UCU industrial action 2023-24

The industrial action is the outcome of two national ballot results by the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), which concluded in October 2022. The first ballot was conducted by UCU with reference to the USS pension dispute. The second ballot concerned the 2022/23 National Pay Award as well as issues relating to pay equality and workload. Both ballots resulted in UCU having a mandate for industrial action.

The UCU has announced that they will be taking strike action on:

• Monday 25 September 2023
• Tuesday 26 September 2023
• Wednesday 27 September 2023
• Thursday 28 September 2023
• Friday 29 September 2023

This means that some staff may choose not to work on these days.

The continuous action short of a strike (ASOS) ceased to be effective on 20^th April 2023. ‘Action short of a strike’ means that individuals will work normally, apart from when there are duties that the union is asking its members to refuse to undertake.

During the period of ASOS UCU members may be:

• Working to Contract
• Not covering for absent colleagues
• Not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action
• Not undertaking any voluntary activities
• Removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action

All of our University campuses will remain open on the days of strike action, including our teaching blocks, study spaces, the library and catering outlets. There may be some disruption to teaching and other services, however, we are doing our utmost to mitigate the impact, where possible.

No. Not all members of staff are members of the University and College Union (UCU), which is the Union leading the strike action. Some union members may also choose not to go on strike.

Only our employees and those in UCU can go on strike.

A picket line is where striking workers mark a strike by standing at a location on a strike day, usually at the entrance to the affected site. These are to draw attention to the industrial action. Picketing is protected by a Code of Practice that gives guidance that the number of people in pickets should not be more than six plus a full-time trade union official. Individuals involved in picketing need to conduct themselves in a peaceful and non-threatening manner. The picket line should not affect students in any way – if you have any concerns, please report them to our Campus Safety team by calling 01483 683333 or emailing security@surrey.ac.uk.

If you have questions that we have not answered here, please contact your Academic Hive or submit your enquiry online using the OneSurrey portal.

Where possible, you will be informed in advance by the Student Scheduling team and/or your School/Department if strike action is likely to impact any of your scheduled lectures, seminars or classes. However, while we have asked staff to notify the University if they plan to take action, they are not obligated to declare their intention to strike in advance; which means that there will be some unavoidable disruption. In the circumstances, our best advice is that you should attend your scheduled classes and seminars as planned unless you are told otherwise. 

In all cases, the University will do its utmost to mitigate the impact of strike action on both the provision of teaching and the student experience.

The University will ask teaching staff to reschedule any lectures, seminars or classes that are cancelled as a result of strike action as soon as is practicable.

In all cases, School and Departments will do their best to recover learning. If there are any circumstances where subjects are not covered during the strike action, Schools and Departments will ensure fair assessment so that no students are adversely disadvantaged and are only assessed on subjects that are covered.

Your attendance record will not be affected by the industrial action. If you come to campus and your class, seminar or lecture goes ahead as normal, your attendance will be logged in the usual way. If your lecture, seminar or class does not take place, your attendance record will not be affected.

We are doing our utmost to mitigate the impact of strike action on your teaching experience, however if a member of our teaching team does not turn up to conduct a lecture, seminar or class please contact your Academic Hive. 

Face to face in class tests scheduled for the strike days will go ahead as planned as alternative staff are available to invigilate the tests. Online in-class tests will go ahead as planned.

If your class or seminar is cancelled on a strike day and you have an assessed practical planned for that session, the class/seminar will be rescheduled.

If you have deadlines for the submission of coursework that fall on days affected by the strikes, you should submit your coursework as normal.

If your submission date falls on one of the strike dates, you should submit your coursework, dissertation or project as scheduled. If you require a submission extension, please follow the usual guidance or contact your Academic Hive.

The University has a 13-step process that is followed to ensure that your work is marked fairly and consistently. This applies to every piece of summative work that you submit. For more information visit the MySurrey page.

We are doing everything we can to mitigate the impact on assessment marking and feedback. However, it is possible that there may be some delays as staff do not need to tell us in advance if they are intending to take part in the action short of strike. We expect any delays to be relatively short.

If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to your Academic Hive.

If you have any concerns about your academic supervision for dissertations, other coursework or research, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, please contact your Academic Hive and they will advise you on the appropriate next steps depending on your circumstances.

Please contact your Academic Hive if you are concerned about the impact of the industrial action on your performance.

We’re committed to cultivating an inclusive community and supporting the needs of people with disabilities and learning difficulties. If you need additional support at this time, please contact our Disability and Neurodiversity team as soon as possible so that we can understand your concern and identify what action needs to be taken.

The majority of services will continue during this time, but if you are unable to access specific support during the strike action days, you should be able to reschedule to the following week. 

For specific wellbeing needs, please see contact the Centre for Wellbeing on: 

Telephone: 01483 689498 

Email: centreforwellbeing@surrey.ac.uk  

Website: https://surreynet.surrey.ac.uk/staff-services/health-and-wellbeing  

For general queries on the information above please contact your Academic Hive or submit your enquiry online using the OneSurrey portal. 

