The University and College (UCU) staff trade union - which represents academic and academic-related staff - in higher education across the UK, is in an industrial dispute at a national level with universities.
The issues of dispute are: staff pensions; staff pay levels; workload; use of casual employment contracts; and equality issues in the workplace.
The UCU and national representatives of universities have been in discussions for some time but have not come to an agreement.
UCU members in universities across the UK have exercised their right in law to commence industrial action against the universities.
They have agreed to take two types of industrial action:
- Strike Action
- Action Short of a Strike (This means working strictly to the terms of an employment contract and not doing any additional work.)
The most recent scheduled strike action took place on:
This is in addition to days of stike action which took place on 1-3 Dec 2021, on 14-28 Feb, on 21-22 Feb, on 28 Feb, and on 1-2 Mar.
UCU members have being undertaken Action Short of a Strike since Dec 2021.
It is likely that there will be further, more protracted, industrial action throughout 2022 unless the UCU and universities come to an agreement on the issues under dispute.