Your studies during industrial action

 Information and guidance regarding industrial action

Updated 17 March 2023


 

On 24 October 2022, the University and College Union (UCU), one of LSE's recognised trade unions that represents some staff, outlined that members have voted in favour of strike action and action short of a strike as a response to national disputes about pay, pensions and other matters across the university sector.

This means that some LSE academic staff, researchers, teaching staff and senior professional services staff, alongside others in universities across the UK, may participate in industrial action as outlined below. 

Strike dates

Strike action is taking place across the following dates in Lent Term, with the final set of continuous dates spanning across Weeks 9 and 10 of term. Discontinuous strike action is when individuals strike only on some days each week. Each set of weekly dates for industrial action is treated as a distinct period of industrial action by staff taking part, and LSE, as outlined below:

  • Weeks 9 and 10: Wednesday 15 March*, Thursday 16 March, Friday 17 March; Monday 20 March, Tuesday 21 March, Wednesday 22 March.

*An additional day of strike action has been added to Week 9, to take place on 15 March. 


Action short of a strike, meaning staff work to their contracted duties and not beyond, began on 23 November 2022 and is expected to continue until 20 April 2023 when the mandate for any industrial action under this ballot expires, or until the action is lifted by an individual or UCU. 

We understand you may have some concerns about how this could impact your studies and have prepared a set of frequently asked questions, to help outline this. 

Student FAQs - your studies during Industrial Action 

What is industrial action and when is it taking place?

Members of the University and College Union (UCU), one of LSE's recognised trade unions that represents some staff, have voted at a national level in favour of strike action and action short of a strike as a response to national disputes about pay and pensions across the university sector. 

This means that some LSE academic staff, researchers, teaching staff and senior professional services staff may not work on specific dates as noted above across Lent Term. This is alongside others across universities in the UK.  

In addition, UCU is also calling on its members to take ‘action short of a strike’.   

This may include one or more of the following elements:  

  • Only working contracted hours and duties and not volunteering to do more 
  • Not rescheduling classes and lectures cancelled due to strike action 
  • Not covering for absent colleagues 
  • Removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action.   

This began on 23 November 2022 and is expected to continue until 20 April 2023 or until the disputes have been resolved.  

For more information, go to: ‘What does ‘action short of a strike’ mean?

What is LSE doing about industrial action?

One of the biggest challenges to bringing this industrial action to a close is that all negotiations taking place must be agreed by almost 150 institutions in the UK, including LSE. While we can do our best to influence the outcomes of discussions, pay and pensions are negotiated at a national level, and the pay bargaining process alone involves 146 institutions across the UK.

We are actively engaging with representative bodies on a national level and will continue to do so in the strongest possible terms, however we are not able to take immediate decisions to bring these matters to a close as an individual higher education institution.

Find out more about the actions we are taking as a School

Will student activities continue during the strike action?

We anticipate that most staff will continue to work normally and that there will be minimum disruption to activities across our School. You should expect that most services will run unless you are told otherwise.  

Go to the 'Teaching and learning' section of these FAQs for more details.  

How can I manage my studies during industrial action?

The majority of services will continue during this time, but if you are unable to access specific support during the strike action days, you should be able to reschedule following the conclusion of strike action. You can continue to engage with your studies, in absence of a class or lecture, during this time by: 

Will student support continue during the strike action?

As noted above, most services will continue during this time, but if you are unable to access specific support during strike action, you should be able to reschedule following the conclusion of strike action.  

For specific wellbeing needs, please see the Student Wellbeing Service website which includes sources of support or the Support Map which shows the different type of assistance and resources available to you now and in the future.  

If you need urgent wellbeing support, LSE has a support line that you can contact 24/7 to speak to a clinically trained counsellor or psychotherapist.  

Will strike action and picket lines make it difficult to access campus?

If you’re accessing campus facilities on strike days, you may need to pass staff taking part in the strike. Access to entrances will not be blocked in any way and you should feel able to pass freely and easily without confrontation. 

Please be assured that the trade union has issued guidance which indicates that all pickets are intended to, and must be, peaceful in nature. Access to entrances will not be blocked in any way and you should feel able to pass freely and easily without confrontation. 

Will the strike action impact my assessments?

We will take all reasonable actions to ensure that any potential disruption is minimised as far as possible.  

We have developed guidance for staff to ensure that our approach remains fair and maintains academic standards. As such, students must not be assessed on material missed because of cancelled teaching.  

