University and College Union (UCU) industrial action
09 Nov 2022
Pay, ‘working conditions’ and the USS pension.
On Tuesday (8 November), we received confirmation from UCU that they will be taking industrial action over two disputes in relation to pay and working conditions* and the USS pension. These were nationally aggregated ballots across all Higher Education Institutions. The ballot will be effective until 20 April 2023.
The industrial action will include strikes on Thursday 24 November, Friday 25 November, and Wednesday 30 November 2022.
It will also include action short of a strike commencing on Wednesday 23 November 2022.
We understand how important pay and working conditions, and indeed pensions, are to you and we do take these concerns very seriously. As you know, pay and the USS pension agreements are negotiated nationally, by UCEA and UUK respectively. As with all HEIs, we input into these discussions and decisions.
We appreciate the difficult and challenging times in which we are living, and we are taking active steps to support our staff and students.
We will communicate further ahead of the strike action particularly in relation to the mitigations we have in hand to minimise the impact on our students and ensure they continue to receive the experience they deserve and expect from their time here.
Detailed guidance to staff and line managers will also be available to help navigate and mitigate against disruption. Further details for students will also be made available.
We’d like to reassure our students that we will do everything we can to minimise any impact on their teaching, learning and wider experience and will of course keep colleagues fully informed of any developments.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Andrew Mullen.
Adèle MacKinlay
Director of People and Organisational Development
Further information:
* By ‘working conditions’, UCU are referring to pay gaps, workloads, incidence of fixed terms contracts and “casual” employment arrangements.