At two UK universities, staff discontent is escalating as job cuts and pension changes draw union opposition. At Northumbria University, the University and College Union (UCU) threatened further strikes amid concerns that plans to encourage pension switches from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme to Universities Superannuation Scheme could accelerate savings at the cost of jobs. UCU says its members passed a no-confidence vote against Northumbria’s senior executives and the board of governors, arguing management has “refused to rule out compulsory redundancies.” Affected departments reportedly include geography and natural sciences; engineering, physics and maths; humanities; theatre and performance; and design. In a parallel dispute at the University of Lincoln, staff also passed a vote expressing no confidence linked to job-loss concerns. Lincoln has announced redundancy schemes in recent years, and UCU says its vote reflects insufficient transparency and adverse impacts on staff wellbeing, job security, and teaching and research quality. Meanwhile, Deakin University in Australia called off a contentious restructure after hundreds of employees were threatened with retrenchment. Deakin’s chancellor Claire Higgins and caretaker vice-chancellor Matthew Clarke said the proposals were paused and apologized to staff for the “unsettling” period.