The action is taking place over a dispute about pay and pensions. At UCL, staff will be striking alongside a period of continuous ’action short of strike’ (ASoS). UCU has met all the legal requirements for calling lawful industrial action. Not all UCL staff are members of the union.
UCL will try to minimise the disruption, and remember, many staff will not be on strike. You can find out more about what this means for you below.
Five days of industrial action have been announced for:
- Monday 25 September
- Tuesday 26 September
- Wednesday 27 September
- Thursday 28 September
- Friday 29 September
Industrial action usually happens when a dispute in the workplace can’t be resolved through negotiation. Industrial action is when workers:
- go on strike
- take other action, like refusing to do overtime (known as ’action short of a strike’)
Industrial action is ’official’ if it is formally backed by a trade union and members of that union are taking part in it, such as UCU.
Strike action is when staff refuse to work. At universities, this includes not doing any work-related activity, such as teaching students, marking coursework, undertaking research, attending meetings, sending emails related to work and carrying out administrative tasks. It also includes not preparing for work scheduled after the member returns from strike.
Striking staff may create a picket line by standing outside their workplace to tell people why they are taking part in industrial action, and they might ask you not to cross the line.
Strike action is when staff refuse to work. At universities, this includes not doing any work-related activity, such as teaching students, marking coursework, undertaking research, attending meetings, sending emails related to work and carrying out administrative tasks. It also includes not preparing for work scheduled after the member returns from strike.
Striking staff may create a picket line by standing outside their workplace to tell people why they are taking part in industrial action, and they might ask you not to cross the line.
Action short of strike is when staff take other action, such as limiting some work-related activities. UCU has confirmed that their planned action short of strike will consist of staff only working their contracted hours and duties and not volunteering to do more; not rescheduling classes and lectures cancelled due to strike action, not covering for absent colleagues, and removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action.
What does this mean for me?
It is difficult to predict the impact of this period of industrial action because not all UCL staff will be on strike. The impact of strikes will vary for students, with different levels of engagement from departments across the institution.The majority of teaching will not have started yet, but welcome and induction activities maybe cancelled at late notice. Please do check your UCL email regularly, your department will try to
You can also contact UCL’s Security team at the touch of a button by downloading UCL’s Safezone app - find out more.
If you experience any inappropriate behaviour, please visit Report and Support to report this.
Do striking staff get paid?
Staff taking part in strike action do not get paid for the days when they are on strike. Staff taking part in action short of strike are paid as usual unless they fail to undertake specific contractual duties that are part of teaching, such as setting, marking, and returning assessments.How is UCL tackling key issues?
We recognise that the current economic and geo-political environment means that these are exceptionally challenging times for our sector, for UCL and for our community. We are committed to driving improvements in each of the areas raised in the ballots and working constructively and collaboratively with our trade union partners.We are taking action on a number of key issues including staff pay, pensions, job security, workload, pay gap and equality. For more information on how we are supporting our community please see the UCL UCL is committed to supporting students during this period, with a range of services available. A more detailed list of FAQs can be found on the UCL Students website.
If you have further questions that cannot be answered by your department, please do submit these via askUCL.
If you are worried about the impact industrial action might have on your mental health and wellbeing, UCL’s Support and Wellbeing team provides a safe, confidential, and non-judgemental space for you to discuss any issues that concern or affect you.
To find out more and get in touch, please visit the Support and Wellbeing webpages, or contact us through askUCL. SSW
- University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (0) 20 7679 2000
