The University and College Union (UCU) has announced 10 days of strike action in relation to national disputes over the 2020/21 pay award and USS pensions. The action is scheduled to take place over three weeks during February and March.
The specific dates are:
- Monday, 14 February until Friday, 18 February (five days)
- Monday, 21 February and Tuesday, 22 February (two days)
- Monday, 28 February until Wednesday, 2 March (three days)
As this is a collective UK-wide action the University is reliant on national negotiations to try to resolve the disputes.
Discussions between UCU, Universities UK (UUK) and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) on these issues are continuing and students will be kept updated as these national negotiations for a resolution progress.
Students at the Universiy have been emailed this week with details about arrangements for the period of strike action – please check your University email account for details
After almost two years of disruption we understand the concern that this news may bring. The scale of likely disruption is not yet clear, particularly given that only a minority of academic, professional and managerial staff are members of UCU and not all of them support this action.
Will my teaching be cancelled?
We expect the majority of staff to be working as normal during the period of strike action, but some areas of the University are likely to experience higher levels of engagement in industrial action than others.
With this in mind we expect the majority of teaching sessions to go ahead as planned. As staff do not have to inform the University in advance that they intend to take strike action, unfortunately we cannot give you advance notice of cancelled sessions, although some of your lecturers may do so.
It is therefore important that you assume all activities are going ahead, and that you attend as planned unless you hear definitively from your lecturer or School Office that a teaching event will not take place. If a member of staff does not arrive for a teaching session at its planned start time, please wait for a few minutes to be sure that they are not late before you leave. If a member of staff takes strike action on one day, it should not be assumed that they will continue to do so on other days.
Further learning
It is important to be clear that staff are currently working hard to prepare for the potential disruption of the strike action and will be well equipped to mitigate any impact on your learning and to minimise disruption.
If one or more of your teaching sessions are cancelled I would encourage you to make the most of your time. If further reading is provided on your modules, please take advantage of this.
There are also numerous events and resources available to supplement your learning and university experience including KnowHow sessions, careers workshops and fitness classes. Further details about these opportunities can be found on the My Liverpool app.
Support available
You will find further detailed information about the UCU Industrial Action on our dedicated web hub which is available on the Student Intranet. This includes advice around picketing and what you might expect if you are on campus during the short period of strike action.
Industrial action can be difficult for staff and for our students. Please remember the wide range of support you can access at any time as a University of Liverpool student. If you need support please contact advice@liverpool.ac.uk. The University also provides additional 24-hour support through Health Assured, you can contact them by calling 0800 028 3766 at any time.