Staff from a number of UK universities, including the University of Liverpool, have voted in favour of industrial action (strike action and action short of a strike) in relation to pensions and pay, following two ballots organised by the University and College Union (UCU).
This is a national dispute and ballots for industrial action took place across 146 individual institutions. 37 universities out of 68 voted in favour of industrial action in relation to pensions, and 56 institutions out of 146 voted in favour of industrial action in relation to pay.
At Liverpool, 1213 colleagues are currently members of UCU, out of a total workforce of approximately 7,000. Of these 1213 UCU members, 494 voted in favour of strike action in the ballot over pensions and 460 voted in favour of strike action in the ballot over pay.
Nationally, approximately 73,000 UCU members were balloted and just over 36,500 members took part. 31 UCU branches did not reach the legal 50% turnout threshold required for industrial action over pensions and 90 UCU branches did not reach the legal 50% turnout for pay. At many institutions there was a significant ‘no’ vote and in most places where the threshold was reached, it was the votes of those saying ‘no’ to action that carried the numbers over the 50% legal threshold. If those voting ‘no’ had not voted at all in the pensions dispute, then a mandate would have been achieved in only four institutions. These results suggest that nationally support for industrial action is limited.
Mitigations
After almost two years of significant disruption we understand the concern that this news may bring.
Please be assured that we will communicate detailed information to you if UCU notify us of their intention to take strike action or Action Short of a Strike (ASOS) following the successful ballot and when this will take place.
A successful ballot is not notification of intention to take strike action. Discussions with UCU at a national level are continuing and dates for industrial action, or next steps, have not yet been announced.
Staff are currently working hard to prepare for possible strike action and will be well equipped to mitigate the impact of any action on students’ learning and to minimise disruption.
National negotiations
As this is a collective UK-wide action we are reliant on national negotiations to try to resolve the pensions and pay dispute.
Universities UK (UUK), which represents the institutions in the negotiations, is in close dialogue with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) who lead on pay negotiations. On pensions, UUK and UCU representatives are scheduled to meet this week to discuss the pension fund – the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) – at the USS Joint Negotiating Committee.