Email to students 25 January 2023

Dear students,

I am updating you following my email from last week, about industrial action taking place in universities across the UK this term.

Dates announced

The national University and College Union (UCU) has now announced the other dates of strike action, totalling eighteen days across February and March. You can refer back to these dates on our dedicated webpages.

I know this is a difficult and worrying time for all, no matter what your personal views are of industrial action.

We continue to see strike action being used in disputes across the UK, including healthcare, transport and education. As a society, it leads to a whole range of responses, from solidarity and support through to anger and frustration. As a community here in York, we need to respond by respecting each others' views, opinions and actions.

What you need to do

There will be uncertainty, especially because with this many dates of strike action, we don't know how many staff will be taking part, or to what extent.

My main message to you is to assume your teaching and learning activities will go ahead as normal each day, unless you have been told otherwise by your department.

Just because someone strikes on one particular day, it does not necessarily mean they will be on strike for all other days.

Staff are not required to tell us in advance if they plan to take part in industrial action, so it is very important that you continue to engage with all of your scheduled teaching, labs, assessments and other learning activities.

Confirmed dates of strike action

• w/c 30 January (Term Week 4): Wednesday 1 February
• w/c 6 February (Term Week 5): Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February
• w/c 13 February (Term Week 6): Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15, and Thursday 16 February
• w/c 20 February (Term Week 7): Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February
• w/c 27 February (Term Week 8): Monday 27, Tuesday 28 February, Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 March
• w/c 13 March (Term Week 10): Thursday 16 and Friday 17 March
• w/c 20 March (out of term for some programmes): Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March

As you can see, this is a sustained level of disruption. I deeply regret any disruption you may experience and repeat my message that joint action between employers and unions to tackle the underlying drivers of these disputes is needed.

How we support you

We have updated our Frequently Asked Questions page, which covers lots of information and guidance, and we are working very closely with Schools and Departments to assess any impact on your studies.

This assessment of impact may, however, take place after this period of industrial action, so I thank you for your patience in the meantime. I'd like to reassure you that we will do all we can to support you through this period of disruption.

Yours,
Charlie

Charlie Jeffery
Vice-Chancellor