VP Education Maia Jarvis gives you an update on the recent announcement from the UCU that there will be three days of strike action from Wednesday 1 December to Friday 3 December.
Following the balloting of members in early November, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced three days of strike action from Wednesday 1 December to Friday 3 December.
Royal Holloway is one of 58 universities that will be involved in this latest set of national strike action that covers two different topics: pensions and pay and working conditions. This means that UCU members on campus will cancel all work on those days and any work missed, including lost teaching, will not be rearranged. It’s important to emphasise here that you will not be assessed on any material that was not taught due to the strikes.
In addition to this, action short of a strike will begin from Wednesday 1 December and last for six months. What this generally means is that UCU members will be working to contracts i.e. if their contract states 35 working hours a week, this is what they will strictly abide by without any additional work beyond this (it can be typical for academics to work additional hours outside of their contracted hours). There is also the potential for further strike action in 2022.
I understand that strike action may be worrying and alongside the President, I’ll be sitting down with senior management of the University to understand how any disruption to your studies can be mitigated. We are also in communication with the Royal Holloway UCU branch and will be working with them to understand how localised issues may be resolved.
As you can imagine this is a complex situation. That’s why over the past two months, I’ve published a series of blogs aimed at helping you navigate the different issues at play and understand how we have arrived at this point where teaching on campus is disrupted. I’d recommend checking them all out using the links below:
In order to be guided by you, it’s important that you inform yourself by reading the articles we’ve put out and let us know your opinion. You can contact me to raise specific concerns by emailing vpeducation@su.rhul.ac.uk and I’ll consider these in my discussions with all parties.
We promise to fight for your academic interests and continue to keep you in the loop. After our next round of discussions with the University and local UCU branch, I’ll provide you with more updates.