UCU industrial action - actions required
01 January 0001
The following email has been sent to all colleagues on behalf of Claire Rolstone, Interim Director of HR – for attention of UCU members
Dear colleagues,
Following the commencement of UCU industrial action in November, I am writing to remind colleagues who took part in the strike dates or are participating in action short of strike (ASOS) of the actions they should now take.
Participation in strike action
Colleagues who took part in any of the strike action dates on 24, 25 and 30 November must confirm their participation using the Strike Notification Form. Pay will be deducted for each day of strike action at a rate of 1/365th with relevant deductions made in the next available pay-run. If there are exceptional reasons why you may not be able to comply with these reporting arrangements, please contact me as soon as possible. It may be treated as a disciplinary matter if any colleagues participated in strike action and fail to declare their participation.
Participation in action short of strike (ASOS)
Colleagues who are participating in continuous ASOS must inform the University of their participation by completing the ASOS Participation Form. This should be done at the point you commence ASOS, or as soon as possible if you already have.
Action to take now
The University acknowledges the right of colleagues to take industrial action but is also committed to minimising any negative impact this has on our students’ learning experience. The regulatory requirement placed upon us by the OfS is ‘to take all reasonable steps to avoid or limit disruption to students’ and ‘to make up for any teaching time or learning that students lose’.
We therefore require all colleagues who participated in strike action who in doing so failed to deliver scheduled teaching or assessment activities to contact their Head of School (or Function) to confirm:
- Which teaching and/or assessment activities were affected.
- What measures have been put in place to make up for any learning that students would have lost (this could include, for example, rescheduling classes, running replacement workshops, or making recordings or other learning resources available to students).
- That where participation in the strike action has resulted in assessments or feedback to students being delayed beyond the 15-day window, students have been informed when they can expect to receive this.
We will continue to review the effect of the industrial action on our students and its impact more broadly across the University.
Where ASOS is limited to working to contract, we will monitor this but there will be no further action. However, colleagues are expected to perform their contractual duties in full and other aspects of ASOS have the potential to constitute a breach of contract.
Refusal to take reasonable steps, within workload, to make up for any learning that students have lost will be considered by the University to constitute partial performance and be a breach of contract.
We reserve the right to withhold up to 100% of pay at any time while the dispute persists and where contractual duties are not performed in full.
Colleagues can find more details on the above in the email sent previously to all staff and in the Staff FAQs on the Staff Portal. Information and FAQs for students, including how they can report any negative impact on their studies, has also been published on Essentials.
We must all continue to be respectful of each other’s decisions, whether that is to take part in industrial action or to work fully during the dispute.
If you have any concerns or require further information or clarification, please contact me or the Human Resources Partner for your area.
Best wishes,
Claire Rolstone
Interim Director of HR