UCU nation-wide strike ballot misses legal turnout threshold
A UK-wide ballot by the University and College Union (UCU), the country’s largest higher education trade union, failed after it fell short of the 50% turnout requirement mandated by trade union law. A successful outcome would have allowed the union to take national strike action over pay and job cuts.
The UCU said the results, which came in on Tuesday 2nd December, showed an overall turnout of 39.3%, with 69.6% of voters supporting strike action.
General Secretary Jo Grady recognised that “members want a strategy”, with UCU vice-president Dyfrig Jones telling Times Higher Education: “There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a really disappointing result and it leaves us weakened”.
The failure of the national ballot does not affect local disputes. Times Higher Education even reported that the national ballot had been labelled as “divisive” by UCU members who feared that it would detract from local disputes over redundancies.
Independently, the Imperial branch of UCU, which had obtained a six-months strike mandate in September after a local ballot, has announced further “teaching-targeting” strike action from Monday 1st to Friday 12th December.
Unlike in previous strike waves, however, it has asked members to walk out only on days when they have scheduled undergraduate or Master’s teaching, and announced that there would be no picket lines during this period. Felix understands this change is intended to limit fatigue and financial loss for members (the College withholds a full day’s pay for each day that employees take strike action).
An Imperial College London spokesperson said: “We remain committed to ensuring that staff are appropriately recognised and rewarded for the vital role they play. In uncertain times it is important that we plan for the long-term future of our institution for the benefit of our students and staff.”
