Every year, universities decide next year’s koma (コマ, teaching slots/classes) long before teachers hear a word about it. HOOK—Hands Off Our Koma—is how we get in first. We declare our presence, put universities on notice, and demand our members’ teaching loads and conditions stay intact. Don’t wait until the timetable is set and the damage is done. Organise early, intervene early, make it harder for employers to quietly cut people’s work.

This year HOOK has grown. We’ve send demands to 55 universities and colleges, covering 124 teaching appointments. Some members work at several institutions, so HOOK isn’t just a list of names—it’s union presence spread across the sector. Every declaration tells an employer: there’s a union watching what happens to next year’s classes, wages and conditions.
The demands are out. Now we wait for replies. HOOK isn’t just an annual letter-writing exercise—it maps where our members work, where our strength is concentrated, and where trouble is brewing before it becomes a crisis. If a university’s planning cuts, we want to know early enough to stop them.

Next up: The Great University Wage Survey

HOOK has protected part-time university teachers for years—defending class numbers, stopping cuts to income. But holding the line isn’t enough anymore. Wages across the sector aren’t rising fast enough. In many workplaces they’re barely moving at all. That’s why the Universities and Colleges Branch is launching the Great University Wage Survey: a real picture of pay across the sector, reaching beyond our own members to find out what university teachers are actually earning.
First we defend the koma. Now we push the wages up.