Jo Grady responds to anger at decision to call off strikes

On Friday night, UCU paused strike action for two weeks after “real progress” was made in talks with employers over pay, conditions and pensions. 

The decision has provoked anger amongst its members, who worry that alleviating pressure now will result in a worse offer as employers try to resolve the dispute. UCU general secretary Jo Grady attended an industrial action meeting in the Imperial College Union Bar, on the morning of Thursday 23rd February, to explain the decision to pause strike action and respond to queries. 

Grady explained her decision as a reaction to employers’ increased willingness to resolve the dispute, calling the UCU’s current position “the most productive, positive place we [the UCU] have ever been in in recent memory.” She therefore argued that it was not productive to remain on the picket lines, as the UCU now needed to “step into olive territory” with employers. “Fundamentally, if we’re going to get a deal, this is going to be a big part of getting that deal”, she told the room.

Fundamentally, if we’re going to get a deal, this is going to be a big part of getting that deal.

A member of staff who was present at the meeting disputed this. He suggested it may be tactically naïve to alleviate pressure on employers. He criticised Grady for “demobilising” the industrial action and pointed out that the UCU had yet to receive a written offer from employers. 

Grady responded, saying it was important to “switch up tactics when things change”, and defending the the UCU’s decision as “the right tactic for this dispute”. She challenged the claim that this was a two-week pause in the trade union’s action, noting “this is not a period of rest; it is a period of change.”

This is not a period of rest; it is a period of change.

She reassured staff that, if at the end of these two weeks, sufficient progress had not been made, strikes would continue and plans for an upcoming marking boycott, which was due to begin in April, would resume.