Industrial action

National industrial action has been announced by UCU and is affecting Queen Mary alongside ~150 other universities across the UK following a national aggregated re-ballot in February and March 2023 over two disputes covering the USS Pension Scheme and Pay and Conditions. Queen Mary has been notified of another round of discontinuous strike action between 18 and 29 September 2023 (previous strike action took place between 16 and 21 June 2023).

At a national level, UCEA and UUK have been negotiating with UCU on behalf of universities. UCU members have now voted to accept the proposals put forward by employers regarding the USS pension scheme. However, despite good progress being made in relation to the dispute on pay and working conditions, with agreement on terms of reference for key non-pay items in the 2023-24 pay round reached through ACAS , 56% of UCU members rejected the proposals put forward and hence universities across the country are now further facing industrial action. 

Queen Mary, alongside 150 other universities, was notified of Continuous Action Short of Strike (ASOS), which includes activities that are in breach of contract, from 20 April 2023. This includeds a marking and assessment boycott which was called off by UCU on 6 September 2023. The current mandate for industrial action ends on 30 September 2023.

A new ballot will open on 19 September 2023 and run until 3 November 2023; this ballot asks UCU members to vote on both strike action and Action Short of Strike (ASOS), including another marking and assessment boycott.

Locally, Queen Mary UCU and Queen Mary University of London reached an agreement on 31 March 2023:

Settlement QMUCU and QMUL 31 March 2023 [PDF 88KB]

883 of our 5,400 staff are UCU members.

For more information on these issues in relation to Queen Mary, please see the following information on the USS pension scheme, and blogs on tackling gender inequality and challenging fixed-term and casual contracts.

At our University, industrial action is mainly focused on a very small number of areas within the University. Should you be in one of those areas, the University is working hard to ensure that all students can graduate on time, assuming you reach the required standard. Queen Mary will not compromise on the quality and standards of our assessment processes because of any industrial action. The rigour with which your work is assessed will be of the same standard to that of a year where there is no industrial action. This means your marks and ultimate degree classification will be a true reflection of the quality of your performance.

Queen Mary, similar to circa 150 other universities across the UK, experienced industrial action that took the form of a marking and assessment boycott. Most of our 33,000 students were completely unaffected. However, we are very sorry to confirm that graduation was delayed for some students studying English and Drama. The School has written to all affected students apologising for the disruption and offering ongoing support to them, including practical support such as contacting their future employers or higher education institutions.

For more information on the issues contested in this industrial action, please see the following information on the USS pension scheme, and blogs on tackling gender inequality and challenging fixed-term and casual contracts.

Yes, in August 2022 UCU called off their marking and assessment boycott, following an agreed local settlement [PDF].

Another agreement was reached in March 2023 Settlement QMUCU and QMUL 31 March 2023 [PDF 88KB]

This latest ballot is for a new round of industrial action, on the same issues.

Summer 2023 Graduation ceremonies at Queen Mary took place as planned for all subject areas except for students studying English and Drama. While this represented just 2% of our final-year graduating students, this was devastating for our English and Drama students and we continue to offer ongoing support to them. 

 

Queen Mary issued the following statement on our website at the time: 

 

Disruption to Graduation for Students in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London 

 

Queen Mary, similar to circa 150 other universities across the UK, is currently experiencing industrial action which is taking the form of a marking and assessment boycott. Most of our 33,000 students are completely unaffected as, similar to past industrial action, disruption to our students at Queen Mary is focused on a very small number of disciplinary areas. Staff across the University have worked very hard to mitigate the impact on our students in the affected areas and all students will graduate as planned, except in the disciplinary areas of English and Drama which continue to be significantly affected by industrial action. We are very sorry to confirm that graduation will be delayed for some students in our School of English and Drama. The School has written to all affected students apologising for the disruption and offering ongoing support to them, including practical support such as contacting their future employers or higher education institutions. 

 

To confirm, this issue is confined only to some students in the disciplinary areas of English and Drama; all other students in all other subject areas across the entire University will graduate as planned. The University is extremely sorry for the significant impact on the affected students in the disciplinary areas of English and Drama at Queen Mary.

