Sussex UCU have confirmed that staff will be taking part in a marking boycott from May 23rd.

The University leadership team has the power to end this by addressing the concerns of their staff. UCU have said they will end the boycott if the university agrees to take action on casualisation (short-term staff contracts), increasing workloads, equality in work, and poor pay.

What our staff are asking for would make student life at Sussex better. Low paid and overworked staff results in a bad learning environment for us.

Sussex UCU’s demands are part of the '4 Fights' dispute and include:

• More equal treatment for staff on short contracts

• More time to mark our work

• Action on race, gender and disability pay gaps

• Investment in the Student Support Unit, more counsellors and support for racially minoritised and international students

• Living wage for all staff

We know the University wants to end the boycott and make sure we all get the grades we have worked for. We know that UCU members do not want this dispute to undermine our education.

UCU is a staff union and we cannot influence their tactics in a dispute with their employer, the University. We recognise that their dispute is linked to the quality of learning and support that we experience as students (and the working conditions of doctoral tutors, who are students).

Although we can’t make UCU stop the marking boycott, we can call on our University leadership, who receive our tuition fees, to work with UCU to meaningfully address the issues being raised, so that an agreement can be reached which ends the boycott.

What's going on?

Action at Sussex is part of a national marking boycott which started Monday 23rd May. This comes after Universities UK (UUK) and the Universities & Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), organisations which represents Universities as employers, failed to agree to the Universities and Colleges Union’s (UCU) demands to improve their staff’s working conditions and their students’ learning conditions.

This marking boycott could, for many of us, result in delayed results and degree classifications. Depending on how long the boycott continues, the impacts of it would likely be felt hardest by international students who might be applying for visas such as the graduate visa; students planning their years abroad; students going on placement year; and final-year students who are starting graduate jobs. At this stage, it is not possible to say that your results will definitely be affected, but it is a real possibility. We are concerned about the potential impacts of this on our student members and do not want to see this boycott continue.

Sussex students - and students across the country - are angry. We have been getting into huge amounts of debt for an education where staff are too overworked to properly support us, teaching spaces and facilities can’t accommodate increased student numbers, classes go on until late into the evenings, mental health services and international student support are overwhelmed, and students and staff struggle to build community with each other due to short-term staff contracts. On top of this, we may now be faced with a situation where some of us might not receive the results of our hard work on time. This would be a huge injustice for students who have come to university to learn, and for staff who have taken these jobs to support and nurture that learning. Enough is enough.

What can the University of Sussex do to stop the marking boycott?

Sussex UCU and the University of Sussex Executive group are currently negotiating so that the boycott can be called off. Staff are asking for the University’s leadership to release a joint statement with UCU supporting better pensions and to meet several local demands addressing the Four Fights dispute around casualisation (short-term work contracts), increasing workloads, equality at work, and poor pay. The University meeting these demands would mean drastic improvements to our learning experience and see proper investment in SSU (Student Support Unit) staffing, focusing on the needs of racially minoritized and international students. This demand in particular has been a focus of student campaigning for years.

We know that the University’s leadership wants to see an end to this boycott and to see learning conditions Sussex improve. Therefore, we are calling on them to demonstrate their commitment by working with staff to address the issues raised by UCU and end the boycott.

The University is not powerless in this dispute. Like many other employers, Sussex is consulted on UUK’s decisions on slashed pensions, poor pay, and deteriorating working conditions. In February, University of Sussex Council voted to support our Vice Chancellor’s decision to support UUK in rejecting UCU’s demands on pensions, resulting in staff pensions being cut up to 40%. Our University could use the influence it has as a member of UUK and UCEA, which is consulted on decisions related to staff pay and pensions, to support its staff’s demands. We know that the University wants to see an end to the boycott as well, and welcome all efforts being made to find a solution quickly.

The last thing UCU members want is to undermine their students' education at this stage in the year. They are continuing to fight because their needs as workers are tied to students' educational needs. They are seeking to work with the University leadership to make realistic, long-term changes to improve learning conditions at Sussex.

Likewise, the last thing the University leadership team wants is to see students’ educational outcomes harmed after a difficult few years. They want to see students safely to graduation, too, and working together can result in a solution.