UCL-UCU: MAB Update - Setting up the Solidarity Pledge scheme to support boycott volunteers

“We reject the pitiful excuses given by overpaid decision-makers both within UCL and beyond. We value the work that you do and with that in mind I can honestly say quite happily that our grades and feedback can wait!”

Second year BASc student

Please see the information below and fill out the form to tell us whether you will be a boycott volunteer or, if you cannot, a Solidarity Pledger, donating half a day’s pay a week to support a boycotter.

1. Covering the costs of the Boycott

We are confident that we can stop UCL’s draconian plan to deduct 36.5 days of pay for everyone taking part in the MAB. But we need to ensure that people can afford to take part in the boycott, even in the worst case scenario.

That’s why we are setting up a Solidarity Pledge scheme. Here’s how it works:

• We are asking you to pledge to donate half a day’s pay for each week of the marking period (currently 5.2 days of pay in total - click here to find out how much that would be)

• For every 6 people who make the pledge, we can cover 1 person to join the MAB

• And those 7 people will share the cost of UCL’s ridiculous deductions between them, so that each person only loses 5.2 days of pay

In order to coordinate this, we need everyone who is taking part in the MAB or willing to donate to fill out this form: https://forms.gle/xxvorgrGk8PRyLqn8.

The information will be stored securely and not shared with anyone outside the branch Executive Committee. It will be used for the sole purpose of informing individual MABers that they are covered and expediting payments at the time that such payments are needed.

It is important to remember:

• Do not fill out the main UCL form. Whatever management have said, the Government says you do not need to report your participation in industrial action until you have actually done so.

• These are only pledges at this stage. Last summer, 18 out of 20 MABs were concluded with no deductions whatsoever, and this will be a central part of UCU’s national negotiations going forward, so we may not have to make any donations at all. But we also have to be clear-eyed about the threat.

• We have a significant amount of money in our local strike fund which we will also use to support people taking part in the MAB. But because of the scale of UCL’s deductions we need donations from members. If you don’t think you can pledge half a day’s pay per week for the whole MAB period, please donate as much as you can to the branch hardship fund.

Here’s a link again to the form: https://forms.gle/xxvorgrGk8PRyLqn8 

Please fill it out. People will only take action if they know their colleagues are ready to stand with them!

2. Challenging UCL’s deductions scheme

We are continuing to challenge UCL’s scheme. We wrote a formal dispute letter to the Provost on Friday which you can read here.

But we need you to help resist their plan:

• Join our Emergency General Meeting on Thursday April 27, 1-2 pm where we will be discussing whether to go on strike in protest at UCL’s plans

• Sign our Open Letter to Michael Spence

• Remind colleagues that not accepting work from MABing colleagues is covered by 'ordinary ASOS' (no voluntary work) for which UCL will not deduct salary.

• Speak to your local UCU rep and organise a departmental meeting to discuss strategy. We need to ensure maximum disruption while minimising people's exposure and protecting our most vulnerable colleagues. Think about where the marking and assessment ‘choke points’ are at a local level, and ask your colleagues not to cover for other people, or take on other people’s work.

• Organise an Open Letter to your Head of Department in support of the boycott (HoDs are already coming under huge pressure to identify potential MAB participants [basically a blacklist] and organise strike-breaking). Templates available here.

• Organise a meeting with students to discuss the boycott. We want to end this boycott by winning the dispute – for our sake but also for theirs.

Here’s a link to UCU’s MAB FAQs.

And here are our local FAQs.

Please get in touch with us by replying to this email if you have any other questions.

UCL UCU Executive Committee

www.ucl.ac.uk/ucu

@ucl_ucu