Industrial action over pay and pensions is due to begin on 20 February

The University and College Union (UCU) has notified the University that it is calling its members to take further strike action under the mandate it received last autumn after balloting members on pensions and pay.

What action is the UCU calling for?

The action is composed of strike action and action short of a strike:

Strike action
The dates notified to us by the UCU are:

Week 1: Thursday 20 and Friday 21 February

Week 2: Monday 24, Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 February

Week 3: Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 March

Week 4: Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12 and Friday 13 March

On-going 'action short of a strike'
The UCU's 'action short of a strike', including working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action, not sharing materials related to lectures or classes cancelled relating to strike action, and not undertaking any voluntary activities, is expected to continue.

How we will manage this action

In his all staff email of 5 February, the Vice-Chancellor shared with staff how the University will continue to work with USS, UUK and UCU to address this situation. We recognise the strength of concerns over pensions and pay and that a vote for industrial action is not taken lightly.

However, our immediate priority remains to minimise disruption for our students and staff. We will follow the University's established policy on managing industrial action. We will monitor the likely impact of action being taken and work with departments and students to develop contingency plans to minimise disruption.

If you plan to take part in the industrial action

To declare your participation in this industrial action, please use our online form.

While we are entitled to ask staff if they intend to participate in industrial action, we recognise that staff are not obliged to notify us until the action commences. We would, however, be grateful if you could let us know in advance if you intend to participate in the action by completing the online form.

We need to make you aware of the consequences of taking part in industrial action. Following University policy, this means:

  • Strike action: we will withhold a day's pay (1/365th of salary) for each day you participate in strike action.
  • Action short of a strike: if your actions do not constitute a breach of contract, then your pay will not be affected. However, the University does not accept partial performance, and we expect staff who are at work to prioritise essential work and comply with the obligation to work in an efficient manner. We will monitor the nature of action being taken and, if we consider that there is a failure to undertake reasonable duties, we reserve the right to withhold pay. The exact response to any level of action, including the right to withhold pay and the amount of pay that may be withheld, will be considered when the specific detail and likely impact are known.

Update, 6 March
York UCU and the University have released a joint statement outlining commitments from both parties. These include an agreement on the withholding of pay for strike days, which will happen in the March, April, May and June payrolls:

  • March: Pay will be withheld for the strike days between 20—24 February (up to 3 days)
  • April: Pay will be withheld for the strike days between 25 February and 3 March (up to 4 days)
  • May: Pay will be withheld for the strike days between 4—9 March (up to 3 days)
  • June: Pay will be withheld for the strike days between 10—13 March (up to 4 days)

For pay to be withheld in the March payroll, your participation must be reported by 11 March. If strike days are reported after 11 March, pay for strike days between 25 February and 3 March will be withheld in the April payroll, in addition to any pay withheld for strike action between 20—24 February.

FAQs

No. Only staff taking part in the industrial action need to respond.

As we do not know which staff are members of UCU, we will be emailing staff to explain the reporting arrangements. You can ignore these emails if you are not taking part.

If you will be absent from work but want to take part in the strike action, please ensure that you report your intention to strike through the online form. If you are absent from work for other reasons, for example you are on holiday or sick leave please ensure that you follow the normal authorisation/reporting procedures so there is no confusion within your department as to the nature of your absence.

Heads of Department will be working to mitigate the effects of the industrial action on students, and in particular working on how their department can continue to support teaching and learning. Therefore if you are available, you may be asked to support the department in this way.

Picketing involves peacefully persuading workers of the reasons why individuals are taking industrial action. Pickets cannot stop you from going to work, from carrying out your work, or make threats or implied threats to prevent you from attending work. If you want to attend work, you should do so.

Alternative entrances to the University's campuses mean it may not be necessary for you to pass pickets to get to your place of work.

How your pension will be affected by the withholding of pay will depend upon which scheme you are a member of.

General information about the impact in each of the University's pension schemes is below.

The University reserves the right to review its practice of voluntarily choosing to maintain pension contributions if the period of industrial action proposed is extended or if further action is proposed.

During the forthcoming period of industrial action USS will maintain the arrangements for pension contributions that they established during the period of strike action during February/March 2018. This means that death in service and incapacity benefits remain in place for scheme members regardless of whether pension contributions are being made for the days spent on strike.

You can choose to maintain your pension contributions to USS in respect of any day(s) spent on strike if you want to, and if you choose to do so, then the University will voluntarily maintain its contributions in respect of those days too.

However, accompanying this is a requirement that the University must have your consent to continue your employee contributions in respect of days you are on strike. Without your consent, we cannot make deductions for your contributions and we cannot make our employer contributions. This means that if you do not agree to continue making your employee contributions, you will not accrue benefits in the scheme for the days when you are on strike, although you will still be covered for death in service and incapacity benefits on those days.

We have added a question to the online form to ask colleagues if they want to maintain their pension contributions when on strike. This will apply to all pension contributions that the employee is making (i.e. ordinary contributions and any AVCs). If anyone participating in the strike has not responded through the form to confirm that they wish to maintain their contributions, we cannot maintain their contributions.

The USS Trustee has reserved the right to review their position if the industrial action proposed is extended or further action is proposed.

If you are a member of the University of York Pension Fund and participate in strike action, then you will continue to pay the contributions that you would have paid were it not for participating in the strike action (including any AVCs). You will build up membership in the normal way and be covered for death in service benefits should you die whilst taking strike action.

You can choose not to pay pension contributions for the period that you are participating in strike action. If you choose not to pay contributions for the day(s) that you participate in strike action, you will not build up membership of the scheme. If you are paying added years AVCs, these payments will permanently cease and you will not have any opportunity to restart those payments again the future. Your added years AVC membership would be calculated pro-rata. You will still be treated as an active member for the purposes of calculating any death benefits, including any death in service lump sum.

We have added a question to the online form to ask colleagues if they want to suspend their pension contributions when on strike. This will apply to all pension contributions that the employee is making (i.e. ordinary contributions and any AVCs). If anyone participating in the strike has not responded through the form to let us know that they wish to suspend their contributions, their contributions will be maintained.

If you are a member of The People's Pension and participate in strike action, then you will have the choice about whether or not you continue to pay the contributions that you would have paid were it not for participating in the strike action. If you want to continue making the contributions that you would have paid, then the University will voluntarily maintain its contributions in respect of those days too.

You can choose not to pay pension contributions for the period that you are participating in strike action. If you choose not to pay contributions for the day(s) that you participate in strike action, then the University will also not make any payments to your pension in respect of those days. Your pension pot would be slightly lower than it would otherwise have been if you choose not to maintain your contributions, but any benefits payable in the event of your death would not otherwise be affected.

We have added a question to the online form to ask colleagues if they want to maintain their pension contributions when on strike. This will apply to all pension contributions that the employee is making. If anyone participating in the strike has not responded through the form to confirm that they wish to maintain their contributions, their contributions will be suspended.

If you are a member of NHS Pensions and participate in strike action, the NHS Pension Scheme does not allow you to pay pension contributions in respect of the days spent on strike. In the NHS Pension Scheme, strike days are non-pensionable and are always classed as disallowed days. No membership is built up in the scheme on disallowed days. Should you die while participating in strike action, you would still be treated as an active member of the scheme for the purposes of calculating death benefits, so a death in service lump sum would still be payable. However, any dependant's benefits payable would be slightly lower than would otherwise be the case because of the impact of the reduced membership from the disallowed days.

More information on this dispute, for students and staff, can be found at https://www.york.ac.uk/industrial-action/.