UCU have announced a series of strikes across February and March. Find out here why the strikes are happening and the support that is available to you throughout this time.
UCU Strike Action – What you need to know!
The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) been confirmed that a series of strikes will take place between Wednesday 1st February and Wednesday 22nd March.
Talks between the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) who represent 1000’s of university staff and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) failed to reach an agreement on pay and conditions. You can read more about this here This means strikes will go ahead on the following dates:
- Week 1 - Wednesday 1 February
- Week 2 - Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February
- Week 3 - Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February
- Week 4 - Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February
- Week 5 - Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 March
- [No action week commencing Monday 6 March]
- Week 6 - Thursday 16 and Friday 17 March
- Week 7 - Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March
This could affect you as a large number of staff at the University are members of this Union. This means that some of your timetabled classes and lectures might not go ahead as planned.
In the past some lecturers have informed their students of their intention to strike but they aren’t obliged to do that.
The University are putting in place some measures to minimise disruption for students during the strike period.
This includes:
Suspending attendance monitoring. Whether you are a U.K or international student your attendance won’t be monitored at this time. If you attend a lecture that goes ahead you can still tap in but if you decide not to attend, then your attendance will remain unaffected.
If you are concerned about getting academic support for things like dissertations or assignments your first point of contact should be your home department. If you feel like you are not getting the support you need just email the SU Education Team sureps@essex.ac.uk and we will get back to you within 24 hours Monday to Friday to help you get the support you need.
Your department should remove any content that has not been taught as a result of strike action from any upcoming assessments or exams. The University also has a no detriment policy in place to support students at times like these. If you do feel like your performance has been affected by the strikes, you should definitely put in an extenuating circumstances form. Our SU Advice team can support you with this. Just email suadvice@essex.ac.uk
To read a full summary of the support the University is proving click here
Your SU is here for you
Throughout the strike period we will be making sure students are given the support they need. Everyday, between 11am-1pm, The SU Education Team will be based in the new Greenhouse Café to answer strike related questions and signpost you to the appropriate channels. We will also be hosting rolling strike Q and A’s across campus throughout the strike period and will be visiting the Silberrad Student Centre, Library and departmental common rooms at this time. We will also be hosting a number of events throughout the day should you arrive on campus and find that your lecture is cancelled. You can see what is available each day here