To mitigate the impact on students of missing teaching, staff have been advised to appropriately adjust the content of any assessments accordingly. This may involve adjusting a question, removing certain questions, removing entire sections, or adjusting the exam paper rubric. Where it is agreed that the most appropriate mitigation for missed teaching is to adjust questions or tasks in an assessment or exam, this should be applied consistently to the whole cohort of students to ensure that the assessment is equitable for all. 

What this means in practice

If a teaching activity is cancelled due to strike action and the associated missed material is not taught elsewhere, then this material cannot be included in the assessment. For courses that follow the traditional ‘lecture and class/seminar’ mode, if all lectures are delivered and therefore taught, then all course material is examinable.

If additional material not covered by lectures is taught in associated classes/seminars, and any classes/seminars are cancelled due to strike action and the material is not taught in another way (for example, in a catch-up class online), then that material cannot be included in the assessment. 

Can I access wellbeing support during strike action?

Wellbeing

If you have found this situation to be distressing, we encourage you to access the wide range of wellbeing services we are able to offer to assist you – whether or not related to your studies here at LSE. All LSE’s Student Wellbeing services are fully operational at this time. 

  • There’s lots of wellbeing support at LSE, including student counsellors, events and workshops, and our 24/7 mental health support line – available to all students, who can speak to a trained counsellors at any time. You can choose to speak to a student if you prefer by reaching out to a Peer Supporter – a specially trained student who can offer support, give a fresh perspective, and listen to whatever is troubling you. 
  • Our counsellors are trained to support all students, no matter their individual circumstance. They, along with our mental health advisers and disability advisers are here for all students if you need to talk, but this is only part of our longer-term commitment to mental health and wellbeing as we continue to enhance mental health and wellbeing support at LSE.
  • The Wellbeing team has restructured its approach to supporting students, so that you can be seen more quickly and directed to the right individual to assist you. Over the past year, we have increased the number of student counsellors and mental health advisors, workshops, and support groups.
  • This year, we have made the Student Support Map available on the LSE website, which brings together different sources of support from across LSE and LSESU.

 

Further FAQs on teaching and learning

Should I turn up for lectures, classes or seminars on a day that has scheduled strike action?

LSE requests that staff notify their department and students if they plan to take action. Please note, staff taking part in industrial action are not legally obliged to provide advance notice that they will take part.  

Where possible, you will be informed in advance by your department or teacher if strike action is likely to impact any of your scheduled lectures, classes or seminars. Unless you are told otherwise, you should attend your scheduled lectures, classes and seminars as planned. LSE will do all that it can to minimise disruption and many staff are expected to work as normal. 

If a class, seminar or lecture is cancelled as a result of strike action, will it be rescheduled?

In all cases, LSE will do its utmost to mitigate the impact of strike action on both the provision of teaching and the student experience.  

Where possible, LSE may ask teaching staff to reschedule any classes, seminars or lectures that are cancelled as a result of strike action as soon as is practicable. 

If you have educational activities cancelled during strike action, there are a number of other ways you can continue to engage with your teaching and learning, in absence of a class or lectures as outlined above in 'How can I manage my studies during industrial action?'

What will happen if it is not possible for my teaching to be rescheduled?

Whilst teaching will be rearranged in as many cases as possible following industrial action, your department will let you know if this is not possible. Where available, they will also direct you to the range of teaching and learning resources on Moodle and / or materials elsewhere to support you in covering relevant areas of study. 

There are a number of other ways you can continue to engage with your teaching and learning, in absence of a class or lectures as outlined above in 'How can I manage my studies during industrial action?

If one of my class or seminar groups is cancelled, can I attend a different one?

It may not be possible to attend a different class or seminar group than usual. This is the decision of the relevant teacher, and you should enquire with them in advance about whether this is possible on a temporary basis.  

Where available, you may also be able to access a variety of teaching and learning resources, such as course reading, discussion notes and other materials on Moodle.

Will other teaching support activities continue during the strike action, such as office hours and Academic Mentoring meetings?

As the impact will vary across our School, please check with your local department about which activities are disrupted and which will continue. Departmental staff should be able to advise you on any related questions you may have once the strike begins, including the range of resources and support available during this time. 

Will other student activities continue during the strike action?

We anticipate that most staff will work normally and that there will be minimal disruption to activities across our School. You should expect that most services will run unless you are told otherwise.  

What about compensation and fee refund requests?

What about compensation and fee refund requests?

LSE is working hard to minimise disruption as much as possible during periods of industrial action. This includes putting in place mitigations to help remedy the impact of strikes and support students, as well as making sure you're not assessed on any material missed because a teaching session was cancelled.  

