2.4m in compensation to students.

With just over a week to go until the ballot opens, @dyfrigjones.bsky.social had a message to UCU higher education members at last night’s Live.

Speak to as many people as possible, speak to your branch, speak to colleagues, get the message out there.

Vote early. Vote YES

#WeAreTheUniversity

The Board of Deputies’ response to the Israeli government inviting Tommy Robinson to visit

The Will Hayward Newsletter | Substack Helping you understand Wales and Welsh politics. Click to read The Will Hayward Newsletter, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Mae cylchlythyr @willhaycardiff.bsky.social wastad werth ei ddarllen, ond mae rhifyn heddiw yn arbennig o dda. Darn gwych am ragrith y Toriaid ynglŷn a rhaglen Cenedl Noddfa, a gwallgofrwydd Llafur wrth gymharu Plaid Cymru gyda Reform.

willhaywardwales.substack.com?utm_campaign...

Screenshot. King's College London page. Examples of effective practice The following scenarios follow the above guidelines and offer insights into ways that academic staff can use AI transparently and in an assistive capacity, always ensuring human oversight and judgment remain central. Scenario A – Scaling feedback while maintaining quality Lecturer A is responsible for marking over 100 essays within a two-week window. Conscious of the limitations this workload places on the depth of individual feedback, they adopt a hybrid approach using their university’s approved or supported LLM tool, Copilot. Without ever uploading student work directly, Lecturer A composes an anonymised summary for each student, noting which marking criteria were met and the approximate percentage achieved for each. They input this summary alongside the official rubric into Copilot, prompting it to generate supportive, criterion-referenced feedback. This feedback is then carefully reviewed, adapted, and personalised before being uploaded to the marking platform. Students are made aware of this process in advance and shown a demonstration, reinforcing transparency and trust.

Simply astonishing. Maybe Lecturer A should not have to mark over 100 essays in a two-week window in the first place? Invest in qualified staff and reduce impossible workloads FFS www.kcl.ac.uk/about/strate...

An open envelope with a piece of paper coming out of it where it says "Vote yes and yes. Lancaster ballot open now!"

Our local ballot is open ✉️ Vote Yes and Yes!
A successful ballot is our most important tool to push the employer to negotiate.

LUCU reps are organising departmental meetings with officers. Join in to ask questions and raise concerns.

#WeAreTheUniversity #StopTheCuts

This is really thoughtful and thought-provoking - so happy to have voted for Matt for this casual vacancy on UCU NEC/HEC. If you're a member of UCU + not yet voted, dig out those papers + vote @matthewbarnard.phd for UK-wide (and Adam Hansen for NE region) 🥰

Just had my first meeting as Chair of the Women member's standing committee, an amazing group of highly motivated and brilliant activists. We had a lovely and productive meeting sharing ideas for our sector of the Equalities conference. Honoured to work with such great people ❤️

Another amazing post by our candidate in the UCU casual vacancy elections, @matthewbarnard.phd on the anti-intellectual threat posed by 'gender critical' ideology. #ucu

Next steps for UCU HEC A very brief, personal, update

medium.com/@DyfrigJones...

I can't overstate how crucial these casual vacancy elections are. HEC is pretty much deadlocked atm, so please vote for @matthewbarnard.phd for UK wide rep and, if in the North East region (comprised of Northern and Yorkshire and Humberside) then vote for Adam Hansen too. #ucu

"Dydy'r brifysgol ddim yn gallu rhedeg heb ein aelodau ni, nac ydy?" - Cwestiwn teg gan ein cymrawd Unsain ar y rali ddoe

Fel y dywedodd ein his-lywydd @vthuppil.bsky.social, mae diswyddiadau gorfodol yn llinell goch lwyr i ni.

fb.watch/AbWK2TsC9u/

“A kick in the teeth” - 13% pay rise for the VC while jobs are on the line is inexcusable.

Thank you to every student, staff member, and community ally who stood in solidarity with @bangorucu.bsky.social yesterday.

We will keep fighting. ✊

A headline from The Times, with Nick Clegg saying that requiring permission from copyright holders to train AI on their word would 'kill' the AI industry. Boo fecking hoo.

My plans for a major retail emporium are being threatend by wholesalers who won't let me steal the stock.

Campaign for UCU Democracy We believe in UCU democracy for all members and think that UCU's democratic structures can be improved. If you agree with us and want open, transparent decision-making for all UCU members, ple…

Link to the list here: campaignforucudemocracy.com

Welcome to those of you who’ve made the journey over to UCU Congress. The Campaign for UCU Democracy has published some voting recommendations for posts elected at Congress. Please support them.

"Masked security forces captured an opposition leader in the coastal province of New Jersey as regime officials continue their months-long crack-down against pro-democracy elements in the embattled United States. The arrest comes as the regime issued calls for summary detentions without trial."

100% this. Saw there was a blue Labour MP saying he "didn't care" if universities went bankrupt so long as immigration went down. He might want to look at some of the basic demographics of Labour support (and also look at who the largest employers are in large Labour seats).

UCU was proud to stand in solidarity at today’s emergency protest for trans rights in London. ✊

Today, and every day, UCU stands with the trans community.

We will never stop fighting for trans rights and equality. 🏳️‍⚧️

#TransRightsAreHumanRights #UCU #Solidarity