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10 May – Your questions answered

Which unions are taking action?

UCU members in all post 92 and FE Colleges are called to take strike alongside civil servants in the PCS union and Unite’s health and Ministry of Defence workers. In all, the strike call covers around 400,000 public sector staff.

If I am not a TPS member, am I still expected to take strike action?

While our dispute is over the TPS pension scheme, legally our trade dispute is with the employers. That means that if you are employed by a TPS institution which has been balloted you are called on to take action whether you are a member of the scheme or not.  You can see a full list of the institutions where strike action will take place here:
http://tps.web.ucu.org.uk/institutions-affected-by-strike-action-on-10-may/

Why are the education unions who have also rejected the TPS settlement not striking with UCU?

As the general secretary explained to UCU National Executive, the NUT took the decision at their Congress not to join the PCS and part of the Unite union in taking strike action on May 10. Their preference was to build for action later in the year. UCAC have taken a similar view, while the NASUWT is currently engaging in action short of a strike.

On what basis was the decision taken regarding 10th May?

The General Secretary reported the position of other unions to the current NEC. The NEC, which is responsible for taking the decision to call strike action, decided by a majority to join the PCS and Unite primarily on the basis that taking action would send a message to government and also encourage other unions to join future action.

Don’t we need another ballot?

The union recently conducted a consultative ballot over the TPS campaign in which a majority of those who voted supported support the NEC’s rejection of the government’s proposals and agreed to take action with other unions. You can see the results here: http://tps.web.ucu.org.uk/nec-to-decide-next-steps-after-ballot-results-announced/

It is then the responsibility of the elected NEC to implement this policy and decide when and if action should be taken.

What happens after 10 May?

Branches will have the opportunity to decide the union’s next steps at UCU’s Congress at the beginning of June. After Congress the recently elected NEC will then come into office and will be responsible for taking forward the union’s strategy.

How and who will decide whether we will be asked to take action in late June as well?

The NEC has so far only made a decision with regard to 10 May.  After UCU’s Congress in early June the new NEC, including recently elected members, will take office and will need to make a decision about the next stage of the campaign.

How do I make sure my voice is heard?

This is a critical point in the campaign. Members should make sure that their branch officers know their views. Make sure you attend any branch meeting ahead of Congress, or if you cannot make your meeting, make sure you and your colleagues email your branch officers to let them know what you think. You can also email the General Secretary directly or your regional NEC member. You can find out who your regional NEC member is here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/nec

3 May 2012 | Category: action | 21 comments
  • Robert Poole

    The simple fact is that we are the only education union, and the only TPS members, involved in this strike, representing only a small part of either. The national strike called for 28 March had to be abandoned, and there is even less basis for this one. 80% of the membership have just supported a UCU reform which requires a ballot in these circumstances.  This strike call is the last throw of a UCU-left dominated NEC on its way out. Members can best limit the damage by quietly ignoring it; there is no mandate. We will have the consensus necessary to proceed after the UCU reforms itself at the Spring conference, but not before. 

    • Di’ Campbell

       I absolutely agree. This will achieve nothing and members are considering resigning both from the committee and from the UCU. I am a branch chair and my branch members are not happy !

  • Heyes12

    Totally agree with commemnts by Robert Poole. Our branch is involved in fighting redundancies and new contracts at our college. We will probably have to strike action soon to further our position. This strike is asking too much of our members.

  • Not another one

    Don’t see the point of a strike at this moment in time. We should wait until the maximum teaching union participation is expected, not just us.

  • Roy Bentley

    I tend to agree that the desision to strike on the 10th May is problematic not the least because of the lack of time to prepare for the action. However, given that the decision has now  been made by the NEC, it seems to me that as a collective organisation, there is now a responsibility held by all UCU members to make the day a success – to the best of our ability. In addition, there is a mandate for the strike from both from the full ballot and the consultative ballot although the turnout was disappointingly low on both occasions. It is clear that some members are unhappy about the decision but resigning from the union or ‘quietly ignoring’ the strike call is not a positive response. Quite apart from the pensions dispute, if College managements up and down the country see a weak and divided union then it will only make it more difficult for us to resist redundancies and cuts in the future. 

