Strike dates announcement

Questions about striking

We hope most of your questions will be answered in response to these Frequently Asked Questions (national UCU)

These are being updated regularly to answer questions asked by University of Leeds branch members (and others).

For the latest advice from the branch, see recent posts about dispute advice and recent all-members emails, including this one which details how to respond to requests to report strike action and action short of a strike

As sent by email, there is There is a specific post on reporting strike action and action short of a strike

On15 February, in response to the letters from senior management on 7 and 15 February, branch president Vicky Blake sent and email to all members: management emails and our mandate

If your particular circumstance still isn’t covered in these please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk. Please check the frequently asked questions first, though, as we are getting a lot of emails at the moment about how to help, and support, and questions. We will aim to answer most questions by getting the national UCU FAQs updated.

Very frequently asked questions at Leeds:

What should I 

Do I have to tell the university I am going on strike or taking action short of a strike before the action begins?

No. You do not have to tell your employer whether you plan to take industrial action in advance of the date when action begins as this will enable them to minimise any disruption the action is aimed to cause. UCU has already provided your employer with all the information about the action required by law including those categories of members who we are calling on to take action.

Should I reschedule lectures or classes that are cancelled due to the strikes?

No. This is part of the action short of a strike that members voted to undertake. Rescheduling classes will dilute the impact of the original strike action.

Questions about the Fighting Fund and other support

As a union we have voted to strike for 14 days. Striking means we won’t get paid, but we will lose a lot less than the average £10,000 a year cut in pension for someone starting their career now if we don’t stop this attack on our pensions. There is a UCU Fighting Fund to help. It isn’t solely for the most financially vulnerable staff but if you don’t need to claim then that would leave more available for those in the worst situation. We don’t want anyone to feel they can’t strike because of the loss of pay – if you need to claim from the Fighting Fund then please do – what is most important is that we win this dispute.

We hope most of your questions will be answered in this document: the national UCU Fighting Fund (PDF)

We will update this page with more specific answers to individual circumstances shortly.

We will also have local provision to allow us to supplement the national UCU Fighting Fund. This will be to help Leeds UCU members with particular financial difficulties, e.g.:
• Members who need support for the first three days of strike action (not covered by the national fund)
• Members on casualised contracts
• Members whose part-time working arrangements mean that deductions affect them disproportionately
• Members who are made financially vulnerable by deductions

For more information, including how to apply, see Fighting fund and local hardship fund