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Your Rights During the Strikes

We realise that the current industrial strike action can be a disruptive period for some members of our student body. As such, we wanted to provide some insight, advice and support regarding the impact this may have on your university experience, and equally what your rights are during this time.

Beds SU

By Beds SU

Thursday, 2 February 2023

What is Beds SU stance on the strikes?

As a member-led organisation, independent of the University of Bedfordshire our stance is where our students stand. We want to know what your thoughts on this are so we can support you appropriately.

To let us know your opinion on the matter, simply complete a short poll here. You may also find it helpful to read the rest of this article first to help you decide.

What is industrial strike action? When and why are University staff striking?

An industrial strike is when staff collectively and voluntarily refuse to work and/or come in to work. For the upcoming period, the 18 days of discontinuous strike action across February and March 2023 are:

One day strikes:

• Wednesday, 1 February

  Two-day strikes:  

• Thursday, 9 February and Friday, 10 February

• Thursday 16 March and Friday 17 March

Three-day strikes:

• Tuesday, 14 February, Wednesday 15 February and Thursday 16 February

• Tuesday 21 February, Wednesday 22 February and Thursday 23 February

• Monday 20 March, Tuesday 21 March and Wednesday 22 March

Four-day strikes:

• Monday 27 February, Tuesday 28 February, Wednesday 1 March and Thursday 2 March

This action is in response to disputes concerning pay, working conditions and changes to the USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme) pension. More information can be found on the UCU webpage here.

How does the strike action affect me? What type of mitigations are put in-place by the University?

It is difficult to predict the specifics of how each individual student will be affected. The impact of strikes will differ across faculties, courses, and year groups, as the choice to participate will depend on individual members of university staff. Similarly, communications around this may be of short or no notice since members of staff who are striking are also not required to notify the university and students beforehand. Unfortunately, Beds SU is not in a position to confirm which University staff will be striking.

With regards to any possible disruptions that may occur, the University has recently confirmed what type of mitigations are put in place here.

In the meantime, it is advised to keep an eye out on any communications that may be sent out by the University to your student email address, as well as checking BREO regularly for the most up to date information. We will also look to update this page with any further updates that we may receive.

How will this impact my attendance requirements under my Visa?

There should be no problem with your visa as the University will continue to monitor attendance as normal. If any classes or contact points are missed because of the strike, it should be recorded as an authorised absence. If you are worried, you can get in contact with the International Office who will confirm the arrangements: InternationalStudentSupport@beds.ac.uk.

Will University buildings be open during this period?

Yes. All facilities will be open on strike days including the libraries, support services and cafes. The Students’ Union will also be operating as usual during this time, including our cafes, events, and support activity.

What are my rights?

According to the Office for Students (OfS), each university should take relevant actions to continue to offer the service they have promised students, considering the contractual relationship with students to do so. The OfS outlines several ways to which the university might respond in order to mitigate the impact of strikes. Find the full list here.

Once the strike action has been completed, and the University has had the chance to implement alternative measures, and they have not been effective in addressing your learning needs, you may have grounds to make a complaint, for example, if all the curriculum that you need to pass assessments are not met.

I want to make a formal complaint. What should I do?

In this instance, we encourage all students to keep a record of each time that their studies have been impacted as a result of the strikes, either in digital or written form. Including any key specifics that may help the university in reviewing your complaint more promptly. For example:

1. What was the date of (each) incident?

2. What has been affected (e.g. teaching such as seminars and lectures, access to facilities, student services, etc.)?

3. How has this affected your studies (i.e. missed curriculum is essential towards completion and submission of assessment)?

4. If any, what has this costed you? (e.g. travel costs)

5. How has this been communicated and/or enacted on on behalf of the university?

Our Beds SU Advice Team can support you in the process and discuss whether you have grounds for a complaint: email help@bedssu.co.uk to speak to an Advisor. You can also watch a short video about the University’s complaints procedure here.

If you are unsure of where you currently stand on the strikes or the reasons why your students’ union should support, remain neutral or stand against the strikes on your behalf the following may be of use:

Reasons that your students' union should support striking lecturers:

• Striking lecturers suggest that low paid tutors, working under inappropriate working conditions, cannot bring out the best of students.

• The UK is facing a cost-of-living crisis with inflation of 10.5%; the impact if felt by everyone including those working in Education. The current crisis follows a decade of below-inflation pay rises in the University-sector.

• The strikers want “a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis”.

  Reasons students might support the strikes but ask their students’ union to remain neutral: 

• Students pay significant amounts for their studies and should receive their monies’ worth of education.

• When staff strike, this arguably affects students more than the University.

• The students’ union’s role is to stand up for students and should be working to ensure the University protects students’ learning so that no student is disadvantaged from any strike action.

  Reasons not to support the strikes and ask the students' union to stand against them: 

• The University relies on tuition fees for its income, and UK tuition fees account for their largest amount of income. Yet tuition fees have risen only £250 in 10 years, amounting to a real-term cut of over £2,000 per UK student.

• The University has so far raised pay by 3% for most University staff and has offered to increase this, to 5% for teaching staff. It argues it cannot afford to pay more.

• Bedfordshire staff did not successfully vote to strike and are only striking because other universities are striking.

The  poll will be open until Monday 13 February and we will share the outcome shortly after.

Beds SU is here for you!

We sympathise with the fact that this can be a distressing time and we will continue to update you as the industrial action and negotiations continue. Remember, Beds SU is available for any further help students may require, whether this is provided directly by the Union or signposted to other modes of support. You can access all our services at help@bedssu.co.uk.

You can find the University’s full list of Frequently Asked Question attached here for further info.