Bristol UCU escalates industrial action by announcing strike to target next week’s open day

Bristol UCU has announced its members will be striking on Friday 16th June as part of the continued dispute over pay and working conditions.

The date coincides with Bristol University’s first summer open day and follows a similar move announced by Durham UCU earlier this week.

Bristol UCU criticised the 50 per cent pay cut levied on staff participating in the marking and assessment boycott and the university’s decision to graduate students with missing marks – which the UCU has labelled the “dodgy degree scandal”.

The union argued Bristol University has an income of £858 million and “£374 million in the bank”, figures which it says should be used to “[try] to resolve the boycott instead of impoverishing staff”.

🚨NEW: Strike ON at @BristolUni

Brutal pay cuts, dodgy degrees & now a strike on a crucial open day

It's time for management to stop adding fuel to the fire & to try to settle this dispute

Students & staff demand nothing less@Bristol_UCU #ucuRISINGhttps://t.co/gNJiYnC2nU

— UCU (@ucu) June 7, 2023

This escalation comes as the university has been condemned for handing out “pretend degrees” as part of their mitigation plan for the marking and assessment boycott, allowing students to progress without having all of their work marked.

Students have heavily criticised the university’s plan to allow work to go ungraded, with hundreds signing an open letter calling on the uni to pressure UCEA to re-open negotiations with the UCU to the dispute can be resolved.

The issue has been compounded by the allegations made by two senior lecturers who told The Bristol Tab today that non-striking staff are marking twice as many dissertations as normal, raising fears about the quality of marking.

The University of Bristol UCU branch president Jamie Melrose said: “Strikes on open days, arbitrary pay cuts, dodgy degrees: instead of raising the temperature of an already hot summer on campus, University of Bristol management should spend their time settling this long-running dispute.

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“The vice-chancellor needs to halt the pay docking and call for national negotiations to reopen. Students and staff demand nothing less.”

A spokesperson for University of Bristol previously said: “This action is part of a long-running national dispute led by the University and College Union [UCU] affecting more than 100 universities with multiple demands on pay, pension and working conditions.

“While we are working with our local unions here at Bristol, the sector needs to find affordable solutions and better ways of resolving this ongoing dispute nationally.

“Personal tutors and school offices are here to offer support and students will be kept up to date with any developments.”

The University of Bristol has been approached for comment about this latest development.

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