'Action short of strike' and academic-related and professional services staff

It means you can incorporate action into your daily, working life outside of any strike days we may take.

Trade union legislation in England, Wales and Scotland requires unions to describe the action short of a strike (ASOS) they intend to take on ballot papers. On your ballot paper, UCU would usually list the following as ASOS:

1. working to contract
2. not covering for absent colleagues
3. removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action.
4. not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled due to strike action
5. not undertaking any voluntary activities
6. a marking and assessment boycott.

In Northern Ireland the union can ballot for action without specifying the types of ASOS.

Please note that the actions you are asked to take at any particular time may vary. So please ensure you follow only the actions called as part of any particular dispute.

Here's some guidance on how academic-related and professional services (ARPS) staff can participate in the varying types of action short of a strike.

Working to contract

This means being very strict in working exactly to the minimum required by your own contract. Your contract stipulates working hours; it allows you a lunch break and allows most of us a weekend. If your working hours start at 09:00 and finish at 17:00, then do exactly that. Do not start early and do not work late.

Make sure you take your full lunch break, every day.

If your contract allows breaks, take your breaks.

Do not check or respond to emails outside of working hours. If you have a work phone, leave it at your desk when you leave for the evening.

Take the time you need to complete your work during any action short of a strike.

Not undertaking voluntary activities

Do you voluntarily attend meetings that you are not contracted to? Do you undertake support work on a voluntary basis? Have you been asked to complete a survey, consultation or a questionnaire? Are you asked to volunteer at open days or away days? Are you asked to volunteer to attend meetings or events outside of your working hours or during your lunch hour?

You can say NO to all of the above and anything else which does not form part of your formal roles and responsibilities.

Uploaded materials

The ASOS included on the ballot paper is about supporting the strike action you take to ensure that it is as effective as possible. Like not rescheduling lectures or classes cancelled because of strike action, not uploading materials related to these cancelled sessions reinforces the absence of them.

We know that some ARPS members will be tasked with uploading teaching materials for teaching sessions. Once ASOS begins, members can lawfully refuse to upload these materials for teaching sessions that will be or have been cancelled due to strike action.

If you wouldn't normally upload these materials, then remember you can say NO to anything which does not form part of your formal roles and responsibilities.

The ASOS also mentioned removing materials already on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or other university system related to teaching sessions that will be or have been cancelled due to strike action. Whether materials can be taken down will depend on ownership of the materials. Staff contracts explicitly cover the ownership rights of such materials. If you have any doubts about removing such materials, please contact your branch reps for advice.

Marking and assessment boycott

Should a marking and assessment boycott be called, if your role involves administration relating to marking and assessment you can refuse to undertake that work as part of the action. Examples might include the preparation of examination board materials, the allocation of marking and moderation duties, or any other administrative tasks related to assessment or marking.

How to say NO!

You can politely and professionally decline work/volunteering as part of ASOS or you can send an email stating:

I am currently engaged in action short of strike to defend [e.g.] pay, equalities, and workload which includes working to my contract. All UCU members are advised not to cover for absent colleagues or undertake voluntary activities as part of this action. For this reason, I am unable to...

If your manager raises a concern about this, inform your local branch officers immediately.

Why do we do this?

The intention of ASOS is to legally slow down productivity. We all give additional hours to our roles which our employers benefit from. Working to contract, refusing to pick up colleagues' work or volunteer our time shows employers just how much they rely on our goodwill.

ASOS allows us to withdraw our goodwill in a way which legally protects us from reprisals.

ASOS can be extremely powerful when enacted properly and can add strength to the strike mandate period. This is the period in which we are allowed to schedule any industrial action, and it runs from 14 days after the ballot closes and can continue for up to six months, in trade union legislation for England, Wales and Scotland.