The University and College Union (UCU) has announced a further period of strike action which is scheduled to take place between Wednesday, 4 August and Saturday, 14 August 2021 as part of an ongoing industrial dispute.
This follows a 14-day period of strike action which took place in May and June this year, as well as a recent marking and assessment boycott. You can find further information about the marking and assessment boycott by reading our FAQs.
As you will be aware, the University is engaging in ongoing dialogue with UCU about the issues in dispute. These discussions have been constructive, leading to an increased voluntary severance offer for all colleagues who remain at risk of redundancy and the suspension of the marking and assessment boycott as a result. The Senior Leadership Team have expressed their disappointment and surprise this week that UCU has chosen to announce further strike action during these continuing and productive discussions.
How will the strike action impact on students?
Many of our students are currently on their summer break and will likely experience little or no impact, but a number of our students, including some on our clinical programmes, English Language Centre (ELC) and postgraduate programmes, are still on campus and/or engaging in learning activities including completing dissertations and projects. If you fall into these groups you may be contacted directly by your school to explain what mitigations are being put in place to maintain your experience during this period.
We do not expect the August resit period, which runs from Monday 9 August to Friday 27 August 2021, or the postgraduate taught (January start) assessment period, to be affected by this strike action. If you are taking assessments, resits or retakes during this period please continue to prepare for assessments as outlined by your department.
A number of students are still missing marks as a result of the (now suspended) marking and assessment boycott. Please be assured that schools are working hard to make these available to you and the guidance contained in our FAQs and in the resit information sheets are still applicable. Please read this information thoroughly before contacting your department with any further queries you may have.
Postgraduate Research Students
For those students with viva voce examinations scheduled on a date coinciding with the planned period of industrial action it is important to assume the viva is still going ahead. You should attend as planned unless you hear definitively from the examiners or the LDC Student Experience Team that the viva will not take place.
As viva voce examinations are individually planned in advance, they can be re-scheduled on a case-by-case basis if affected by industrial action.
If you have any concerns related to your viva voce examination please contact the LDC Student Experience Team at pgrs@liverpool.ac.uk.
Similarly, the strike action may impact on Independent Progress Assessment Panels (IPAPs). For those students with an IPAP scheduled on a date during the planned period of industrial action it is important to assume it is still going ahead. If an IPAP is cancelled or does not go ahead as planned please contact your School or Institute PGR Administrator here.
Support
Industrial action can be stressful for everyone in our community so please remember that our student support services offer comprehensive advice, support and information on a wide range of non-academic issues including counselling and mental health, amongst others. The Alsop Building on campus is accessible by appointment. The team are also using Microsoft Teams to run virtual appointments. To book please contact via phone or email between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday or use the Online Booking System.