Four Fights ballot results available now

Your branch's results in the Four Fights industrial action ballot are now available at this link, with a spreadsheet containing all other branches' results.

Please note that a branch needs a turnout (that is, votes cast in the ballot as a % of individuals who were entitled to vote) of 50%, as well as a YES vote, before it can legally take part in industrial action in this dispute. This applies to every branch apart from those in Northern Ireland.

The YES vote for strike action was 70% and the YES vote for action short of a strike (ASOS) was 85%.

The aggregated turnout across branches that were required to meet that threshold was 51%. That is our highest ever turnout in a sector-wide dispute over these issues.

The total number of branches that are currently in a position to take action in the Four Fights dispute is 54 out of the total of 146 in the dispute. That is because UCU members at our sector conference voted to ballot on a disaggregated basis, meaning that each branch has to achieve 50% turnout amongst its own members to gain a legitimate mandate, as well as voting YES.

As I said yesterday when the USS results were announced, to get these results in the three week window which our higher education sector conference and higher education committee voted for is an amazing achievement by UCU branches and staff. For comparison, the USS and Four Fights ballots in 2019 lasted eight weeks. No other union has ever tried to ballot in two massive disputes covering over 150 employers at once - let alone in such a short window.

What happens next: action and reballots

You can hear me give my view on these results and what should happen next at our 5:00pm live event at the links below. The event will be available afterwards as a recording at the same links:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter

The mandate gained by branches for action will last for six months, until the end of April. We can start taking action at any point during that period.

In my view, we should start the industrial action this term, with two days of strikes - one for each dispute - followed by indefinite action short of a strike (ASOS).

The action will then escalate significantly next term - once we have had a chance to hold reballots in both disputes, with a slightly longer ballot window.

In the Four Fights dispute, I believe that now is the time to hold what is known as an aggregated reballot.

This would mean that all branches, including those that crossed the threshold, will reballot. I firmly believe that if we conducted such a ballot we would achieve over 50% overall turnout again, and this would mean that all branches could take action - even branches whose own turnout falls below 50%.

This would radically improve the leverage available to the union. There would be industrial action in roughly 150 universities and it would be twice as large as any industrial action UCU has taken since the 2016 Trade Union Act.

This plan would allow us to put on a brief but massive show of strength at the end of 2021, and build for even larger and more widespread action next term in the new year once the reballots are over.

We will be able to enter into proper negotiations with employers over the winter vacation and take the time needed to reach a settlement in each dispute, while preparing and building for further action in the event that they do not make acceptable offers.

This plan would maximise our unity as a union taking action in every branch across the entire higher education sector. Most importantly, it would maximise our leverage over employers, with every single employer under direct pressure to make an improved offer over pay, casualisation, workload, and equality.

I believe in UCU members' ability to do this, get even better ballot results next time, and translate them into a serious victory that reverses the decade-long trend of underinvestment in staff in this sector.

What happens next: you decide

Ultimately, as general secretary I can only give my advice. We are a democratic union and the whole membership should decide about ballots and industrial action, not me. But it is my firm belief this is the best way for us to proceed and win the sector-wide change that we deserve. I want everyone to be involved in helping deliver that.

Your elected representatives on the UCU higher education committee meet on Friday 12 November to decide our next steps.

Every member in every branch can feed into that process over the coming week through a consultation of branches which you can read more about here.

Every branch will be asked what its members think about the plan which I have outlined and whether you want to do something different.

Your branch officers will receive more information about this process very soon and you can expect to hear from them not long after that.

Please make every effort to ensure your branch hears your views and passes them on to our higher education committee.

Jo Grady
UCU general secretary