From Martin Atkinson | Director of HR and Organisational Development
Yesterday was the first day of a second period of national strike action by members of the University and College Union (UCU) over pensions and over staff pay and conditions. The strikes are scheduled for:
- 14 to 18 February and 21 to 22 February
- 28 February to 2 March
Teams have been working together across the University to minimise any disruption to students and staff, with further information available on the student webpages. There is also guidance for those UCU members who intend to join the strike action.
As I have outlined before, these are national disputes over which we have limited influence – however, we take them all very seriously here at Kent and are continuing to work constructively with local union colleagues on the things we can change.
While recognising differences in opinion, I was pleased that we were able to keep disruption to a minimum during the strike days in December and hope for the same constructive approach during the coming days. As I said before, we all want what is best for Kent and will continue our talks with the Union to find resolution at a local level, while working hard to make real improvements to life at work for all our staff.
We will keep you updated with any developments during the period of industrial action.