At yesterday’s branch meeting, members voted overwhelmingly to initiate a new ballot at Queen Mary if the 100% deductions for ASOS are not withdrawn. With 99 in favour, 2 abstentions, and 3 against, the motion also called for members to resist management’s bullying approach and continue with all forms of ASOS in the current dispute. The motion also instructed the branch to continue lobbying the National UCU for central action, including seeking an urgent injunction and an escalation of the current dispute. You can read the full motion below.

More members are participating in QMUCU events, including branch meetings and pickets, than ever before. By coming together and working collectively we can and will defeat the threats to our legal right to strike. The picket lines this week have been well attended and full of energy. Yesterday we were visited by Apsana Begum, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse as well as several community groups. The MP has also written to the management of QMUL, asking them to drop punitive deductions and negotiate with QMUCU to resolve this dispute.

MP Apsana Begum talking to students at the Teach-Out on 17 February titled ‘Student mobilising event – Students organising across generations’

Read the full motion passed at the 17 February branch meeting below.

This branch notes:

  • The motions passed on 3rd and 9th February.
  • The subsequent emergence of technicalities preventing further local strike days at Queen Mary being called without a separate local industrial action ballot.
  • The letter sent by UCU to all employers calling on them to confirm by 18th February that they would not impose punitive deductions for action short of a strike.
  • That the Queen Mary policy of 100% pay deductions for action short of a strike has not been withdrawn.
  • That QMUCU yesterday held a productive meeting with other branches also threatened with punitive deductions.

This branch resolves:

  • To ballot members for strike action and action short of a strike at Queen Mary, if the deductions are not withdrawn by Friday 18th February.
  • To run the ballot for 3 weeks from 28th February, which would allow action to commence from 4th April.
  • To call on UCU to provide additional national and regional resources to help exceed the turnout threshold.
  • To continue to consult with members about what form any future industrial action in this dispute should take.
  • To continue with all current forms of ASOS in the USS and 4 Fights disputes.
  • To call on members not to respond to abstract or advance questions about their intention to participate in ASOS.
  • To issue detailed guidance to members about how best to declare their participation in strike action and action short of a strike.
  • To call on UCU to take all viable legal avenues of redress against the deductions, including seeking an urgent injunction.
  • To continue to work collectively with other branches in a similar situation and highlight the urgency of this issue to UCU.
  • To lobby the Higher Education Committee meeting on 25th February to call for further action to meet these threats, including by escalating the national disputes.