Last updated: 9 October 2026 at 3:45pm BST
In short
- Brighton & Hove Labour councillors wrote to University of Brighton vice-chancellor Donna Whitehead on 7 October, urging the university to pause changes to its union-recognition arrangements.
- The university says it wants to replace about 28 collective agreements with a modern framework and negotiate a new recognition agreement.
- UCU and UNISON describe the process as derecognition and warn it could weaken collective bargaining and employment protections.
- The university says existing agreements remain in force throughout a nine-month notice period and it is not seeking to remove contractual benefits.
- For staff, the immediate position is continuity: no replacement framework has yet been announced or agreed.
Brighton councillors have urged the University of Brighton to pause planned changes to its union agreements and explain what would replace the existing arrangements, bringing a growing workplace dispute back into the local spotlight.
The letter was sent to vice-chancellor Professor Donna Whitehead on Wednesday 7 October 2026 and reported the following day. It concerns the university’s relationship with UCU and UNISON, the two unions it currently recognises for staff representation.
What the councillors asked the university to do
Brighton and Hove News reported that Labour councillors asked the university to pause the termination process, retain recognition of UCU and UNISON and enter meaningful negotiations.
The councillors also requested a clear explanation of why the university believes the current arrangements should end and what it proposes to put in their place. Their intervention is the new development; the underlying dispute began in September.
UCU said it was told on 14 September that the existing recognition agreement and collective agreements would terminate from June 2027. The union characterised the proposal as derecognition and warned that it could weaken staff terms and collective bargaining. UNISON said the recognition agreement has existed for 20 years and covers discussions on matters including sick pay, parental leave, annual leave and flexible working.
University of Brighton union agreement: what the university says
The university disputes the unions’ interpretation. In its official statement published on 24 September, it said discussions are intended to replace approximately 28 collective agreements with a modern employment framework and a new recognition agreement.
It said it is not seeking to reduce or withdraw existing terms, contractual benefits or employment protections, naming annual leave, occupational sick pay, maternity and paternity pay, parental leave and notice periods. It also said it does not want to weaken the role of recognised unions.
Crucially for staff, the university says all current collective agreements remain in place throughout the nine-month notice period while talks continue. Its public jobs information still lists UCU and UNISON as recognised unions.
That leaves two competing descriptions of the same process. The university presents it as negotiated modernisation with continuity during the talks. The unions say ending the existing agreements before a replacement is secured creates a derecognition risk. At this stage, no final replacement framework has been published.
Why it matters locally
The University of Brighton is a major local employer and educator. A change to how pay, hours, leave and workplace disputes are negotiated could affect staff directly and influence students indirectly through morale, recruitment, retention and possible industrial action.
The dispute also arrives during a broader transformation programme. The university is exploring concentrating activity at its City and Moulsecoomb campuses from 2030, potentially leaving Falmer. It says no final campus decision has been made and any recommendation would go to its Board of Governors later in 2026.
These issues should not be conflated: the campus proposal and union arrangements are separate decisions. But together they mean staff and students are being asked to assess several significant changes at once, making clear timelines and evidence especially important.
What staff and students need to know
- Existing agreements remain in place for now, according to the university. The councillors’ letter does not itself change anyone’s contract or the current recognition position.
- Check the source of any claim. The university, UCU and UNISON use materially different language about the same process. Read each organisation’s published statement rather than relying on social-media summaries.
- Staff should keep written communications about any proposed change affecting their role, pay, leave or working conditions and raise questions with HR or their union representative.
- Do not assume collective and individual contract terms are identical. Acas explains that employment-contract changes normally require agreement, while recognised unions may negotiate changes on behalf of covered workers.
- Students should watch for practical effects such as confirmed industrial action or service changes, rather than assuming disruption before it is announced.
This article provides general information, not individual employment-law advice.
Brighton Locals’ view
The university has a legitimate case for reviewing a complex set of 28 agreements, but terminating the old framework before a replacement is settled creates avoidable uncertainty.
The university’s assurance that contractual benefits are not being removed is important, but it does not fully answer the unions’ concern about future bargaining power. The most constructive outcome would be a published timetable, a clear draft recognition agreement and confirmation that no gap will open between the old and new arrangements.
The councillors’ letter adds political pressure, but the decisive evidence will be what the university and unions actually agree. Neither alarmist language nor broad assurances should substitute for the text of the proposed framework.
What to watch next
The next meaningful developments will be the university’s formal response to the councillors, publication of any draft replacement agreement and a joint or separate update from UCU and UNISON on negotiations.
Watch especially for whether the parties agree a new recognition framework before the nine-month notice period ends in June 2027, and whether any industrial action is formally announced. Evidence of a signed replacement protecting bargaining arrangements would ease the dispute; failure to agree one would make the unions’ warnings more immediate.
Bottom line
Nothing changes overnight for University of Brighton staff, but the clock is running on a consequential negotiation. The university now needs to show, in writing, how its proposed replacement would preserve both employment protections and meaningful collective representation.
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