Important Information for All Students - Notice of Industrial Action by members of UCU
Nationally, the Universities and College Union (UCU) that represents some academic and academic-related staff at the University has announced its intention to hold a further 5 days of strike action in March in its continuing national dispute. This is in addition to ongoing action short of a strike (ASOS) which is in effect until 03 May 2022.
The five days of strikes will take place over - Monday 21 March to Friday 25 March
On each strike day a number of academic staff members are likely to refuse to attend work or perform their duties – which may result in some cancelled sessions. The University will, however, be open and operating otherwise normally, including the Main Library, all study spaces and other services across the campus.
The most obvious and immediate impact for some of you, on some courses, will potentially be the cancelling of timetabled sessions on the strike dates. Academic staff who strike do not have to inform the University in advance that they are striking and so we will not always be able to inform you if a session is cancelled, but we will do so whenever we can. We expect that the vast majority of timetabled sessions will continue as normal and many students will see no disruption to their studies, however the level of impact will vary for different courses and Schools.
We understand that the prospect of further industrial action might cause you some concern and we would like to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of any strike action on you and your studies. As this is a national dispute the University cannot act independently to bring about a resolution. However, we are continuing to support and encourage national talks between UCU and employers on the issues of pay and conditions and pensions.
We are disappointed that this further period of strike action will take place, and again we are taking concerted action to minimise the impact on student learning, outcomes and experience. We will continue to provide students affected by the action with alternative support activities which includes scheduling sessions at other times and/or providing alternative materials online.
We will make every reasonable effort to contact students in advance about any changes or cancellations and, where possible, this will be communicated to you via your School/Department. Your School/Department will make every effort to make alternative arrangements for any cancelled events, including lectures, seminars, individual appointments, lab sessions etc.
Please check your University emails frequently, and via Canvas, for further updates.
For more information, we have published some Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) on our webpages.