On Friday the UCU General Secretary announced the plans for the next phase of strike action in both disputes. Strike days will be spread over 2 weeks with some branches taking action in the first week and the others in the second week. At Heriot-Watt we will be on strike from Monday 21 March to Friday 25 March over both disputes, Action for USS and the 4-Fights.
We need as many members to participate in strike action as possible. We can win these disputes if we act collectively and keep up the pressure on our employers.
In the meantime we are still taking action short of a strike (ASOS). This includes:
- working to contract
- not covering for absent colleagues
- removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action
- not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action
- not undertaking any voluntary activities
If you receive requests from your line managers about information on the effect of your strike action on courses/learning objectives etc., do provide that information but do not do any of the above. Do not remedy the effect of your strike action. Do say that you have no plans to rearrange anything that was cancelled on strike days. Action short of a strike is only effective if we collectively adhere to the above actions. Students understand this, they have visited us on the picket line at Heriot-Watt, they have rallied together with us at Holyrood, and they have declared their solidarity at national level. If you feel, your students need further information about the disputes and why we are taking industrial action, point them to UCU – Why we’re taking action
One piece of good news, we have had over 600 GBP of donations to our hardship fund over the past few months alone. Thank you. If you would like to make a donation, please see here: https://heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/hardship-fund/
If you are worried about about the cost of going on strike there is information about what help is available can be found on our Cost of striking and strike pay web page. You can apply for 50 GBP or 75 GBP per day depending on your salary, which goes some way to covering your losses.