XClose

UCL UCU

Menu

Four Fights Industrial Action: Template Letter and Posters for students

Posters and a template letter to students regarding the upcoming industrial action on the Four Fights: Workload, Inequality, Pay and Casualisation.

Download images of our 'Support the Strike' leaflet for students

Support the Strike leaflet - large PNG format (2000x1414) Support the Strike leaflet - large JPG format (2000x1414) Support the Strike leaflet - small JPG format (1000x717)

 

Images to illustrate the 'Four Fights' issues

Workload

Graph showing increase in student numbers in comparison to staff numbers

Graph showing increase in workload since 2012

Inequality

Graph showing the gender, race and disability pay gaps across sector

Pay

Graph showing how real wages in universities are down 17.6% since 2009

Casualisation

Percentages of staff on fixed term, hourly paid, and zero-hour contracts

Template Letter

Dear [name],

I wanted to write to you all to let you know that I will be joining the strikes on [insert dates here]. This means that lectures/seminars will be cancelled on those dates. I know this will be really disappointing for all of you. Going on strike is never an easy decision and the last thing I want to do is to disrupt your education. But our employers have refused to negotiate in good faith and have forced us into a position where a strike really is the only option we have left.

Our key demands for the strike are:

  • A national action plan to close gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps
  • A clear plan to eliminate precarious and insecure contracts across the university sector
  • A framework for addressing excessive workloads
  • A pay deal that keeps pace with inflation, with a minimum of £10 per hour for academic work

These are all reasonable requests. But universities across the country have refused to work with the union on any of these four issues, and that is why we have decided to strike. You can find out more information from the National Union of Students here

For those of you who aren’t familiar with how trade unions work in the UK, it’s worth saying that UCU is a democratic organisation which represents the interests of workers in higher and further education in Britain. The decision to go on strike was taken by a ballot of all UCU members across the country – you can see the results of the election here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/FourFightsBallot2021.

When we are on strike we won’t be paid, but the university will still collect your fees. So if you want to support us, please consider writing to UCL’s Provost, Michael Spence, to tell him that you support our strike. The NUS have also called for a Student Walk Out on the 2nd of March.

In the recent UCL SU referendum, 60% of students voted to support our strike. Knowing that we have your support makes all the difference.

Yours sincerely,

[name]