A motion to support industrial action was put to the Students’ Union Annual Student Meeting in both November 2021 and 2022. In 2021, the motion did not pass. In 2022, the motion passed with 77 votes in favour out of a total of 168 votes cast. Supporting industrial action is therefore now Students’ Union policy.

Between February and August 2022, we saw seven periods of strike action totalling 25 days, and a continuous period of action short of strike including a marking and assessment boycott.

Out of a workforce of around 5,400, 133 members of staff took part in the 10 days of strike action between 14 February and 2 March. Of these 133 members of staff, 66 participated in 3 days or less and 18 took part in all 10 days strike action. Over 50% of striking members of staff were from our Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Five additional days of industrial action occurred between 28 March and 1 April. 33 members of staff participated of which 17 participated in all 5 days.  A further 10 days of strike action in relation to a local dispute took place between 5 and 18 May, in which 12 members of staff in total took part. In relation to the marking and assessment boycott, only 108 people (2% of all staff) had pay deducted in July as a result of partial performance between 1 and 21 June.

This phase of industrial action was the fourth to take place in the last five years.

Three days of strike action were also called in November 2022.

Very few people take part in strike action, and the impact has been limited and localised. The University has faced strike action in the current round of dispute since February 2022 in respect of both the pay and pensions disputes. Our last data show only 1% of staff took part in strike action.

Queen Mary, similar to circa 150 other universities across the UK, experienced industrial action that took the form of a marking and assessment boycott. Most of our 33,000 students were completely unaffected. However, we are very sorry to confirm that graduation was delayed for some students studying English and Drama. The School has written to all affected students apologising for the disruption and offering ongoing support to them, including practical support such as contacting their future employers or higher education institutions.

The University continues to take all necessary steps to protect our students’ education. We will not compromise on the quality and standards of our assessment processes because of any industrial action. The rigour with which your work is assessed will be of the same standard to that of a year where there is no industrial action. This means your marks and ultimate degree classification will be a true reflection of the quality of your performance.

Faculties and Schools communicate regularly with students in affected areas.

Unfortunately, some misinformation is circulating relating to the current industrial action at Queen Mary. Much of this misinformation is being issued by the trade union UCU. See the following document for details.

Correcting misinformation factsheet September 2023 [PDF 94KB]

Schools and Institutes are working hard to mitigate the impact of industrial action on students in their areas and will be communicating with you directly if you are impacted.

Industrial action is mainly focused on a very small number of areas within the University. Should you be in one of those areas, the University is taking all necessary steps to ensure you can graduate on time, assuming you reach the required standard. We will not compromise on the quality and standards of our assessment processes because of any industrial action. The rigour with which your work is assessed will be of the same standard to that of a year where there is no industrial action. This means your marks and ultimate degree classification will be a true reflection of the quality of your performance.

Queen Mary, similar to circa 150 other universities across the UK, experienced industrial action that took the form of a marking and assessment boycott. Most of our 33,000 students were completely unaffected. However, we are very sorry to confirm that graduation was delayed for some students studying English and Drama. The School has written to all affected students apologising for the disruption and offering ongoing support to them, including practical support such as contacting their future employers or higher education institutions. 

You should assume your class is running unless you are told otherwise. If you attend a class and find the lecturer is not there, please wait for 15 minutes past the start time. If at the end of that time your lecturer has still not appeared, you can assume they are not coming and leave. 

We want to ensure any education that is missed is made up. Therefore, if a lecture, seminar, practical or other educational activity is cancelled please report it on this form.

Please use this form to report a missed educational activity. Do not use this form to report your individual absence from the activity.

It is appropriate for your lecturer/educator to tell you they are taking industrial action, and which, if any, classes are affected. However, they should not use class time to discuss the details or reasons why they are taking industrial action. The time scheduled for educational activities should  be used for education related to your course. If your lecturer/educator does use class time to talk about the reasons why they are taking industrial action, please click here.

