How is The Union supporting students during UCU strike action?

Tuesday 31-01-2023 - 15:26

The University and College Union (UCU) has voted to strike for 18 days in February and March 2023 at universities across the UK, including Manchester Met. UNISON have also voted to strike for three days in February 2023. This strike involves a limited number of universities, including Manchester Met. The first day of strike action will be on Wednesday 1 February.

 

What is the strike action about?

 

The UCU are the largest trade union for academic staff in the UK and they represent some of your tutors and academic staff. UNISON represent some support services staff. The strike action predominantly relates to pay and working conditions.

 


 

How might students be affected?

 

The most obvious impact will be some loss of lectures and seminars for some students. The university has assured us that they will make every effort to provide alternative resources to cover any lost learning opportunities, as they did in the October strikes. Other duties such as personal tutoring sessions, may also be stopped during the period.

We’d suggest that you assume that your lecture is going ahead, unless you’ve been told otherwise. But keep an eye on moodle and your email for any changes. (Lecturers are often good at telling you if they are going on strike, even though they legally don’t have to.)

It is unlikely that support services such as counselling, security or library services will be significantly affected by the industrial action but we will keep an eye on this.

 


 

What is the students' union doing to support students?

 

We are focusing our energy and resources to find ways to limit the impact of the dispute on you. The Union is talking to University leaders about how they are going to protect students’ learning during the strikes.

This includes:

+ Ensuring there are systems in place that identify and record all lost classes and materials due to industrial action.

+ Assurance that learning objectives for every course will be met. Ideally by rescheduling of any face to face cancelled lectures, or finding suitable replacement of any lost learning.

+ Ensuring any mitigation puts students back on track as soon as possible after the strike action.

+ Ensuring students are not penalised for non-attendance of cancelled classes or loss of specific learning. This is especially important in the cases of students on professional courses with attendance requirements, post graduates, international students with visa requirements around attendance or students with limited contact days.

+ A guarantee of access to university building for all students on strike days.

 


 

Where can I find more information?

 

If you want more information on the strike action, we’d recommend reading the University’s FAQ page as well as the UCU and UNISON websites.

If you require support for anything resulting from the industrial action, please contact our Advice Centre. This may be for guidance on the exceptional factors process, submitting a complaint to the University or if you feel you have been mistreated by either side of the dispute.

Keep an eye on your university E-mail and Moodle for updates on how it will affect you.

We will keep you updated on our progress with the University. As always, you can let us know your thoughts, feelings and experiences and we’ll make sure your voice is heard.

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