The overwhelming vote for action delivered by our members is a tribute to the determination of our whole union’s impressive campaign and specifically to the thousands of rank and file activists who delivered the vote on the ground.
A turnout of 57.8% for pay and 60.2% for USS on an aggregated basis means that we have cleared the barrier in the anti-union laws and have a resounding mandate to take any level of action we choose.
The vote is also yet another statement from organised workers that ‘Enough is Enough’ and that we can’t stand back while our living standards are slashed and our public services are destroyed by a Tory government lurching from one ideologically driven disaster to another.
Now we have delivered the vote it’s essential that we maintain the momentum. The employers will not simply roll over because we have voted to fight. Overwhelming votes by RMT and CWU members didn’t mean their employers simply crumbled.
So what should happen next?
We need to make a statement of intent as soon as possible while the whole union, including Scotland, still has term time to fight together. There was no point in opening the ballot in September if we weren’t going to take action until 2023.
The CWU has named major strike days on 25 and 28 November and USS talks will take place on 30 November. Being out over this period gives us the chance to link with the wider movement and potentially get hundreds if not thousands of UCU members to lobby USS talks.
A boycott of Semester 1 marking and assessment will strengthen any strike action we take this term by showing the employers we are serious. Any threat of pay docking should immediately be met by strikes.
And we should decide now that we will seriously disrupt the beginning of Semester 2. We should threaten the employers with escalating strikes, potentially to all-out action if our demands are not met, starting with at least two weeks of strikes, avoiding reading weeks and breaks. Let’s hit them hard and hit them early.
Pre-BDM caucus
Hosted by UCU Left
To discuss proposals for action and membership control of our disputes
Thursday 27th October, 6pm
Registration: bit.ly/PreBDMOct22
Nope. There was very clear support in the BDM for limited action only prior to xmas – and a marking boycott in December would trigger lock outs – leading to the very kind of unlimted strike action that would cripple the union as well as possibly leaving members destitute, or faced with the choice of simply breaking the action. Does UCU Left seriously expect members not to collect their pay prior to xmas – especially with what is going on right now? The CWU action – solidarity to them – is IRRELEVANT to UCEA and UUK. Is this about representing the democratic will of our members or trying to bring down the government?