Four Fights dispute: re-ballot results available now

If your branch took part in the re-ballots for the Four Fights dispute, your results are now available at this link, along with a spreadsheet containing all other branches' results.

For yesterday's USS results, please use this link. You can find my summary of those results here.

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 majority YES vote, before it can legally take part in industrial action. This applies to every branch apart from those in Northern Ireland.

Summary of Four Fights results

The turnout across the branches re-balloting was 45.5%, with 9 branches achieving a mandate for industrial action. The YES vote for strike action was 74.6% and the YES vote for action short of a strike (ASOS) was 88%. The total number of branches that are now in a position to take action in the Four Fights dispute is 64 out of 145.

These results are another powerful signal of members' commitment to address the issues of low pay, inequality, workload intensification and precarious employment which we are in dispute with employers over - but they leave some important decisions for your elected representatives to take about how best to use our increased strike threat to force an acceptable offer.

You decide our next steps

Your elected representatives on UCU's higher education committee (HEC) meet tomorrow (Wednesday 19 January) to decide our next steps. Today, branches are sending delegates to a branch delegates' meeting to feed in members' views. That feedback will then be reported to HEC and considered as part of its decision making process.

Please check your inbox tomorrow and in the coming days for further announcements.

Jo Grady
UCU general secretary