Even more universities could face disruption in the new year if disputes over pensions and over pay and conditions are not resolved
UCU members at 13 universities are going to be asked to back strike action in ballots that open on Wednesday 4 December and close on Tuesday 28 January. UCU members at 60 universities* walked out yesterday in the first of eight days of strikes that finish on Wednesday 4 December.
The branches being reballoted are:
- Imperial College London
- University of Kent
- Leeds Beckett University
- Leeds Trinity University
- SOAS
- Liverpool John Moores University
- University of Worcester
- University of Salford
- University of Portsmouth
- University of East Anglia
- University of Arts London
- University of the West of Scotland
- Falmouth University
The union has warned that if the disputes cannot be resolved then more strikes are likely in the new year, with more members eligible to take part and more universities and students affected. UCU said even more branches could be reballoted in January.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘We have been clear from the outset that UCU members are prepared to take serious and sustained action to defend their pay and conditions, as well as their pensions. Thirteen branches have already come back to us and said they want to be balloted again so they can join the action should further strikes be required after Christmas.
‘The incredible support for the strikes yesterday and today can leave no university in any doubt how serious our members are and it is now time for them to come back to negotiations with serious proposals to resolve these disputes.’
Yesterday, the union reported strong support for the strikes and that over 3,500 people had joined the union in the three weeks after it announced the current round of strikes.
Last month, UCU members backed strike action in two disputes, one on changes to the USS pension scheme and one on universities’ failure to make improvements on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads.
Overall, 79% of UCU members who voted backed strike action in the ballot over changes to pensions. In the ballot on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads, 74% of members polled backed strike action.
* UK universities affected by strike action from Monday 25 November
| Both disputes (42): | |
| 1. Aston University | |
| 2. Bangor University | |
| 3. Cardiff University | |
| 4. University of Durham | |
| 5. Heriot-Watt University | |
| 6. Loughborough University | |
| 7. Newcastle University | |
| 8. The Open University | |
| 9. The University of Bath | |
| 10. The University of Dundee | |
| 11. The University of Leeds | |
| 12. The University of Manchester | |
| 13. The University of Sheffield | |
| 14. University of Nottingham | |
| 15. The University of Stirling | |
| 16. University College London | |
| 17. The University of Birmingham | |
| 18. The University of Bradford | |
| 29. The University of Bristol | |
| 20. The University of Cambridge | |
| 21. The University of Edinburgh | |
| 22. The University of Exeter | |
| 23. The University of Essex | |
| 24. The University of Glasgow | |
| 25. The University of Lancaster | |
| 26. The University of Leicester | |
| 27. City University | |
| 28. Goldsmiths College | |
| 39. Queen Mary University of London | |
| 30. Royal Holloway | |
| 31. The University of Reading | |
| 32. The University of Southampton | |
| 33. The University of St Andrews | |
| 34. Courtauld Institute of Art | |
| 35. The University of Strathclyde | |
| 36. The University of Wales | |
| 37. The University of Warwick | |
| 38. The University of York | |
| 49. The University of Liverpool | |
| 40. The University of Sussex | |
| 41. The University of Ulster | |
| 42. Queen’s University Belfast | |
| Pay and conditions dispute only (14): | |
| 1. Bishop Grosseteste University | |
| 2. Bournemouth University | |
| 3. Edge Hill University | |
| 4. Glasgow Caledonian University | |
| 5. Glasgow School of Art | |
| 6. Liverpool Hope University | |
| 7. Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts | |
| 8. Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh | |
| 9. St Mary’s University College, Belfast | |
| 10. Roehampton University | |
| 11. The University of Oxford | |
| 12. Sheffield Hallam University | |
| 13. The University of Brighton | |
| 14. The University of Kent | |
| USS pensions dispute only (4): | |
| 1. Scottish Association of Marine Science | |
| 2. The University of Aberdeen | |
| 3. The University of East Anglia | |
| 4. Institute for Development Studies | |