UCU strike mandate extended in ballot

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) have voted to renew their strike mandate for a further six months.

The national ballot asked members if they wished to extend the mandate on the pay and working conditions dispute and the pensions dispute with both returning a ‘yes’ vote, the UCU reported this week.

Only the pensions dispute currently applies at Reading due to the Phase 1 Agreement on pay put in place in summer 2020 as part of our Covid-19 response. This agreement is due to end in July 2023.

The ballot result means further strike action can be called by the UCU although no dates have been announced at this time.

Members also voted in favour of action short of strike, meaning a marking and assessment boycott previously proposed by the UCU is likely to take place during this summer’s exam period.

A Contingency Operations Group led by Professor Peter Miskell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education & Student Experience), has already extensively discussed plans to mitigate the impact of the boycott.

We will seek to minimise the disruption to student receiving assessment marks and progressing their studies.

Further details on mitigation measures will be communicated to staff in the coming weeks.

Previous communications and FAQs about the disputes are available on the UCU industrial action information web pages.