  • Francis Lowe

    Though my instinct is always to support a strike, locally, many of my students will be away so it limits its impacts as they will not be as inclined to bring this up amongst the student Union. Rather than a one day strike, I propose a 1 hour strike amongst sympathetic union and non union members, countrywide. In proportion, just how much larger a protest this would be, and even non union members in non teaching unions would be more inclined to support us.

  • Robert Poole

    I didn’t expect to much support! I like Francis Lowe’s idea, but it will take time to organise. Roy Bentley makes a fair point, but the one-sided consultative poll came out narrowly for a national strike on 28th March, and the NEC decided against that to, with good reason. What is divisive is this perverse strike call for 10 May, but the membership can limit the damage by distancing itself and waiting for reform to take its course. 

  • John

    Do the members of the NEC actually work in FE colleges and if they do..do they ever listen to their members? Get this shower out before they destroy the union.The strike is ridiculous.

  • delboy3

    Yes this is a completely futile strike, and we are severely testing the loyalty of our members, by asking them to make this pointless sacrifice.
    Whilst I will strike, because I believe in obeying my National Union in a disciplined manner, I suspect that our Branch will have no picket line. At least one member of our Branch executive has already said they will work, and most of our members will.
    An utterly stupid self-defeating gesture!

  • Terry Mcgrath

    Half a million on strike on 10th May is not to be sniffed at – and the anger over pensions is massive. Strike!

  • Nils Edstrom

    400,000 is not half a million before you even go to members who will reject this strike………..a futile exercise in alienating membership.

  • H Smith

    I’d just like to know how the members planning to ignore their union’s call for strike action are planning to take the TPS dispute forward? Democratically mandated call for strike action I might add. So far we have had a pretty half-hearted campaign, as a USS member I can see that taking one day of action 24 March 2011 then doing nothing for 8 months then taking another day of action 30 November hasn’t been very successful; we had pensions changes imposed from 1 Oct.

    I’m frustrated and what to see the action stepped up in USS and TPS disputes. So, what is your strategy, seeing as the TPS changes were imposed on 1 April? Just give up completely and trust the nice Coalition don’t cut HE/FE any more?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=519969288 Nik Whitehead

    I am very conflicted about this strike. While I would normally support a collective action, at this point all that will happen is that members on strike will end up making up the lost marking time in unpaid overtime (as if we don’t already do enough of that). 

  • Steven Saunders

    The so called ‘sacrifice’ being discussed is really not so bad.  Will you go hungry? Will you get arrested?  Will you get beaten up?

    Strikes are effective; even if they are badly planned.  The strategy could be a whole lot better; but any kind of fighting-back is better than none.  Waiting for a ‘better time’ to strike is just another way of saying that you don’t want to strike really.

  • Jon Marsden

    I agree with H Smith. Quietly ignoring a strike call does enormous damage to our cause. Granted, the planning could be better, but some of the most effective mass actions have been on the spur of the moment, so it’s not essential. What is important is to stand by your colleagues and get the message across that we do not accept the changes to our pensions.

