Monday 29-11-2021 - 15:34

Members of UCU (The University and College Union) will be taking strike action and ‘action short of a strike’ over disputes over pay and the USS pension scheme. University staff will take strike action from Wednesday 1 December – Friday 3 December. Action Short of a Strike (ASOS) will continue for the next five months that staff have a mandate to take industrial action for.  

Last week we took a motion to Student Council to hear from elected representatives about how students feel about the upcoming industrial action and to make sure we put student needs at the heart of our response. 

Results of the vote on our student council motion have come through and students have voted to pass the motion, with amendments. You can view the amended motion here. 

We are already speaking to senior staff members at the University about the strikes and are committed to the actions set out in the motion to mitigate the impact on the educational experience of taught students, as well as supporting our staff who are striking.  

We’re aware that this will affect the university experience of many, and we also respect the right of university staff to pursue industrial action. In particular, our members who are PGR students may be taking part in the strike, and we will support them for the benefit of their careers in academia.  

We plan to give regular updates on the strikes and have answered a range of questions at  www.bristolsu.org.uk/strikes.  

If you have concerns about how the strikes are affecting your education, you should contact your course rep who can bring this up at their Student-Staff Liaison Committee meetings, or with relevant staff members. 

If you’d like to show support to members of UCU then you can attend their rally at the Victoria Rooms at 11am on Wednesday 1 December (subject to UCU Covid guidelines). We'll shortly be sharing more information about their pickets and teach-outs.

Lu Macey, Postgraduate Education Officer

Seb Key, Undergraduate Education Officer