As you know, the results of the UCU ballots were announced yesterday. We are extremely pleased that we got over the 50% threshold for the USS dispute at UEA. The committee would like to thank everyone for their efforts during the ballot campaign, it wouldn’t have been possible to achieve this outcome without your hard work.
There has, however, been some initial confusion over the pay and conditions ballot. In the original UCU announcement, UEA was listed as having achieved the turnout for strike action. Unfortunately, it has now become clear that we narrowly missed the mark with a total of 49.93%, just one vote short of the threshold. The government’s anti-union legislation on industrial action requires a turnout of at least 50% of eligible members, so this means that we cannot currently take action locally on the pay dispute.
We are now awaiting the outcome of today’s HEC to see what this will mean for industrial action on USS. We are also working with regional to see if there is any possibility of supporting the pay and conditions ballot to continue the national fight against oppressive workloads, pay inequality, job insecurity and pay deflation.
We will keep you updated on the branch position as events develop. We will be holding meetings for members on the run up to strike action so that we can ensure that your views and voices are heard.
With best wishes,
Ben Jones, UEA UCU Chair