Industrial action by University and College Union (UCU) members

16 Jun 2016

The UCU has given notice for industrial action in the form of day of strike action on Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Whilst recognising the rights of individual members of staff to take industrial action, it is the University’s intention to endeavour to maintain normal operations during industrial action in order to safeguard the interests of our students and also of our staff and other stakeholders.

In seeking to manage this potentially difficult situation in a spirit of collegiality, the University will respect the integrity and professionalism of all our staff by deeming a member of staff to be engaged in industrial action only by asking them and trusting them to inform their line manager that they have taken such action.  If line managers are themselves taking industrial action then they should inform their senior manager at the earliest opportunity. 

The University will expect all members of staff who do not indicate to their line manager that they have taken industrial action to discharge all their normal responsibilities as employees. 

In the event that lectures, seminars or exams need to be cancelled, then every effort should be made by the School to provide early communication to affected students including details of how the impact of any cancellation will be mitigated, for example, by seeking to reorganise and reschedule cancelled activities. 

The University is entitled to withhold pay for staff who take strike action.  A deduction of pay will be made for each day lost due to strike action, with the amount equating to 1/260th of annual salary.   

Managers and staff will be informed when the deductions will be made. Please note that although the pay to be withheld for participation in the strike action may relate to one or more particular month’s payroll run, it may not be possible to administer adjustments to pay by the payroll cut-off point for that month and therefore the proportion of pay withheld may fall into the subsequent month.

It is possible that there may be some picket lines on each of the strike days.  Staff can be reassured that the purpose of any picket line is to pass on information in a peaceful manner about the reason for the strike action. We expect any pickets to behave in a respectful way to their colleagues who are attending work.  Refusal or failure to cross a picket line is not an acceptable reason for absence from duty and all staff who fail to report for work will have their pay deducted on the above basis accordingly. 

USS Scheme Rules

USS Scheme rules state that for a member of staff who does not advise that they wish to maintain their own employee contributions in full (ie. at 100%), USS membership for the period of industrial action when 100% of pay is being withheld is affected as follows:

• Employer/Employee USS contributions will not be made in respect of the salary withheld;
• Pension benefits will not accrue during each day of strike action and death in service and ill health protection is not provided.

If you do wish to maintain your USS membership and pay your full employee contributions as normal for each day of strike action we ask you to complete the pro-forma (UCU16). This form should be returned to Line Managers/Heads of School as soon as possible after each day of strike (USS scheme rules no longer require notification prior to each day of strike as previously notified).

Death in Service Cover and Ill Health Protection

Notwithstanding that the University is not obliged to maintain death in service and ill health protection cover in circumstances where staff do not advise us that they wish to maintain USS contributions during the period of strike action, the University will on this occasion maintain death in service cover and ill health protection in such circumstances.

Deductions from Pay

A deduction of pay will be made for all employees who take any strike action.

The University is entitled to withhold pay for all staff who take strike action and it has been decided to deduct pay at 1/260th of annual salary for each day of industrial action taken.

All staff who declare themselves as being on strike on 22 June 2016 will have their pay deducted as follows:

• End of month payroll - July pay;
• Mid-month payroll - July pay.

Managers and staff will be informed when the deductions will be made for any other specific strike days as they occur.

Further updates on industrial action will be issued as soon as information is available. If you have any questions concerning this, please do not hesitate to contact your HR Partner, Head of HR or myself.  

Karen Heaton
Director of Human Resources