It is also important to remember that many staff will not be on strike and campus is open as normal.

Mitigations put in place to remedy the effect of strike activity will vary depending on your area of study and may be enacted now, later in the term, and across the duration of your programme. If you believe mitigations put in place are not sufficient in helping you meet your learning outcomes, you can submit a formal complaint

The deadline for submitting a formal complaint is 20 working days from the date of the incident, or last of the incidents, about which you wish to complain.

What about compensation requests from the 2021-22 academic year?

Some claims for compensation or partial fee requests relating to past industrial action in 2021-22 continue to be reviewed by our Legal team supported by independent advisers, to assess whether compensation or a partial refund may be appropriate. However, compensation is not guaranteed.  

While we aim to resolve complaints within 90 days and often do so in a shorter period, we may not be able to bring formal complaints relating to industrial action to a close within this timeframe due to the complexity of cases and our need to fully assess the impact of mitigations. Any relevant updates on timelines will be delivered as part of the formal complaints procedure, and correspondence received so far on industrial action will not be considered part of the process. 

What does ‘action short of a strike’ mean?

‘Action short of a strike’ means that individuals taking part will work normally, apart from duties beyond this that the union is asking its members to refuse to undertake.  

UCU has advised that in the context of this dispute, taking action short of a strike will consist of its members: 

  • Only working contracted hours and duties and not volunteering to do more 
  • Not rescheduling classes and lectures cancelled due to strike action 
  • Not covering for absent colleagues 
  • Removing uploaded materials related to, and/or not sharing materials related to, lectures or classes that will be or have been cancelled as a result of strike action.  

Staff have been asked to make sure that they do not stop undertaking any contractual duties as a misinterpretation of ‘working to contract’. See below for more information on this.     

What is the difference between ‘partial performance’ and ‘working to contract’?

‘Partial performance’ is where an employee is willing to undertake some of their duties but refuses to carry out others. ‘Working to contract’ or ‘work to rule’ is where employees work strictly to their employment contracts, such as working contractual hours only and withdrawing their labour from any work that may be undertaken as a ‘voluntary’ part of their role. 

Partial performance in the context of this strike could be refusing to carry out work that is outlined in an individual’s contract.  

 Actions LSE is taking to support our staff

One of the biggest challenges to bringing this industrial action to a close is that all negotiations taking place must be agreed by almost 150 institutions in the UK, including LSE.

Below, you can find out more about what we are doing to support staff and their experience of working at LSE.

National nature of strike action

One of the biggest challenges to bringing this industrial action to a close is that all negotiations taking place must be agreed by almost 150 institutions in the UK, including LSE.

While we can do our best to influence the outcomes of discussions, pay and pensions are negotiated at a national level, and the pay bargaining process alone involves 146 institutions across the UK. We are actively engaging with representative bodies on a national level and will continue to do so in the strongest possible terms, however, we are not able to take immediate decisions to bring these matters to a close as an individual higher education institution.

As ever, we remain committed to working with our local UCU branch and engaging with national representative bodies on sector-wide negotiations, including discussions on pay and pensions. We recognise the importance of our unions as part of our School and share UCU's strong ethos of improving staff and student experiences at LSE, both now in response to current wider circumstances and longer-term. In the meantime, we will work to minimise disruption to School activities and the student experience as much as possible.

Pay and pensions

The pay negotiations for 2023/24 were brought forward between the employers’ representatives (UCEA) and the joint unions, resulting in an offer being made by the employers’ side, weighted to provide the greatest support to our lowest paid staff. These discussions have now reached their conclusion – with employers and unions recognising that resolution is not possible.

In light of this, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has made the decision for higher education institutions to implement their full and final offer put forward in January, as outlined below. This is to ensure that salary increases are more immediately reflected in staff pay to help with increased living costs, and that this financial support is not delayed.

The implementation of this year’s pay award will be applied in two stages – the first earlier increase from 1 February 2023 (backdated and included in pay from March onwards), and the remainder to take effect from 1 August 2023.

National talks between universities and the University and College Union (UCU) will now focus on additional topics relating to this ballot, including working conditions.

Find out more about pay negotiations and details of the offer put forward to UCU.

On the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension, the triennial valuation to USS pensions later this year should indicate a positive shift in the funding position. Looking ahead, discussions among the relevant parties will include a focus on longer term stability, contribution rate changes and benefit changes.

LSE remains fully committed to providing staff with attractive and affordable pension benefits and working with all stakeholders to provide a better, long-term provision for our staff.

