Birmingham UCU members have sent a clear message to senior management with a 82% yes vote in favour of strike action to defend pensions and a 77% yes vote for action in the pay, equality, workloads and casualisation ballot.

Turnout in both ballots exceeded the 50% threshold required for action under the Trade Union Act 2012, with a 57.92% turnout in the pensions ballot and 58% turnout in the pay ballot.

A spokesperson for Birmingham UCU said: “Whilst we are preparing for strike action, we remain open to meaningful negotiations with senior management.

“Nobody take strike action lightly and we hope senior management will now start to seriously negotiate with us so that we can secure a fair settlement which addresses our serious concerns over pensions, pay, equality, workloads and casualisation.”

Follow the link below to view a detailed breakdown of the ballot result:

UCU Ballots Results breakdown (PDF)

Next steps

The Birmingham UCU committee is already working on plans for strike action. The committee has indicated it will be speaking to our sister unions on campus including UNISON about opportunities to coordinate our efforts in order to maximise our impact.

Members are strongly encouraged to come to the branch’s next General Members’ Meeting on Tuesday 12 November, 12-1pm, in the Arts Building, LT 2.

At the meeting, members will have the chance to:

• Discuss and agree  planned action, including possible strike dates and action short of strike action;
• Hear a report from UNISON on combined action for an all-staff walk out;
• Ask questions and raise concerns about any possible action;
• Sign up to get more involved in the campaign. No matter how little spare time members have, there’s always something to do to help!

In the meantime, Birmingham UCU is asking its members and supporters to help spread the word about campaign and to encourage colleagues who aren’t yet union members to join UCU (or join UNISON if they are on a support staff contract).