From Professor Richard Reece | DVC Education & Student Experience 

Tomorrow some UCU staff at Kent will be on strike as part of a cross-sector day of coordinated industrial action in the UK. As I mentioned in my email last week, the UCU strike action is primarily over pay and pensions which are agreed nationally across universities – unfortunately we therefore cannot resolve these issues here at Kent alone. I’d like to sincerely apologise again for the disruption this is continuing to cause. 

I know many of you have questions about the strikes and are worried about the impact they are having on your time here. Please do join our industrial action webchat on Tuesday 7 February from 1-2pm where you can ask me any questions on this – we will also run some in-person events in Divisions which are particularly affected, with more details to follow. 

What to expect tomorrow 

The impact of strike action varies in different areas so do check ahead with your lecturer, tutor or Division for guidance on how your lessons may be affected. We won’t always know who is going to be on strike as staff don’t have to tell us – keep any receipts if you travel to campus in case your class is cancelled and you need to claim the money back. 

Some other University services may be affected tomorrow but for the most part you should find the rest of our activity running as normal, including the library, food outlets and study zones remaining open.  There could also be peaceful protest on campus, which will be safely stewarded by UCU representatives.  

Have your say 

It is not fair on you that your first year has seen so much disruption and I know how frustrating it is to have to miss classes through no fault of your own. We continue to urge the national bodies involved in the dispute to reach a resolution as quickly as possible.  

If you are worried about the strikes and what they mean for you we have a number of different people you can talk to for support, with more information on our industrial action webpages. Please do also join our webchat next week where I can talk this through in more detail, plus get your feedback on what else we could do to support you over the coming months. 

Thank you once again for your patience with this and I hope to see as many of you as I can next week.