  • John Baxter

    John Baxter… yes I  listened to the varied points.. I am going to defend the “outgoing NEC”. I am in UCU Left and I am not a member of the Socialist Workers Party and I think I am to the left of them. Frankly people need to read the signs in these “Days of May”.. the Coalition parties are riven with dissent and the  Coalition is coming apart at the seams,their economic policies are a busted flush, Cameron and Osborn are up before the Leveson Enquiry within days.Yes they are coming for our jobs and conditions.. what’s new? On Thursday two big unions  who have  waited frustratedly for the prevaricating NUT are going on strike over public sector reform of pensions with significant impacts on key services(border control for one) Twenty thousand police and prison service personnel and marching and a chief constable are marching in protest at wages  and conditionsThursday. We may be small the TPS section of UCU  compared to the missing TPS NUT/NASUWT but we need to show the other public sector unions we share the same  confidence in the possibility of re-starting the action. Yes the “new NEC” may decide we wait then till autumn.. ok I can live with that.. May 10th is better than some half hearted late June affair- yes I work and teach 24 hours a week in FE and am totally committed to our students from run down neighbourhoods and I will make up the time lost on Thursday because that what we do if we share public sector ethos .. yes I know about FE. Our members were shocked at the  speed as it seemed to them of  10 may decision.. but they listened to the political arguments  and many came up to me after the branch meeting  where there was hestiation and said they followed the political reasoning for 10 may- it was not an easy decision for any of us  to support it… but we do.
    What I want to see is a strong voice  from our GS picked up by the media  Thursday/Friday. I want to see people making it work  and not hear some tired excuses when we have done consultations. One thing we did agree at our three Sheffield College branches was our own  e ballot  in relation to the next set of action proposals..  we all voted for that

    • Robert Poole

      The idea that we can ‘read the signs’ and decide that this is ‘the Days of May’ 1832 over again is sheer fantasy – and I write as a historian. It sounds like your branch meeting was also ‘riven with dissent’. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when you meet the comrades in the police and POA to discuss a strategy to bring down the government. 

    • nickB

       You don’t answer the key question. ” So, what is your strategy, seeing as the TPS changes were imposed on 1
      April? Just give up completely and trust the nice Coalition don’t cut
      HE/FE any more?”

    • Robert Poole

      My strategy is to put the revised package to a ballot of memebership, and to take action with other education unions and not alone. To call endlessly for action misses the point that strikes need to demonstrate unity (like last July), not fragmentation (like today).  It is UCU Left which is dividing the union, not the pensions issue. That’s what plays into the hands of the coalition.

  • Geoff

    With regards to the strike its ok leading the way on pension action but its rather sad when none of our TPS colleagues are prepared to follow.The only message this sends out to the government is that we are not united…which is exactly what we are.Unless we are unable to gather the support of all concerned we may as well save ourselves the loss of yet another days pay with this futile gesture.Come on NEC time to grow up and represent what the vast majority of your members think and stop playing your self serving games.

  • Paul Wilkinson

    Well I can report that we have members who refuused to strike last time who have changed their minds and will be joining us tomorrow.  We will be proudly joining UNITE Health members and PCS members in what will be a lively city centre rally.  Those of you reporting oppostion from your members might want to consider working harder to convince them of the justification of our resistance to this daylight robbery.  Let’s not foget that we have already made some gains from the original proposals through the action we have taken to date, and we stll have some very strong allies in this fight.  Lets also remember that the decisions of the NEC have been based on both a secret ballot and subsequent consultative ballot.  Some of the comments above seem to have a strange view about democracy, expecting as they do that the NEC should reject the view of the membership.  What do these people expect to gain from not taking action?  Finally, lets also look at what is beginning to stir across Europe.  We know there are alternatives to the slash and burn policies that are being inflicted on our members and all working people and I’d rather be part of that argument than lie down and have my tummy tickled by a government that wants to reverse every gain made by trade unions in the last century.  Where are you naysayers going to be hiding when they come for your jobs and your terms and conditions through more cuts and privatisation?  Don’t forget all these things are linked, and yes, they are very political.

10 MAY: STRIKE

Your pension is under attack: the government wants to change the Teachers' Pension Scheme in a way which will massively reduce the value of your pension in retirement or if you leave education.

UCU members in TPS in England and Wales are being called to take further strike action alongside PCS and parts of the Unite on 10 May.

Members not directly involved ion the action are asked to please show solidarity with colleagues by attending any local rallies or events if you can.