Local action to support staff

We recognise the additional pressures that staff may be facing and the impact this can have on wellbeing.

In Michaelmas Term, we took two actions to help address this in the short-term for staff – offering additional financial support aimed at protecting those most vulnerable to hardship and extending the School closure over winter break to provide an extended period of downtime for colleagues. Alongside these actions, we strengthened our Staff Benevolent Fund, which can offer a financial safety net providing relief to members of staff facing unexpected financial pressures. 

In addition, we have an extensive staff wellbeing provision where staff can access counselling support from our Staff Counsellors or our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme helpline. Our Staff Mental Health Champions are also an excellent source of support and guidance, and we have over 200 Mental Health First Aiders trained to support someone experiencing a mental health issue or crisis.  

This is alongside the wider wellbeing programme on offer for staff, looking at supporting financial, professional, mental and physical wellbeing. Find out more about this in our staff wellbeing webpages

Though these actions offer temporary relief, we will continue to pursue longer-term solutions within LSE, as well as playing our role within the wider Higher Education sector on this topic. 

While this sits outside of the discussions relating directly to the strike action, these are important aspects of the experience of our staff community.

Other topics relating to industrial action

Casualisation of contracts

At a local level, alongside participating in national discussions, UCU concerns regarding casualisation are being addressed through our efforts to enhance support for early career staff and key groups.

The majority of fixed-term contract positions are developmental roles (including Graduate Teaching Assistants and LSE Fellow positions) that allow PhD students and early career academics to gain teaching and / or research experience that will support them in pursuing a career in academia.

These are fixed-term in nature to allow different cohorts of aspiring academics the opportunity to gain such experience. For some roles, LSE uses hourly paid contracts (rather than zero hours contracts) – all staff employed on these contracts are guaranteed a minimum number of hours.

For our PhD students, we have also significantly improved the scholarships we offer, which have the condition that if they do teach, they are paid for this on top of the enhanced scholarship funding they receive. Via the work of our Research and Policy Staff Committee, we have also been enhancing the career development support we provide to early career researchers, such as Research Officers and Fellows.

LSE is a London Living Wage employer, and we value everyone who contributes to our School. Whilst there is much taking place outside of our control, we are committed to proactively doing what we can to support the LSE community.

Of course, there is still more we can do and we continue to look at ways to support our community and develop the next generation of academics and researchers who are a part of it. LSE and our local UCU branch are engaged in discussions aimed at improving the working conditions for these staff. 

 

Addressing pay gaps and increasing representation

LSE is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to promoting a positive working culture which celebrates difference, challenges prejudice and ensures fairness. All School staff should have the opportunity to excel, and to be respected and valued for their unique perspectives and contributions.

Our School has worked hard to reduce its gender pay gap figures and ensure equal pay within the organisation is maintained. Since the start of Gender Pay Gap reporting in 2017, LSE has seen steady year on year improvements in its median gender pay gap from 14.89% in 2017 to 9.52% in 2020, to our most recent figure of 6.11%. Our School continues to work hard on improving all aspects of its gender pay gap and this can be seen further in the latest gender pay report action planning and LSE’s Athena Swan action plan.

Our commitment to building a diverse community is written into the School’s 2030 strategy and a core aspect of this is around increasing representation across our School. This is embodied in the creation of LSE’s Race Equity Framework, which we have been rolling out since September 2020, in consultation with staff and students across the School.

As of June 2022, 33 per cent of our Assistant Professors came from BAME* backgrounds. This is where we can make the most improvement as approximately 90 per cent of academic hiring takes place at this level, creating a pipeline for talent into more senior academic roles.

For the recruitment of senior professional services staff, last year we introduced our Fair Recruitment Advisers, and dedicated academic attainment leads in departments are contributing to diversify our education practices. This is in addition to our anonymous application process, already in place.

We will continue our work to explore and address racial inequality in the recruitment and progression of our BAME academic and professional service staff, as well as diversifying our PhD cohort.

In addition to the measures described above, over 45 people around the School have been recruited for LSE’s BAME mentoring scheme, which was launched in January 2021 and works alongside EmbRace, LSE’s BAME staff network, to support career progression in BAME staff through the sharing of knowledge, skills and experience. Work is also underway to refine our data and further School-wide consultation is building on the extensive conversations and community input that has already taken place. 

 


 

 *A note on terminology: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) are umbrella terms used by the UK government and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to refer to all non-white people. However, we recognise that these terms are problematic, in that they mask differences in lived experience and outcomes for many different ethnic groups. Improving our community’s understanding of these differences will be part of our work on race equity at LSE.