Today marked the first of five days of strike action at Newcastle University, with staff walking out over working conditions such as pay and workload.
Teaching staff who are part of the University and College Union (UCU) formed picket lines outside the university from 8.45am Friday morning and strike action will continue from Monday to Thursday next week.
It comes during a protracted dispute between staff and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) over a range of issues related to pay and working conditions. As part of this, union members are not marking work produced by students towards their final degrees.
Read more: Newcastle University lecturers to strike for five days later this month
The UCU branch said it was disappointed that bosses at the university had imposed "disproportionate and punitive" pay deductions on union members who have taken part in the nationwide marking boycott, claiming that the employer has started to deduct half pay from its staff and is threatening to do so until September 30.
The branch said it was frustrated that a meeting with the university's vice chancellor Professor Chris Day did not result in the university altering its position. It added that during a cost of living crisis, many staff will not be able to pay their rent or mortgage.
One member of staff said: "I am being threatened with three months at half pay for what is an afternoon's work. It is a clear attempt to bully staff back to work. How can such a deduction be legal?"
Today's strike coincided with an open day for prospective students and a major international conference is due to take place on campus next week during the continued walk out. A Newcastle University spokesperson said the university was "extremely disappointed by the ongoing industrial action".
It is a critical period as exam marks are being processed this week and next. And Newcastle University has put emergency measures in place in an attempt to limit disruption to students. This includes a 'no detriment' approach when results are missing by working out an average result using marks from previous assessments.
The university informs students on its website that those with missing marks will have their remaining marks entered when they are available and, at that point, the average mark will be recalculated. Final year students affected by missing marks will have their degree classification recalculated when all marks have been received. If the overall average mark has increased they will then be considered for the higher classification award in accordance with the standard University regulations.
But Newcastle University UCU believes that students deserve a fair mark and degree award and warns that many students will receive an 'interim unclassified' degree.
A UCU spokesperson said: "Nothing would please us more than to call off the strikes if disproportionate deductions were withdrawn. All we want is a reasonable offer on pay and conditions. We are the ones who spend time, energy and expertise to educate our students, the last thing we want is to be holding up marks.
"Students generally sympathise with us and not the VC because neither staff nor students are getting a fair deal as top salaries have grown and tuition fees are ploughed into shiny new buildings."
The UCEA has previously said that those taking part in the marking boycott should stop "trying to target" students - and that there was "simply no need" for the action. The UCEA claims "employers are at the table to negotiate, as they have been for months". However the UCEA's position is "that the 2023-24 pay uplift talks are complete" - though it wishes to discuss "related items".
A spokesperson for Newcastle University said: "We are extremely disappointed by the ongoing industrial action and the impact and anxiety that it is causing for our students. Our priority as always is to minimise the impact on our students' education and also the pressure on colleagues who are continuing to support them through this period of action.
"Our no detriment approach will ensure, where possible, that all our students can graduate or continue on their education or career journey without being disadvantaged. It will ensure we maintain academic standards and the integrity of our degrees. All work will be marked, although some may be delayed.
"Participation in a marking and assessment boycott constitutes partial performance which means anyone taking part is not entitled to their contractual pay. Due to this fact, as well as the significant harm to students which will be caused by a boycott, the University will make deductions equivalent to 50% of salary for those participating in the boycott. This will be implemented as a 100% deduction, with 50% of salary then being paid to colleagues as an ex-gratia payment."
