This letter was sent to UEB on the 29th June 2023 and continued a chain of prior correspondence. We received a reply to this message on the 4th July.

The original letter, sent as a PDF is also available.

Dear Cardiff University Executive Board,
Thank you for your letter in response to our proposal to make a joint statement.

The Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) last year was mandated locally and individual branches were therefore able to reach local agreements to end the Boycott.

The current MAB is nationally mandated and we are therefore unable to settle this as a single branch. We can collectively contribute to ending the MAB by making a joint statement for UCEA and UCU to negotiate.

The upcoming strike action is a local issue. We are striking in response to your punitive deductions over the MAB, and your reluctance to release a joint statement with us.

If you agree to a joint statement with us, we could cancel some of the strike days. Will you agree to proceed on reaching an agreement on a joint statement?

We will call off all the proposed strike days if an agreement is also made on reducing the deductions you are imposing for participation in the MAB. Will you agree to negotiate with an aim to reduce these deductions?

Sincerely, Cardiff UCU

This reply was received in response to our email sent on the 22nd June 2023 and followed a meeting with members of the University Executive Board.

The original PDF sent by UEB is also available to read.

Dear Joey, Sandy, Paul and Cardiff UCU Executive

Thank you for your email following yesterday’s constructive discussions regarding our policy
on withholding pay in response to the Marking and Assessment boycott (MAB). Thank you
also for the opportunity to explore actions which could resolve the situation we find
ourselves in, although we all recognised that we are severely constrained by many matters
outside our control. As you rightly note, there are many points of agreement between us,
especially around the current and future challenges for HE funding and also the positive
work we are jointly progressing here at Cardiff in order to support staff.

As indicated yesterday, we recognise your concerns regarding the varying impact of the
MAB action on individual staff members, but we do not agree that this is the result of
inconsistency in the application of our policy. Rather, it lies in the nature of the action. As
agreed, the impact on our students is also variable and has the potential to have significant
impact on future careers and progression. It is for this reason we are unable to amend our
policy.

Our policy for the MAB therefore remains as outlined in our previous correspondence. We
do not accept partial performance, which is a breach of contract. Where a breach does
occur we reserve the right to withhold 100% of pay, however, in the first instance we are
withholding 50% of pay from the date on which the staff member begins to take part in this
form of action and making a discretionary payment of 50% of salary, but reserving our legal
right to withhold pay in full. And as discussed any work that a staff member decides to
carry out will be done on a voluntary basis with no legal entitlement to pay for that work.
In relation to the changes you have mentioned that may benefit staff, we can confirm the
following:

• Staff receiving deduction in June, where there has been timely notification of their
  action, have already received email communications from their local HR contact
  regarding the start date of deductions, and offered the opportunity to
  confirm their intentions regarding pension contributions. All individuals will be
  able to view their pay slips via the HR portal on Wednesday 28 June 2023 for
  details on their individual circumstances. As confirmed at the meeting,
  deductions taken in June will be for April and May, with June’s deduction taken in
  July.
• Attendance at Exam Boards. The example raised by you at the meeting yesterday
  was specific to a Professional Services colleague whose only partial performance
  was their refusal to attend an exam board. As clarified this partial performance
  related to one day only as there were no other broader MAB activities. We can
  also confirm that having checked our records we have not been notified of any
  Professional Services colleagues’ participating in the MAB at this time, however
  we will add this example to our FAQs.

Regarding the six points you have listed as areas for change in order for you to
recommend to members to call off local strike action, we confirm the following:

1. Deductions reflect our position on rejection of partial performance and the serious
   impact this action is having on our students.
2. Deductions start from the point when marking is allocated and will continue until a
   member of staff resumes full normal working duties. This may also result from when
   marking is completed by another individual or when suitable mitigation is agreed by the
   relevant exam board which provides students with a complete and final transcript for
   the academic year.
3. See above.
4. Deductions already fall over a number of months as a result of the payroll deadlines.
5. The approach to pay deductions, i.e. 1/365, is as agreed with UCU previously.
6. We have endeavoured wherever possible to limit the impact of MAB on colleagues who
   are not directly participating in the MAB action and will continue to do so wherever
   possible.

Finally, we can confirm that we will be writing to staff shortly with further information
on deductions and dates.

Thank you again for the opportunity to meet and for the constructive nature of our
discussions.

