If this academic year could be given a name, it might be the year of the strikes. In less than two terms, the University of Nottingham has witnessed three strike days by its staff in reaction to a real-term chronic 13% pay cut since 2008.
Grievances have been aimed at the 5.1% average rise in Vice Chancellors’ salaries last year, and students on the whole have been supportive of the university staff’s challenge of that disparity so far. 58% of students surveyed by Her Campus say that they have supported their lecturers during strike action. “Students have to stop being so selfish,” one student told us. “They need to start supporting fair pay for staff.”
But what if the cost for students became higher than a few lost lectures?
As the dispute over pay continues after the three unions – the University and College Union (UCU), Unison and Unite – rejected the offer of a 1% pay rise, a marking boycott is now on the cards. Starting on the 28th April, the boycott will mean that members of the UCU could refuse to mark essays and exam scripts if a deal has not been made.
Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, has described the move as the “ultimate sanction”, but an “avoidable one if the employers would negotiate with us.”
While it remains to be seen if University of Nottingham academics will partake in the boycott, it’s clear that students are worried about the possibility. “Why should innocent students be caught in the cross fire and held hostage?” one student told Her Campus. Another student expressed anxiety about how the boycott may impact the final assessments of their degree. “I fully support the lecturers,” they said, “But I also need to graduate!”
Students are worried they won’t be able to graduate
Tom Dean*, a final year Life Sciences student, is one of the 67% of students surveyed whose studies have been disrupted by strike action. “I was affected at the start of this term when one of my core module conveners took part in the strikes,” he explained to Her Campus. “This meant that the timetable for the whole term has been affected. Everything has been put a week forward, which means one week less of revision time.”
He went on to express his worry about what further action may mean for his final exams: “If he strikes during exams, as he is the module convenor I’m concerned that the marking for that module may be greatly affected.” [sic]
54% of students that took our survey were third and fourth years, perhaps showing that Tom is not alone in worrying about the boycott’s impact on the final few months of his degree. “Marking is taking it too far,” another third year student related, “It’s undermining how hard we work as students [and] punishing us with a longer wait for results.”
If you’ve been on campus during strike days, you may have seen striking staff handing out leaflets to drum up student support, and with some effect – almost a third of students revealed that they have willingly partook in strike action by not going to lectures. However, this is a backing that striking staff may be at risk of losing considering that 62% of students told Her Campus that they would not support the marking boycott if Nottingham staff took part.
At the moment, it’s uncertain who or how the boycott will impact the University the Nottingham. A University spokesman told Impact Magazine, the University of Nottingham’s official student publication, that it “has noted the latest statement from UCU. Any disruption to students is regrettable and the University will take appropriate steps to ensure that the impact of any industrial action is kept to a minimum.”
However, the students’ stance is clear: when strike action may directly affect how their degree is marked, students are less likely to join their lecturers on the picket line.
*Tom Dean is not the participant’s real name.