Strikes Are Off - For Now
Thursday 20-11-2025 - 10:00
Written by Liz Gillett & Rory O'Ceallaigh
Liz is your 2025/26 LUSU Education Officer, and Rory is your 2025/26 LUSU President.
A lot has happened in the last 24 hours - the University have completed their "stocktake" of academic staff after voluntary exit schemes and have concluded enough savings have been made that they can take the possibility of compulsory redundancy for academic staff off the table until 31st July 2026.
UCU and Academic Staff
The UCU's main demand was to remove the threat of compulsory redundancy, and therefore, after an emergency meeting on Wednesday 19th November, the UCU have resolved to call off the strikes on 27th and 28th November, and the Action Short of Strike (ASOS) that has been ongoing for the last few weeks.
It is key to note that UCU (following the results of their ballot in October) still have the mandate for industrial action up to April 2026, so there is a continuing risk of fresh industrial action in the New Year.
Professional Services Staff
Professional Services encompasses the library, wellbeing services, security, the porters, accommodation, colleges, amongst other non-academic services.
Professional Services staff are predominantly represented by two different trade unions: Unison and Unite. They are further behind in the University's voluntary exit schemes, so may choose to take their own action if similar conditions aren't met for them.
We maintain the stance that students and student leaders should be given ample opportunity, as the primary service users, to meaningfully engage in, and shape, the re-design of Professional Service areas. We also do not endorse redundancies where there is no clear vision for what the University will look like afterwards.
Disruption that has Already Occurred
The postponement of industrial action does not inhibit your right to complaint about or claim compensation for disruption to your teaching or learning.
We would encourage you to speak to your Academic Rep. If you wish to take formal action, we suggest doing so as a group or whole cohort.
More information can be found in our previous update on industrial action.
