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Coventry University strike call

22 August 2008

Members of UCU at Coventry University are set to vote on strike action in on ongoing row over pay and conditions.

The union warned today that if members vote to strike, and the university does not return to the negotiating table to reach a settlement, it will have no choice but to take industrial action.

UCU has accused Coventry University of attempting to hoodwink staff into thinking they will get a better deal through a complex and bureaucratic performance-related pay system. The union says that the new deal actually amounts to a pay cut for some staff and has called on the university to stop playing games and to return to the negotiating table.

In response the university declared a dispute with the union, which UCU says has forced them into the industrial action ballot. The row relates to a National Framework Agreement drawn up in 2004 between all UK universities and trade unions; the specific terms of which were left to be thrashed out locally. The union argues that the proposals put forward by Coventry University do not conform to the requirements of the Framework Agreement.

UCU assistant general secretary, Martin Machon, said: 'Industrial action is not in the interests of anyone involved with Coventry University. Reluctantly we have been forced to ballot our members because of the University's actions. The university's refusal to comply with nationally agreed rules on pay and conditions means UCU members at Coventry face pay cuts of up to 6%.

'We have warned the University that its actions will leave Coventry University standing alone in how it pays academic staff. Furthermore, their actions threaten equal pay, ignore the hourly paid and will create a two-tier workforce. Nobody at Coventry wants to take strike action, but unless the University comes back to the negotiating table to resolve this, we have no other option.'

The ballot opens on Friday 29 August and will close on 18 September.

Last updated: 14 December 2015

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