Wednesday 05-02-2020 - 10:00

The University and College Union (UCU) recently balloted on taking strike action or ‘action short of a strike’ over disputes over pay and the USS pension scheme. 

The ballot results were released in 2019 and confirmed that University of Bristol academic staff and research postgraduates who teach who are members of UCU have voted to take strike action in this academic year. 

We believe that any action will be in the long-term interests of all students to ensure we retain the best quality teaching staff at the university. Therefore, we stand in solidarity with our UCU colleagues to support the strike and will be working closely with UCU colleagues during this time. 

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 future academic careers. 

We understand that students may be anxious about the effect that strike action will have on your studies and wellbeing, particularly as this is the second time that strikes have happened this academic year. We want to assure you that we will be working hard to ensure that the impact of the strikes will not have adverse effects on your educational experience. We plan to give regular updates on the strikes at www.bristolsu.org.uk/strikes. 

The first round of strikes took place from Monday 25 November until Wednesday 4 December 2019. 

Staff will be striking again over 14 days in February and March. The strike dates are:

• Week one - Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February
• Week two - Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February
• Week three - Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 March
• Week four - Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 & Friday 13 March

In addition to this, some staff may be taking ‘actions short of a strike’, e.g refusing to do any work beyond that required to fulfil their contract. 

What have we done so far (November/December)? 

• We have met with colleagues from UCU, the University and the Bristol Student Staff Solidarity Group to discuss their plans and find out more about what staff and students can expect. 
• We have written to the Vice-Chancellor to express our concerns and reiterate our support to UCU, and the support we expect to see for students. 
• We have updated all our online information about the strikes to share our stance and provide students with answers to questions they might have. 
• We have agreed with the University that any money available from withheld pay of striking lecturers should be used to support current students. 
• We have secured places for SU representatives in regular meetings overseeing the University’s response to strikes, meaning we can advocate for students’ interests and ensure any arrangements put in place will work for students. 
• We contacted all students with information about the strikes, with specific information for Postgraduate students and International students.  
• We provided information on how students can support the strikes and stand in solidarity with their lecturers.
• We consulted with students on what withheld pay from the salaries of striking lecturers should be spent on to benefit current students. 
• We've been working closely with our student representatives, particularly course reps, to understand students’ concerns and inform our negotiations with the University. 

You can find our full FAQs online at bristolsu.org.uk/strikes  

Updated 5 February 2020