Industrial action February and March 2023 – frequently asked questions for students

UCU has notified BU that it plans to commence a period of discontinuous strike action between 1 February and 22 March 2023 on the following dates: 

• Wednesday 1 February 
• Thursday 9 February  
• Friday 10 February 
• Tuesday 14 February  
• Wednesday 15 February  
• Thursday 16 February  
• Tuesday 21 February   - cancelled by UCU
• Wednesday 22 February  - cancelled by UCU
• Thursday 23 February  - cancelled by UCU
• Monday 27 February  - cancelled by UCU
• Tuesday 28 February  - cancelled by UCU
• Wednesday 1 March  - cancelled by UCU
• Thursday 2 March  - cancelled by UCU
• Wednesday 15 March - new date
• Thursday 16 March  
• Friday 17 March  
• Monday 20 March 
• Tuesday 21 March  
• Wednesday 22 March 2023 

In addition, you may recall that UCU commenced a continuous period of action short of strike from Wednesday 23 November 2022, which is still ongoing. We are disappointed that BU is faced with such action and will take all the necessary steps to minimise the impact on our students and our staff who are not taking part in the action.  

ASOS means that the UCU member(s) comes to work on their usual working days, but may choose to do one or more of the following: 

• work to contract 
• not undertake any voluntary activities 
• not cover for absent colleagues 
• remove uploaded materials related to, and/or not share materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action 
• and not reschedule lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action. 

The national dispute on pay and working conditions is concerned with levels of pay, equality, the use of different types of casual contracts and workloads. Work with regard to the non-pay elements is continuing at BU in conjunction with our trade union colleagues.  

At BU not all academic staff are members of UCU. Whilst UCU is asking its members to take strike action, not all will choose to do so or may also not take action on all strike dates. 

At BU not all academic staff are members of UCU. Whilst UCU has been asking its members to take action short of a strike (ASOS) since 23 November 2022, not all of these choose to take this action. Some UCU members may take action at some points and not others. We will, as far as possible, put contingency arrangements in place to manage and minimise any disruption to your studies or research. 

No, not at this time, as staff members are not required to inform us in advance of taking industrial action. Not all UCU members will choose to take this action. Some may take action on some dates and not others. Staff will be asked to notify us prior to the action commencing, although they are not obliged to tell us beforehand.  

Yes, the university and all of our facilities will be open, for example, libraries, study spaces, SportBU, food outlets, etc. 

Please continue to attend university as usual unless you are told otherwise. Where possible, we will identify any sessions which might be affected by strike action and inform you in advance of any postponements (although staff do not have to inform us in advance if they intend to take strike action). In the meantime, please continue to attend sessions and submit assignments/coursework as planned. 

We are used to planning for potential disruption, for example during the pandemic and periods of extreme weather. We have a group of people, including SUBU, working together to ensure that contingency plans are in place and we will continue to share information with you to ensure that we minimise disruption. 

To ensure your safety, these can only proceed if the appropriate staff are present.

If they are not in attendance and therefore the session cannot proceed, then we will review the situation and take action to ensure you can still meet your learning outcomes for the unit, which may include rearranging sessions. We will ensure that you are informed at the earliest opportunity, should this situation arise. 

We are not expecting these to be impacted, as UCU has not advised us of a marking and assessment impact. Should vivas, oral examinations or assessments be impacted by the strike action, then we will ensure that they are rescheduled at the earliest opportunity. If this is required, we will inform you of any delays/rescheduled dates as soon as possible. However, you should submit your work by the required deadlines. 

You should submit your work by the current stipulated deadlines and, unless you are informed otherwise, please assume that there is no change to these timeframes. You will not be automatically granted or be entitled to an extension for submission due to the strike action. Faculties will aim as far as possible to maintain all assessment deadlines, but will inform you if this is not possible. 

If you hold a student visa, the conditions are not affected by any strike action. Unless you are specifically advised that a session has been affected by industrial action, you should attend as normal, so normal processes for attendance monitoring will apply to sessions which are not disrupted. 

Should a session be affected by industrial action, this will be recorded by the university as a cancelled session, and this will not have a detrimental impact on your attendance record for the purposes of your student visa. 

The industrial action does not change the normal requirements for compliance in terms of your student visa. You should continue to request permission for absences in the normal way. 

Yes, you can contact members of staff in the same way as you do now; it is possible that there may be a slight delay in responding to you if that staff member is taking industrial action. 

Your student fee covers a wide range of activities and services, including lectures and timetabled sessions. If any sessions are affected by strike action, we will let you know what steps we are taking to minimise the impact of the strike action on your studies. 

Staff are not entitled to be paid for the days they are on strike. The money will be used by faculties to make any alternative arrangements required, to ensure that we provide as normal a service as we can. 

Yes, this is considered partial performance. BU does not accept partial performance and at our discretion can withhold a proportion of pay. This depends on the nature and impact of the industrial action.  

If you have incurred travel or childcare costs to attend a lecture or meeting on campus and on arrival found that it had been cancelled with no notice as a result of industrial action, please contact the AskBU team for advice. 

There may be picket lines at some of the campus entrances on strike dates in February and March. Individuals who picket are not allowed to obstruct people or property, or to create a nuisance for neighbours or trespass on private property. You are allowed to proceed as you wish without being stopped.  

All of our normal support services are open during the period of industrial action. You can also contact AskBU, who will advise you about any specific support which you may need at this time.

Information about complaints, exceptional circumstances and student protection plans is available on our website.