Last night Union Council met to discuss the Union’s stance on the planned industrial action by the Imperial University and College Union (UCU), a trade union representing academics, and Imperial Unite, a trade union representing staff in technical, operational, and professional services. You can read the Council Paper here.
The UCU demands include a pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis and action to end the use of insecure contracts. The College introduced a pay rise ranging from 1.1& for the highest salaries to 8.5% for the lowest paid staff. Furthermore, UCU is demanding employers revoke the cuts to pensions. The package of cuts made earlier this year will see the average member lose 35% from their guaranteed future retirement income.
In short, Union Council discussed and voted on three proposed resolves:
1. To support/not support Imperial UCU's strike action this November
2. To support/not support Imperial Unite's strike action this November
3. To not support a marking boycott, should this take place from January
On Resolve 1, 93% voted to support the UCU’s strike action, with 7% voting against the action. There were no abstentions. ICU will therefore support UCU’s strike action happening on 24, 25 and 30 November.
On Resolve 2, 72% voted in favour of supporting Unite’s strike action, with 17% voting against, and 10% abstaining. ICU will therefore support Unite’s strike action happening on 30 November.
On Resolve 3, 41% voted to not support a marking boycott, should this take place in January. 28% voted against the resolve, with 31% abstaining. ICU will therefore not support a marking boycott should it take place.
On an additional Union Resolves 4 proposed at the meeting as an amendment to the motion, 93% voted in favour of the proposal for “the Officer Trustees to research what the impact of industrial action has been and, where there have been unintended consequences of industrial action that have impacted students negatively, to bring a further paper to Council detailing these consequences and the Union’s response”, with 7% abstaining.
For more information on the industrial actions and the possible effects they will have on you, see the College’s guidance.
If you have any further questions or queries, you can get in touch with us via email. You can also get in touch with our Advice Service by emailing advice@imperial.ac.uk.
Hayley, Nathalie, Jason, Dylan and Niamh
Your Officer Trustees