‘Blindsided’ UCU members say pause in strike action ‘unjustified’

The survey sent by UCU asking members how they felt about the strike postponement should have taken place before deciding on this as an action, especially if they are truly interested in accountability. To me it feels like a complete loss of momentum and has resulted in conducting negotiations from a position of weakness not strength. Given the real terms pay cuts we've received in the sector for many years now, I sincerely hope the pay negotiation strand of the negotiations results in more than a 5% rise for all staff, as if it doesn't this will feel like a crushing defeat.

Totally agree. If you ask 100 members whether pausing the action was a good move, you would have people on both sides of the argument. But many members are disgusted that the decision was taken without member involvement - and at such short notice. As Vicky said in the article, people due to teach Tues,Wed and Thurs this week could not possibly do all the prep needed for those lessons - unless they worked right through the weekend. Ironically, one of the issues we are trying to address in HE is excessive workload and people having to work weekends to keep up with it all ............