Kingston UCU have written to senior management to demand, in conjunction with Union of Kingston Students, that any money deducted from staff salaries as a result of taking strike action in December 2021, be donated to the student hardship fund. Other universities, such as Essex, UCL, and LSE, have agreed to do this.

Here is a copy of the letter:

Dear Helen,

We write to you in your capacity as chair of the JNCC at Kingston University and ask that you disseminate this communication to the wider Senior Management Team.

We are disappointed to learn that the university has chosen to take the unsupportive and punitive action of making deductions from the salaries of staff who declared themselves to have taken part in strike action in December 2021. The UCU national Four Fights campaign highlights the issues of excessive workload, casualisation, inequality and pay deflation, all of which are extremely pertinent to Kingston staff.

While we acknowledge that the employer is within their rights in taking this action, it is disheartening and demoralising that the current university leadership have carried out their threat to deduct payment from hard working staff, the majority of whom regularly work longer than contracted hours carrying out unpaid work from which the university benefits greatly. All this at a time when senior management are actively working towards awarding themselves pay increases. It is a further demonstration of the callous and uncaring attitude that senior management repeatedly display towards staff at Kingston and is detrimental to the continually deteriorating relationship between senior management and staff as evidenced by the recent staff survey.

Therefore, in conjunction with the Union of Kingston Students, we demand that the total sum of salaries deducted (and other cost savings incurred by KU such as pension and NI contributions) be made public and the equivalent sum be donated to the student hardship fund.

Rosie McNiece

KU UCU Vice-chair

on behalf of KU UCU branch committee

1. Response to email from Emily Boynton

29th November staff received an email from Emily Boynton, the current HR Director, on the topic of our upcoming actions (strike and ASOS).

The first thing to note is that you are under no obligation to complete the online form to let the university know that you are intending to take industrial action. The detail on pension contributions in the email is irrelevant and misleading. This is discussed explicitly in the UCU dispute FAQs:

Do I have to tell my employer that I am taking industrial action?

No. It is often the case that management will send out emails/letters demanding that you declare in advance whether you will be taking industrial action. This can have the effect of misleading and intimidating members, and will enable your employer to minimise any disruption. You are under no obligation to inform management in advance as to whether you will be taking part in strike action or action short of a strike. UCU will provide your employer with all the information about the action required by law including those categories of members who we are calling on to take action. Once you are back to work following the strike action, you should respond truthfully to any query from your employer as to whether you have taken or are taking industrial action. You should not, however, respond to any such query while you are on strike.

The online form circulated by Boynton also requests that we let the university know whether we will be participating in ASOS by working our contracted hours. The university should expect that all staff – UCU members and non-members – are working their contracted hours, except in exceptional circumstances. Consequently, we should not declare our intentions to participate in ASOS either as it can be seen as a reasonable and legally-justified means of ensuring our wellbeing and work-life balance.

2. Petition for all strike deductions from salaries to be donated to student hardship fund

We will request that all strike deductions from salaries will be donated to the student hardship fund at Kingston University. LSE has already responded favourably to a response from its own local UCU branch. Therefore we are optimistic that our management will take a similar approach.

3. Haven’t booked your picket slot yet? 

We are expecting all members to sign up to at least one three hour slot. Check inboxes for the link to the signup.If you can’t join us physically, please join us on the digital picket line this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10-11am at this link.

On strike days, we will have rallying points at the front of Penrhyn Road and the front of Knight’s Park at 10am and 1230pm so please do join us at either of those locations at those times.

4. ASOS guidance

Action short of strike (working to contract) begins on December 1st. UCU central are putting on a series of briefings about ASOS and what it means in practice this week. Please see email from Jo Grady (29th November) for the sign-up links. The branch will circulate further guidance on ASOS in the coming days.