ucuRISING resources

We know that a lot of students are asking questions about the upcoming strike and how this will affect their learning and we know that lots of members are uncertain as to what to tell them.

Our advice is as follows:

Have honest and frank conversations with students about why we are on strike, but also why so many other unions are on strike. The most obvious talking point is regarding pay but our dispute also covers important structural issues impacting on the sector including, casualisation, pay gaps, and workload. Unfortunately, you will probably have experienced excessive deployment and a work history of precarious contracts, colleagues on hourly paid contracts and workload allocations being squeezed. We encourage you to share this reality with your students. Don’t forget that our working conditions are student’s learning conditions.

We would encourage members not to directly inform students that they will be on strike. However, this does not mean that you should not stress the likelihood of their seminars and lectures being cancelled and that they might wish to contact the VC to express their frustration at the impact it is having on their learning and that they stand in solidarity with the UCU. We have an email template that students can send to the VC.

Do not reschedule missed classes and remember to take down any material which is on MyBeckett which would be delivered on the days of strike action. Our pay is docked as a result of strike action and so if you reschedule cancelled classes then you are working for free. The primary purpose of strike action is disruption so please do not undermine this.

You might find the following resources useful to use with your students:

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