I need to bring to the attention of colleagues and our students that the University and College Union, UCU, has again called for a national ballot on industrial action. Again, there are separate ballots on pensions, and on pay.

On pensions, as I wrote to you on 9 March, the process of the valuation for USS is complete, and the new legal arrangements are taking force as I write. This valuation is over; no matter what the industrial action, that will not change. There are many matters on which it would be really important to see if there could be agreement: investment policy; valuation methodology for the next round; how to address the problem of staff not joining the pensions scheme; and so on. That is the positive agenda for the future, working together on the nature of the next valuation, which will begin only next year, not striking over something which is complete.

Similarly on pay, the industrial action is called for over last year’s pay round, the content of which led to pay rises in August of last year. This at a time when employers and trade unions are due to meet very soon over this year’s pay round. The agenda is what is right in terms of pay level, in terms of job security across the sector, in the context of such international instability.

It is the fourth such ballot on this matter that we at Warwick have faced in the past two years. One ballot was postponed due to the pandemic and in the previous two, around one third of UCU members have voted in favour of action. Around one in ten voted against. However, between 5 in 10 and 6 in 10 did not vote at all. That latter number means, under trade union legislation, that the motions could not pass; the motion can only be carried by a majority, with more than half turning out to vote. And as I have said before, abstention is a legitimate democratic choice.

On pensions and on pay, the issues we need to work together on are now and in the future. Revisiting past ballots on industrial action do not help with that. And after all the trials of Covid, and with the fear and horror of Ukraine, until these ballot results are known our students face the threat of strikes over the examination period. This saddens me very much indeed.

Stuart Croft

Vice-Chancellor

16 March 2022