Staff at the University of Bristol are due to go on strike next week for the fifth time in four years.
Alongside 73 other institutions, staff who are members of the University and College Union (UCU) are expected to take strike action over a period of three weeks starting next Monday, February 14, following a round of strikes before Christmas and in previous years as well.
However, the university has sparked outrage among staff for announcing that on the days they will be taking "action short of strike" - which the union defines as working to the letter of their contracts only - staff will be deducted 25 per cent of their pay for that day.
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The university said in a statement that it would deduct pay from staff who undertake "partial performance", as action short of a strike would be likely to impact the "educational experience of our students", adding that the decision is in line with other Russell Group universities.
Why are university staff going on strike?
There are two primary reasons that university staff across the UK will be going on strike - the first is over proposed changes to the pension scheme, and the second is over working conditions, which encompasses pay, gender and ethnic pay gaps, casualisation of staff, and increasing workloads.
The pensions dispute arose because of proposed changes to the university superannuation scheme (USS), which is the pension scheme for around 200,000 staff at older universities.
Universities UK (UUK), which represents around 140 universities, says that there is an estimated shortfall of between £14bn and £18bn in funding, and therefore cuts needed to be made to make it sustainable in the long term.
However, the UCU says that the mechanism used to calculate the shortfall is flawed, saying that the latest proposed cuts equate to 35 per cent of a staff members' guaranteed pension.
The union said: "UCU tried to suggest solutions, but employers are refusing to engage. Combined with the fact that, since 2009, staff pay has been cut by nearly 20% in real terms, we are not only losing our dignity at work, but also our dignity in retirement."
UUK has disputed this number, telling The Times that there would be cuts of around 10-18 per cent, but said that contribution rates would have to rise "substantially" if the current benefits are to be maintained.
Meanwhile, in what is being called the 'Four Fights', staff say that pay in real terms has fallen by 20 per cent since 2009 and that they are being asked to take on more work for longer hours than ever before.
They are also calling for employers to address the gender and ethnicity pay gaps, and also the casualisation of work contracts, putting particularly new staff in precarious employment situations.
When are the strikes in Bristol?
Strikes at Bristol University are scheduled to take place on the following days:
- Monday, February 14 to Friday, February 18 - strike and action short of strike over changes to the pension scheme
- Monday, February 21 and Tuesday, February 22 - strike and action short of strike over pensions and the 'Four Fights'
- Monday, February 28 to Wednesday, March 2 - strike and action short of strike over the 'Four Fights'
Why are the pay deductions controversial?
In an email to staff last week, seen by Bristol Live, the university's Chief People Officer, Claire Buchanan, said that the institution would withhold the pay for each day the staff member is on strike (as would be expected).
However, she also wrote that taking action short of strike could constitute a partial performance of duties, and therefore 25 per cent of the salary for that day would be deducted.
On their website, the UCU defines Action Short of Strike (ASoS) as "working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action, and not undertaking any voluntary activities".
The position expressed by many Bristol University staff is that if they are working to their contracts, then they are fulfilling all of their mandated obligations to be paid for the day of work. Part of the reason for striking is that staff members say they are taking on unmanageable workloads without extra compensation, so working solely to contract demonstrates how much they do in addition to what is in their contracts.
The university said in a statement that some of the actions included in what the UCU has determined is action short of strike "constitutes partial performance and therefore universities are entitled to withhold pay". They added that if staff do not post material online for students to access that would have been taught on strike days, pay could be withheld.
However, Dr Cathy Hume, a Senior Lecturer in English Literature, wrote on Twitter: "I am really struggling to understand what it is they want us to do with the lecture materials.
"Why would I provide lecture materials for a lecture I haven't given because I've been on strike? I've lost the pay for the strike day - how can you dock more?"
Huge numbers of staff expressed their outrage on Twitter after the announcement, with some saying that it gives them further motivation to go on strike.
'Punitive'
The Bristol UCU branch wrote: "Bristol UCU is proud of our close working relationship with our University's management in securing our members' interests, too. We'd be concerned if that relationship were harmed by a punitive approach to ASOS & detrimental changes to pay deductions and strike notification."
Some students are also unhappy with the decision - a template letter has been circulating online for students to use and send to Vice-Chancellor Hugh Brady to express their support for staff and their opposition to the "inexplicable" move by the university.
University statement
A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “Regrettably, the University and College Union (UCU) has planned further industrial action at the University of Bristol and other UK universities. This is part of a complex national dispute over staff pensions and pay. We have been trying hard to avoid this and are very disappointed that we have reached a point where industrial action is going ahead.
"However, we respect the right of our union member colleagues to act where they feel strongly about issues that affect them.
"As a University, we are proud of the way that we have worked with the local branch of UCU and the other trade unions to make things better for staff. We are open to continuing the conversation and being pro-active in addressing their concerns.
“During the strike action, we hope that most teaching and learning will proceed as usual but ask that students keep a close eye on their email for any last-minute changes to their timetable as academic colleagues do not have to inform us in advance if they are taking action. Libraries, study spaces, and wellbeing services remain open and available to students.
“We appreciate that some students may be worried about the impact of the dispute on their studies. If they have any concerns, we’re asking they raise these with their school office or personal tutor in the first instance.”
On the pay deductions for partial performance, the spokesperson added: “We need to do everything we can to protect the educational experience of our students, who have faced a great deal of disruption in recent years due to the pandemic.
"With that priority in mind, we will be withholding pay from staff who decide to undertake partial performance of duty. This specifically covers the intentional removal or not sharing of materials which relate to lectures or classes cancelled as a result of strike action. Reflecting most other universities in the Russell Group, we will deduct 25 per cent of earnings for staff who choose this course of action.”
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