1) UCU Industrial Action: 10 Days Starting 14 February
Bristol UCU along with 68 other branches at universities across the UK are taking 10 days of strike action starting on Monday, 14th February. The strike days are in three waves:
- Week 1: Monday, 14 February – Friday 18 February
- Week 2: Monday, 21 February –Tuesday, 22 February
- Week 3: Monday, 28 February – Wednesday, 2 March
The last day of strike action ends ‘on Wednesday 2 March with a massive day of action uniting staff and students, when the NUS has called a one-day student strike’.
Details about Bristol UCU’s strike schedule, our picket lines, rallies, teach-outs and events over the course of the 10 strike days are being confirmed today: branch Reps and Executive Committee meet today at 1pm.
There is still time for our employers to avert strike action. Park USS benefit cuts, accept (already budgeted for) USS contribution increases in the next 12 months and work with UCU on our reasonable proposal. Strike a deal with UCU on the Four Fights.
Bristol UCU calls on our employer, the University of Bristol, to confirm that it is supportive of UCU’s proposals on pensions, and to stand up for a good deal for precarious members of staff, for BAME and female staff, for staff facing falling pay and ever-increasing workloads in the HE sector.
2) UCU Emergency Branch Meeting, Wednesday, 8 February, 13:00-14:00, via Microsoft Teams
An all-members meeting has been called for Wednesday next week to discuss the forthcoming strike action. Joining details to follow shortly.
3) Frequently Asked Questions
The traditional pre-strike email covering
- picket line locations;
- strike schedule;
- strike pay and Local Hardship Fund donations;
- o-of-o messages;
- teach-outs;
- strike action notification;
- ASOS;
- rescheduling teaching & use of lecture recordings;
- pension contributions;
- pay deductions;
- what to tell students
and more will be sent early next week.
4) Local Branch Hardship Fund and National Fighting Fund
Colleagues who took industrial action in December can still claim strike pay from the National Fighting Fund and our Local Branch Hardship Fund.
Full details of how to claim strike pay from the Local Hardship Fund are set out at:
https://ucubristol.org.uk/files/2021/12/hardshipguide-2021.pdf
For the upcoming round of industrial action:
- HPT / TSA staff will be able to claim from the Local Branch Hardship Fund as before for all lost contact delivery hours
- Salaried staff who took strike action in December, will be able to claim from the National Fighting Fund for further strike days, once deductions have been made from pay packets
- Salaried staff who are striking for the first time in February / March, can claim 1 day of strike pay from the Local Branch Hardship Fund and then from the National Fighting Fund for the second and subsequent days
Any claims or questions about the Local Hardship Fund should be sent to: ucu-hardship@bristol.ac.uk
Please note: payments from the National Fighting Fund and our Local Hardship Fund will be kept under review.