Email to students 8 November 2021

Dear students, 

I wrote to you all last week about the potential for industrial action. 

I regret to say that York, alongside other universities across the UK, faces a mandate for industrial action. This may take the form of strike action over a number of days and/or action short of a strike. We have yet to have confirmation of any potential dates.

Action short of a strike is where staff may limit some of their activities, for example, working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled as a result of strike, not undertaking other voluntary activities, and undertaking a marking and assessment boycott.

As I outlined in my previous email, the ballot for industrial action is in response to disputes concerning pay and conditions, and proposed changes to the national university pension scheme, called USS. 

I have been very clear in saying that we want to avoid industrial action. These issues cannot be solved by any one individual university, but are reliant on national negotiations to reach a solution, and I am deeply disappointed and sorry that we face the possibility of strike action.

I know that everyone in our York community, including those who have felt compelled to vote for industrial action, have very difficult decisions to make on these issues. The University respects the rights of colleagues to take industrial action, but is also fully committed to trying to minimise disruption to our students and to their studies. 

Professor Tracy Lightfoot, our Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching, Learning and Students, has already convened a planning group to ensure we can put in place any required mitigations necessary to support you. 

We now await further information from University and College Union (UCU) on their response to these ballots, which we are hoping to receive by the end of the week, including when industrial action may take place. In the meantime, we will monitor the situation closely, continue to work collaboratively with our local union branch, and call on all parties to continue to negotiate. 

I will write further again soon when we receive more information. We will also have a dedicated set of web pages with frequently asked questions. In the meantime, we have set up industrial-action-enquiries@york.ac.uk for your questions and queries over the coming weeks and I will continue to update you regularly. 

Best wishes,

Charlie

Vice-Chancellor