We anticipate that most staff will continue to work normally and that there will be minimal disruption to activities across the University. You should expect that most services will run unless you are told otherwise. 

Postgraduate Research (PGR) students who are employed at the University to undertake teaching are able to support the strike action, but there are some specific details to be aware of:

• If you are employed by Unitemps you cannot take strike action but if you wish to withdraw your labour on the day of the strikes, please inform your line manager in advance, and do not submit a timesheet for any day you are not working.
• If you are employed by the University, as well as a UCU member, and intend to take strike action, please notify the University by completing the Microsoft form on the Industrial Action SurreyNet page. You may also choose to inform your line manager. In the event a colleague notifies their line manager, this should be forwarded to the local HR Business Partner, the relevant Head of School and industrialaction.hr@surrey.ac.uk. If you are planning to take strike action, we are requesting that notifications are made 48 hours in advance of action.

We are working hard to minimise and mitigate any impacts on your learning. Wherever possible, the Student Scheduling team will provide advance notice of any impact on any of your scheduled lectures, seminars or classes. We have asked staff to notify the University if they plan to take action. However, colleagues are not obligated to declare their intention to strike in advance so there may be some unavoidable late-notice disruption. The number of learning activities which will be cancelled at the last minute with no alternative provision should be limited, and in these cases the Library and other self-guided learning resources are available on campus. As such, we will not be reimbursing travel expenses.

We are doing our utmost to mitigate the impact of the industrial action on your teaching experience. This includes giving you advanced notice of cancelled lectures, seminars and classes, where possible. All lectures, seminars or classes that are cancelled will also be rescheduled as soon as is practicable. Any disruption will be short-term, and will not impact your overall learning journey. As such, we will not be offering compensation in response to this industrial action.

We are committed to replacing all lost learning sessions, either by providing cover for the session, rescheduling or implementing another suitable mitigation as agreed by the head of school. Therefore, we will not need to implement a no detriment policy'

UCU’s mandate for industrial action expires on 30 September 2023 and they have announced that they intend to re-ballot their members to extend the mandate beyond September, should a resolution not be found. The ballot will open on 19 September and closes on 3 November. We will of course update you with the details when available. 

Your compliance with the conditions of your student visa will not be impacted by any disruption caused by the strikes. If any scheduled lectures, seminars or classes do not take place due to strike action, this will not negatively affect your engagement record. However, you must still attend any scheduled learning that does take place as normal, as well as any rescheduled classes that are arranged down the line.

If you have any specific concerns about your immigration status due to the strikes, please contact the International Student Advice Team in the first instance.

A marking and assessment boycott covers all marking and assessment processes that contribute to summative assessment decisions for students.

Many students will experience little or no disruption.

For those who are impacted, you will be contacted by your Assessment Team. Please be assured that our focus is on minimising the disruption. Measures have been put in place to prioritise students who are graduating this summer, however all impacted students will receive their feedback as soon as possible.  

As a last resource, the President and Vice-Chancellor may invoke the Force Majeure contingency regulatory arrangements to ensure that the interests of students and the quality of assessment are protected during this disruption. Please see the A5 Force Majeure contingency regulatory arrangements, which were approved by Senate on 22 May 2023.

We anticipate that most staff will continue to work normally and that there will be minimal disruption to activities across the University.  We are putting measures in place to ensure, as far as possible, that students will receive feedback in the usual timeframes.

If your feedback is delayed, your School will be focusing on minimising this disruption. Feedback will be provided as soon as possible.    

No, assessments submitted before this date may be impacted. However, we will be seeking to minimise disruption as much as possible.

We anticipate that most staff will continue to work normally and that there will be minimal disruption to activities across the University.  Many students will experience little or no disruption.

The University will be monitoring the situation carefully and any delays to mark release and/or progression outcomes will be communicated to relevant students as soon as possible.

The University takes all reasonable steps to ensure that the integrity of its academic standards and regulations are protected. However, in cases where the academic business of the University is disrupted by Force Majeure (such events as natural disaster, pandemic, acts of terrorism, fire, flood, industrial action, a major and prolonged Surrey system failure and other), it is necessary as a last resource to have contingency arrangements which can be invoked by the President and Vice-Chancellor to minimise the impact of these events/actions on students. Please see the A5 Force Majeure contingency regulatory arrangements on the Quality Framework website, which were approved by Senate on 22 May 2023.

For further help with the A5 Force Majeure contingency regulatory arrangements, please contact your Academic Hive or send e-mail to regulations@surrey.ac.uk.

We anticipate that most staff will continue to work normally and that there will be minimal disruption to activities across the University.  Many students will experience little or no disruption.

The University will be monitoring the situation carefully and if there are any delays to award confirmation or graduation, they will be communicated to the relevant students.