Frustrated Edinburgh University staff privately voted to postpone ‘unfair’ marking boycott

Staff at the University of Edinburgh privately voted to abandon the forthcoming marking boycott this week, due to frustrations about the poor organisation of the action and the minimal impact it would have had.

It was confirmed on Friday that the previously-announced marking boycott, due to commence on Monday 23 May, had been called off at Edinburgh Uni whilst other UK universities would proceed.

Speaking exclusively to The Edinburgh Tab, a UCU insider said that there was no appetite among staff to miss out on even more pay by striking and boycotting, given the extent of strike action that has occurred through the academic year.

Universities across the country are thought to be clamping down hard on participation in strike action including through severe pay docking, which has discouraged further action at Edinburgh. “The cost of living isn’t helping”, one academic told The Edinburgh Tab.

94 per cent of members of Edinburgh’s University and College Union (UCU) branch, which organises industrial action, voted to abandon the boycott in favour of a later date. Internal communications show that UCU members at Edinburgh believed the boycott would begin too late in the academic year.

With many staff having concluded marking duties, it would have had little impact on studies and thus wielded minimal influence in ongoing national negotiations regarding pay, workload, and inequality at UK universities.

It is believed that UCU Edinburgh members intend to reserve the boycott action until August or December, “hitting hard” at the start of the 2022/23 academic year.

https://twitter.com/tvalny1/status/1527214989509120000

One Edinburgh Uni academic took to Twitter to explain her frustrations about the organisation of the boycott. Dr Valny, a teaching fellow in Modern European History wrote that the boycott would be “fundamentally unfair” because tutors who are still marking assessments would receive more anger from students than those who have concluded their work.

“The thought of being left out in the cold while others are finished is terrifying and causes anxiety”, she went on.

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We may not be boycotting (yet) but our colleagues at @UCU_HWUBranch are. Please show your support. #oneofusallofus @ucu https://t.co/fxn3Dadnvb

— UCU Edinburgh (@ucuedinburgh) May 21, 2022

The mood within Edinburgh’s UCU branch is thought to be tense, with members frustrated at the poor timing of the industrial action and the union being forced to publicly U-turn on Friday afternoon.

However, members still have full confidence in the union and its ability to help staff improve working conditions. An Edinburgh Uni tutor said: “People are tired of having the strikes, not the strikes themselves”, and that industrial action is the only available method through which to achieve change.

UCU Scotland has been approached for comment on this story.

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