We want to ensure any education that is missed is made up. Therefore, if a lecture, seminar, practical or other educational activity is cancelled please report it on this form.

Taking strike action generally means the individual will not work for that day, or period of days. Action short of a strike (ASOS) means working to contract and not undertaking certain activities, such as covering for absent colleagues. 

As in previous years, our approach is to protect our students’ education and experience over all other activities. In those disciplinary areas that may be affected, we are working with colleagues to protect your education and experience, by enabling staff choosing to take part in industrial action to focus solely on their educational activities, and stop all other work where needed. This means we will ask all colleagues who take part in strike action to make up any missed education when they resume work, and anyone taking Action Short of a Strike to undertake their educational activities, and deprioritise other work.

No. We will not deduct any pay for staff taking part in ASOS as long as they deliver all their educational activities, deprioritising or stopping other work where needed. If staff do not deliver their educational activities, we consider this to be partial performance and will deduct 100% of pay. This position is in line with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association guidance.

Peaceful picketing, outside the University premises, is a lawful activity and may include staff on picket lines talking about why they are on strike, and asking people crossing the picket line not to go into work.

Staff and students wishing to cross the picket line, to get to work or to their lectures or to use University facilities, are entitled to do so freely and without intimidation or fear of those on the picket line trying to stop them in any way. 

There is guidance on the UK Government website and restated in the UCU guidance for branches on picketing on what constitutes peaceful picketing. This includes not being physically or verbally abusive, not making a noise nuisance, not blocking entrances and not damaging property. Security staff will be monitoring the picket lines and if any staff or students feel intimidated crossing the picket lines they should contact security immediately, on 020 7882 3333.

When arriving on campus on strike days it is possible that you may need to pass staff taking part in the strike at the entrances to the University. Please be assured that the trade union has issued guidance that indicates that all pickets are intended to, and must, be peaceful. Access to campus entrances will not be blocked in any way and you should feel able to pass freely and easily without confrontation. If you witness anyone on a picket line exhibiting unacceptable behaviours, please contact security immediately on 020 7882 3333.

Only Queen Mary staff can join a Queen Mary picket line. No staff from other organisations are allowed to join and no students, from Queen Mary or other universities, should join the picket line. 

Unless you are informed otherwise by your School or Institute, you should attend your timetabled sessions as normal. Please do keep checking your Queen Mary email account for the latest information. The vast majority of lectures and other classes will run as normal. Wherever possible, we will let you know in advance if any of your teaching sessions are likely to be affected. However, staff do not have to tell us in advance if they are going on strike so in some cases this will not be possible.

Where teaching has gone ahead, attendance will be monitored as normal.

We want to ensure any education that is missed is made up. Therefore, if a lecture, seminar, practical or other educational activity is cancelled, and not rescheduled or made up in an alternative form, please report it on this form.

If any of the students’ timetabled teaching time was cancelled, the School or Institute will have informed the Registry office, and they will ensure that students will not be marked as out of attendance. This means that there will not be any impact on their visa status.

Supervisions, review meetings and vivas for research students are arranged on an individual basis. Please contact your School or Institute in the first instance if you have any concerns. Alternatively, you can contact the Research Degrees Office: researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk.

We will ensure you are not disadvantaged in your assessments by this period of industrial action.

Please assume that deadlines still apply as normal unless you are contacted by your Head of School/Institute to say that an extension has been granted.

Please assume that deadlines still apply as normal unless you are contacted by your Head of School/Institute to say that an extension has been granted.

If your teaching is cancelled because of strike action, your School or Institute will be aware of what you have missed so it will not be necessary to submit an extenuating circumstances claim. Please do not submit extenuating circumstances claims just because you think you might have been affected. Only submit a claim for a clearly defined issue that is specific to you as an individual.

All student services, including our libraries and student wellbeing services (including advice and counselling), will remain open as normal throughout the period of industrial action.

If you wish to raise a complaint, please find information about the University's normal complaints procedure here.  

Students can raise and track a query through Student Enquiry Centre Online, email studentenquiry@qmul.ac.uk, or talk with their school or institute (contact details can be found here).