Yours sincerely
University Executive Board

This email was sent on the 22nd of June. We received a reply on the 23rd.

Dear Sue, Colin, and UEB,

We appreciate the time you took to meet with us this morning. It was good to hear that we do agree on many things, and share many concerns about the future of the sector. 

We are disappointed that Cardiff University does not seem prepared to follow the example of a growing number of institutions in making a joint statement calling on UCEA to restart negotiations with UCU. Restarting negotiations is the best way to end the Marking and Assessment Boycott.

We acknowledge that Cardiff is refusing partial performance with 100% deductions reduced to 50% for voluntary work carried out. Thank you for clarifying that deductions for April and May will come out the June pay packet. We would appreciate if you could send clear communication to staff on this as a matter of urgency. 

We understand that you are currently focused on the single task of getting papers marked and that you see any changes to pay deductions as contrary to that single goal as it would potentially encourage our members to continue with the boycott. We would encourage you to think more holistically about the institution and also to take the future of staff, industrial relations, goodwill, academic standards, and reputation into account.  

We understood that at the present time you are not prepared to move on the policy of deductions. This means we cannot recommend to our members that we call off the upcoming strike days. 

We do believe that some minor changes to your approach could, however, benefit staff and demonstrate goodwill: 

• Staff with salary being deducted should be informed of the dates for which their salary is being deducted on an individual basis as soon as possible.  
• Clarity around Exam Board attendance for all staff. The questions in the FAQ around vivasindicate that prep and attendance is the only point affected. You indicated that for staff not attending Exam Boards, that one day of pay would be at 50% deduction. Please add this the FAQ (it currently appears only in the ‘question’ and not the answer).

Here are further changes to the implementation of your policy of deductions that we would like to see. These would result in us recommending to our members that the branch call off our upcoming strike action and media campaign: 

1. Move towards a more proportional approach to deductions. We were happy to hear about the proportionality in deductions applied to attendance at meetings and PhD vivas. 
2. Clarity around when deductions will end and a more realistic, consistent approach to the duration of the deductions. We would suggest they be limited to 10 working days (in line with policies at KCL, Lincoln, Bristol). 
3. Start deductions from the marking deadline rather than date of marking assignment email (in line with Swansea, LSE, Goldsmiths) – the current start date is student submission deadline, which is not when marking is usually done.  
4. Spread future deductions over a longer period such as 6 months. 
5. Exclude weekends from deductions. ASOS deductions on non-working days are not appropriate or reflective of contracted working hours. 
6. Not deduct payment from staff who refuse to mark work from colleagues. They will already have full workloads and the request undermines collegiality. Colleagues who did not have marking assigned as part of their workload are not in breach of contact for not doing it. 

We are willing to call a members’ vote on calling off strike days in response to any changes to the current deductions policy that move towards the proposals above. 

In the absence of written confirmation of material changes to your approach to implementing the deductions, we will continue to prepare for the upcoming strike days.

Sincerely,

Cardiff UCU

This is part of a series of exchanges with the University Executive Board (UEB) on marking and assessment boycott (MAB) deductions. Our previous message was sent on the 8th June, and after eight days we’ve had the following response.

The original PDF received by the branch is also available to read.

Dear Cardiff UCU Executive Committee

We write in response to your further letter of 8 June 2023 regarding the University’s policy in response to the Marking and Assessment Boycott which has resulted in the local dispute and your formal notification in respect of strike days.

As you rightly note, this matter was discussed at the recent JCNF, and our response remains that whilst we respect the right to take industrial action and appreciate how difficult this situation is for our staff, we reject the suggestion that we have acted ‘punitively’ and ‘disproportionately’ in respect of UCU’s action. The assessment and marking boycott called by UCU goes to the heart of the contract of employment for academic staff involved in student learning and teaching and affects the fundamental duties of academic staff. The potential consequences for students are extremely serious. We are withholding pay for not fulfilling the contract. We can legally deduct 100% but have chosen, without prejudice to that right, to withhold a smaller proportion of pay at this stage while we monitor the impact on our students.

Our current focus is on ensuring that our students can graduate and progress appropriately and as such discussions need to be within this context and not limited to our approach on withholding pay. Should Cardiff UCU feel able to contribute to that outcome, we would be supportive of a meeting to explore this further.

Yours sincerely
University Executive Board

We sent our first letter to UEB about deductions and strike action at the end of May. We received a response early in June.

