Motion adopted by University of Birmingham UCU (9 February 2022)

This branch notes the threat of 50% pay deductions, on an ongoing basis, for staff taking part in the Action Short of Strike.

This branch believes this measure is a clear attempt by the University of Birmingham to deter staff from upholding their legal right to take strike action, and an attack on democracy in the University, through recourse to an entirely disproportionate and wrongful deduction in wages that has the clear potential to amount to an unlawful deduction of wages.

The branch resolves:

• to call immediately for the University of Birmingham to withdraw this threat;
• to demand that the University senior management set out in writing the basis on which they have reached the 50% percentage figure;
• to request UCU legal services to put in place a “fast track” process whereby unlawfully deducted wages lost due to the ASOS will be challenged through collective Employment Tribunal (ET) claims for each UCU member losing wages in this way;
• to ensure that the UCU Fighting Fund is guaranteed to compensate any staff member in full for any pay lost due to the 50% deduction, where that is not compensated for through a successful ET claim.