Thursday 20-04-2023 - 08:30

Marking and assessment boycott

On 3 April, the University Colleges Union (UCU) announced a renewal of their mandate for industrial action as no agreement had been reached on their requests. Representing over 70,000 workers at 150 different universities, they voted by 85.6% on their ballot on pay and working conditions and a further 89% on their pensions ballot. This result means that as of Thursday, 20 April, staff will begin a marking and assessment boycott.

Students are right to be upset and concerned by this announcement, and you can find information on your rights and support here. However, such a decision is not taken lightly; no workers on campus want to pursue such action. Casualisation and exploitation present an existential threat to higher education. When polled nationally, half of the university staff reported signs of depression, with 60% saying they would likely leave the sector in the next five years. Furthermore, of those aged between 18-29, 80% said they were considering leaving the sector, citing workload pay and conditions.

This is in a context of a real-term pay cut of 20% since 2009, hitting BAME, women and disabled staff the hardest. The average working week in higher education is almost 50hrs, with 87% of university staff saying their workload has increased. There are no winners in this situation; students and staff alike are missing out. An undervalued and underpaid workforce is utterly unsustainable.

A marking and assessment boycott is not inevitable. Staff demands are not 'pie-in-the-sky' impossibilities; workers simply ask for dignity and respect. This round of industrial action can easily be called off if employers negotiate a fair deal. Durham Students’ Union doesn't have a seat at the negotiating table; however, we support staff as they enter this marking and assessment boycott and extend our full solidarity. Our position is informed by the 60% vote earlier this year to support all industrial action.

As such, we fully condemn the decision to withhold 50% of pay from staff participating in the marking and assessment boycott. Durham University says it is entitled to deduct this money, but even if this is legal, it isn't right. 

Salary deduction is intended to pressure academics not to undertake a marking and assessment boycott and force them back to work to mark assessments without addressing the underlying issues. That 'solves' an immediate problem but kicks the bigger one down the road, making another marking and assessment boycott more likely in the future. It also creates further poor industrial relations on campus, which makes it harder to build the good, respectful community we all want. We don't think the money saved is worth the aggro generated. It's an unfair and unnecessary choice.

We think short-term disruption is regretful, but we must do this if we want a long-term future for our University, where brilliant people can afford to be academics. In particular, we haven't been told where the money saved will be spent, so we can't be sure it'll support students' education. We agree with UCU that any money should be spent directly on student hardship support.

How can you show your support?

If you are keen to support workers on campus during this period, you can show your solidarity in plenty of ways. We urge all students to speak with their staff to understand the issues of workload, casualisation and pay. Furthermore, if students can afford it, they can show support by contributing a small amount to UCU’s fighting fund. Any money donated will go a long way in supporting staff as they deal with pay deductions whilst participating in industrial action.

Furthermore, you can support the campaign against reintroducing continuation fees by sharing it on social media and amongst your friends. If you yourself are a PGR student, please consider signing the open letter to show how you feel about the issue.

How will we support you?

This will be a challenging time, and it is completely legitimate for students to feel concerned or anxious. Whilst we support staff engaged in industrial action, we are fully sympathetic to students who feel like this may disadvantage them.

If an offer is not made and a marking and assessment boycott is allowed to proceed, its effects on students are somewhat of an unknown quantity. The scale of the boycott varied from department to department, depending on union density.

As your students' union, we are here to support you throughout. If you need help or advice, you can find it at: https://www.durhamsu.com/advice-and-support

Furthermore, the Office for Students (OfS) believes students are entitled to basic services whilst at university under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This applies even during periods of industrial action. Students can complain if a university does not meet these standards and may be entitled to compensation. If you would like specific advice about informal mitigation, serious adverse circumstances or how to make formal complaints, please follow: https://www.durhamsu.com/ucu-strikes/what-if-the-strikes-impact-my-studies

What is the University doing?

The University is working to mitigate the potential repercussions of a marking and assessment boycott. They have recently put out communication to students promising that:

• All assessments and examinations will go ahead as scheduled.
• Degree outcomes will not be negatively affected by missing marks.
• Every student who has completed their degree can attend Congregation in June.

They are still working out precise details; students should expect more information soon. In the meantime, the University has advised that you speak to your college or department if you have any questions. Additionally, you can also email: strike.action@durham.ac.uk