STAFF at Liverpool John Moores University will down tools on Friday, 16 June 2023 in the 1st of 8 days of strike action in response to the university’s enforcement of 50% wage deductions for staff taking part in the marking boycott. 

 

Friday’s strike will hit a key university open day, and staff will rally outside Metropolitan Cathedral, next to the university’s John Foster building from 1pm. 

The full days of strike action are:- 

  • Week 1:- Friday 16 June 2023
  • Week 2:- Thursday 17 and Friday, 18 August 2023 
  • Week 3:- Monday 18, Tuesday 19, Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September 2023

Management at John Moores has started docking the pay of staff who are boycotting marking by 50% despite the fact staff continue to teach, support, write references, and provide pastoral care for students, as well as undertaking research and attending public events. 
 

The boycott covers all marking and assessment, whether in writing, online, or verbally at 145 UK universities, including John Moores. It will continue until employer body the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) makes an improved offer in the ongoing pay and working conditions dispute, at which point UCU will decide whether to continue the action or call it off.
In March 2023 UCU successfully renewed its mandate in the ongoing national pay and conditions dispute, allowing action to be called for a further six months at the 145 universities. UCU members at 21 universities have now either taken or confirmed they will take strike action over pay docking. 

 

John Moores has an income of £258m and has £148m in the bank. UCU said it should be trying to resolve the dispute instead of impoverishing staff. 

 

The National Union of Students, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Sussex and the University of Cambridge have all called on UCEA to re-enter negotiations so the dispute can be resolved and students can graduate. 

 

UCU regional official Matt Arrowsmith said:- ‘The brutal pay docking regime Liverpool John Moores University management is enforcing means a staff member with a single unmarked essay will be losing  half of their wages every month the boycott continues. It will also likely mean some staff will be getting paid less than the legal minimum wage. Attacking staff like this only adds fuel to the fire. If John Moores wants to stop the disruption to graduations it needs to call on UCEA to re-enter negotiations, end the pay docking and help resolve the dispute.’ 

 

  University – strike dates 

  1. Cardiff University –  17,18, 19, 20 & 21 July 2023; 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 August 2023; 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 September 2023
  2. University of Essex – 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 June 2023; 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Jul 2023 
  3. Heriot-Watt University – 22 and 23 June 2023 
  4. Keele University – 23 and 24 June 2023 
  5. Lancaster University – 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 June 2023; 1 July 2023 
  6. Liverpool John Moore University – 16 June 2023; 17 and 18 August 2023; 18, 19,20, 21 and 22 September 2023 
  7. Newcastle University – 23, 26, 27, 28 and 29 June 2023 
  8. Queen Margaret University – 10 May 2023
  9. Queen Mary University of London – 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 22 June 2023 
  10. Sheffield Hallam University – 31 May 2023; 1, 2, 7 and 8 June 2023
  11. SOAS –  24, 25, 26, 30 and 31 May 2023; 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 June 2023 
  12. University of Brighton – 9, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 June 2023 
  13. University of Bristol – 16 June 2023
  14. University of Dundee – 31 May 2023
  15. University of Durham – 16, 17 and 29 June 2023; 15 and 16 September 2023 
  16. University of Edinburgh – 16 June 2023; 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 September 2023 
  17. University of Leeds – indefinite from 15 June 2023 
  18. University of Leicester – 21, 26, 27, 28 and 29 June 2023; 18, 19, 20 and 21 July 2023 
  19. University of Stirling – 27, 28 and 29 June 2023 
  20. University of Westminster – 7 June 2023
  21. University of Winchester – 24, 25 ,26, 29, 30 and 31 May 2023; 1 and 2 June 2023