Roar news editor Emma Fallside on the ongoing industrial action, including the recently-announced marking boycott. What has happened in the past six months, and where will UCU go from here?
In April, Roar reported on the possibility for a marking boycott to be set for the end of this term. Now, the UCU has confirmed that a marking boycott and 10 more days of strike are set to take place, potentially starting in late-May.
What do we know so far about the industrial action?
The current round of industrial action has been going on for around six months now, as of May 2022. However, the Universities and College Union (UCU) has been arguing with university employers since 2018. The beginning of the current debate began over proposed changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) which manages the employee pensions of a number of higher education institutions, including King’s College London. A parallel discourse over pay, equality, and other working conditions began in 2019, creating a separate legal dispute at UK universities. The employee strikes over these two disputes have made multiple records as the largest strikes in UK higher education history.
Despite over four years of disputes, UCU members are still fighting for better pensions and working conditions. After being curtailed by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, industrial action has been gaining traction again on campuses. Below I detail some of the major events in the course of industrial action for the past 2021-2022 academic year at King’s.
- 16 November, 2021: The UCU announced that 64 universities – including King’s – would begin continuous Action Short of a Strike over pension cuts, pay, and working conditions on December 1st, and continue for at least 5 months. This means that staff will only work during their contracted hours and will not take part in additional activities.
- It was also announced on November 16th that a three day walkout would take place starting December 1st, 2021. King’s staff voted to strike over both pay conditions and pension cuts, although some universities only legally disputed over one or the other.
- 1 December, 2021: three days of striking began at King’s.
- 12 January, 2022: the UCU’s higher education committee made the decision to escalate the Action Short of a Strike for all member universities. This meant updating continuous actions to include staff not covering for absent colleagues, and not rescheduling any missed lectures or seminar due to strike action, among other mandates.
- 19 January, 2022: UCU’s higher education committee met to authorise further walkouts for February, unless university employers responded to worker demands.
- 27 January, 2022: strike dates for February were announced.
- 11 February, 2022: King’s itself reported that three weeks of strikes were set to take place: Week 1 February 14 – 18, Week 2 February 21 – 22, and Week 3 February 28 -Â March 2.
- 14 February, 2022: the first round of three weeks of striking began at King’s.
- 4 March, 2022: UCU announced two more weeks of strike action to commence: Week 1 March 21 – 25, and Week 2 March 28 – April 1. King’s staff were scheduled to strike during Week 2.
- 16 March, 2022: two new reballots were released for UCU members to vote on further actions. One ballot was over USS pension cuts, and other was over pay and working conditions. King’s faced both ballots. Voting was scheduled to take place from March 16 – April 8.
- 28 March, 2022: the next round of striking at King’s began.
- 11 April, 2022: UCU announced that 36 universities – including King’s – voted for further strike action on pay and working conditions.
- 12 April, 2022: UCU announced that 24 universities – including King’s – voted for further strike action on USS pension cuts.
- 20 April, 2022: UCU conducted its sector conference concerning strike action over pay and working conditions. The motion for a marking strike was debated and passed at this conference. Full results of the conference can be found here.
- 26 April, 2022: UCU confirms that 41 universities will be subject to a marking boycott, as well as 10 more days of strike action. This count included King’s.
- It was also announced that the higher education committee will meet on May 12th to decide when exactly the marking boycott and strike action will take place.
- 27 April, 2022: UCU’s sector conference concerning USS pensions commenced. As of this writing, the results have not been published.
What happens next?
In light of the UCU’s proposals over pensions and pay being continuously rejected, the next step will be to enact a marking strike. According to UCU general secretary Jo Grady, branch delegates will meet on May 10th and the higher education committee will meet on May 12th in order to decide exact dates for the marking strike and further strike action.
????recapping what our members voted for at the Special Higher Education Sector Conference (SHESC) on the pay & working conditions disputes last week:
????? A marking & assessment boycott in all branches with a mandate
? Ten days of strike action from late May to support ASOS
— UCU (@ucu) April 27, 2022
King’s has stated that students should undertake all assessments as usual, and that the university has prepared for a marking strike. While the UCU has acknowledged that marking strikes can have a ‘potential impact on the awarding of degrees’, until next week’s meetings we do not know the scope and outcome of these industrial actions.
Ultimately, this ongoing dispute is not likely to go away any time soon. While students are encouraged to focus on getting through exam season, it is important to stay informed on what the UCU ultimately decides on. For now, there is little to do but wait for the outcomes of May 12, but stay tuned to Roar for further updates on industrial action coming in the next few weeks.
