Important update for new students on industrial action

Dear students,

I am sorry to follow all the good news in earlier welcome emails by writing with an update on industrial action at the University.

This email address has been set up specifically to update you on important information about industrial action and strikes, and you can use it to ask any questions.

Firstly, news of strikes happening this semester is clearly not how we want you to start your time at York. I will be talking about this more at our welcome talks (you will be invited through your Colleges to take part in these), and I will explain more then.

But we don’t want you to worry, because we will do all that we can to minimise the impact on you.

For now, some key information:

Where is this happening and will I be impacted?

Industrial action is part of a nationwide dispute taking place at universities across the UK. Only a small portion of York’s staff are members of the University and College Union (UCU), and not every member chooses to participate in strikes. We do, however, anticipate some of your lecturers may take part.

Our hope, and what we have seen in the past, is that the vast majority of you will not be impacted at all. But staff are not required to tell us in advance if they plan to take part, so it is difficult to assess whether you will be affected and to what extent. 

When is this happening  

Strike action is taking place in the first week of teaching, which means some of your classes may not go ahead.

• The planned days of action are the five days from Monday 25 to Friday 29 September. 

What you need to do

You should plan to attend all classes and learning activities as usual, unless you are informed otherwise. 

Please look out for any messages from your Department or School advising you of changes to your studies. It’s also important to note that just because one class may be cancelled, it doesn’t mean others will be. Those staff who do participate may choose not to take part for all five days.

Minimising the impact 

We will do all that we can to minimise the impact on you as much as possible, which may include rescheduling teaching, providing complementary teaching, supporting learning in other ways, or making adjustments to assessment. We will put on extra events through Departments, Colleges, etc  so you don’t miss out on getting to know others on your course. 

During this week, all other University facilities will be available to all students, both on and off campus, including; the Student Support Hub, Open Door and Disability, Careers and Placements, College wellbeing support, catering outlets, shops, the Library, and the Sports Village. And for our online community, you can access the online support services as usual.

Keep updated

I very much regret any disruption that some of you may experience. I’m sorry that we face issues at York arising from a long-running national dispute. 

Some of you may have already experienced the UK industrial action in schools, or across public transport and in the NHS. This is a difficult period for the UK, especially as inflation has hit people’s wages. I have been exploring routes to resolving the disputes in higher education as much as I can. For those interested, you can read a comment piece I wrote in the Financial Times earlier this year, and a more recent article I wrote together with the UCU branch here in York.

I will be in touch again soon and we will continue to update the Industrial Action web pages with news and announcements, together with FAQs and background information about why this is happening, and what the University is doing to influence the national negotiations and support your education.

I look forward to meeting you all at the welcome talks, where I can also answer any of your questions.

Best wishes,

Charlie Jeffery
President and Vice-Chancellor