The response once again raises the issue of the national nature of the dispute, despite the strike days being called in response to local decisions.

There is a PDF version of this letter.

8th June 2023

Dear UEB,

Thank you for your reply to our letter dated 25th May 2023 regarding the upcoming local industrial action on our dispute related to pay deductions for members participating in the marking and assessment boycott.

In line with what we discussed at the JCNF yesterday, it is clear to us that these deductions are punitive in nature, not least in terms of the timings at which deductions start, and we would appreciate if UEB were prepared to negotiate with us a solution that feels more in line with the good relations between management and the unions and also with staff as a whole that you claim to foster.

As we pointed out, the dispute on pay and working conditions is a national one on which our Vice-Chancellor has a say. Therefore, we urge him to follow the examples of Vice-Chancellors at a growing number of other institutions and call on UCEA to re- enter negotiations with UCU on working conditions and pay, so that we can settle the national dispute.

More relevant to this communication, we would like to clarify that the negotiation we are requesting relates to local decisions on pay deductions and to avoid strike action planned locally, including during graduation, in response to these deductions. We are prepared to call off the local strikes if a fairer and more proportionate approach is taken regarding our salary deductions and we are also prepared to escalate them if the current is maintained.

As such, we request again for UEB to meet with Cardiff UCU to avoid further disruption to our students, namely during graduation and clearing, which are key events for the institution.

Yours sincerely,
Cardiff UCU Executive Committee

The branch wrote to the University on the 25th May regarding deductions and the calling of strike action in response to these deductions and the University’s unwillingness to negotiate.

This is the text of the response that we received from the University. You can view the original reply in PDF form, too.

We have written to the University again to ask for negotiations over the MAB deductions.

2 June 2023

Dear Cardiff UCU Executive Committee

We write in response to your letter of 25 May 2023 regarding the forthcoming UCU strike action, which we note will take place as follows:

• 5 Strike days during our graduation week 17-21 July 2023
• 5 Strike days during confirmation and clearing 14-18 August 2023
• 5 Strike days during Welcome week 25 – 29 September 2023

We are of course deeply disappointed that Cardiff UCU have chosen to take this further action given the continuing disruption from the marking and assessment boycott to our students. It is also concerning that this action not only impacts on key events during our students ’University experience, but also targets activities which contribute to the financial sustainability of the University with the potential to impact staff and students not only now but in the future.

Whilst we are deeply concerned about this action, our position remains unchanged. We have been clear throughout that this institution rejects partial performance and that it is our policy to withhold pay from staff who participate in industrial action. We have always reserved the right to withhold 100% of pay from any member of staff who participates either in strike action or action short of a strike that breaches their contract of employment. This has been clearly communicated to staff and to UCU in our previous correspondence. Our policy reflects the legal position and is in response to action that may seriously compromise our students’ futures. It is simply not accurate to depict our approach as punitive. We have no choice but to fulfil our obligation to protect our students, and we do so in a form that has been adopted by most of the sector.

We do value harmonious industrial relations and recognise that we both find ourselves in this difficult position because of national matters. Since the dispute is a national one, we call upon Cardiff UCU to withdraw this local action so that we can continue to work together for the good of Cardiff staff and students.

Yours sincerely
University Executive Board

This letter was sent 25/May/2023. It is available in PDF form.

Dear Members of the University Executive Board,

We hope this letter finds you well. We understand that you have now received notice that we are organising strike action in response to your punitive deductions to the Marking and Assessment boycott.

Specifically we have resolved:

• To call 5 strike days during our graduation week 17-21 July 2023. https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/graduation/graduation-2023
• To call additional strike days (14-18 August) to coincide with confirmation and clearing, including Clearing Open Day.
• To call strike days during Welcome week 25-29 September 2023.

We will call these off if we deem that Cardiff University HR have withdrawn their policy of punitive deductions or our dispute on pay and conditions draws to an end.

These actions will be undertaken by Cardiff UCU locally in response to your continued implementation of a policy response to the UCU Marking and Assessment Boycott that we have previously indicated to you in correspondence that we consider to be punitive. This decision was not taken lightly but reflects the great sense of outrage by our members. It is the direct results of a motion brought by our members that was passed at a quorate Extraordinary General Meeting on 28 April 2023, which was subsequently approved by the UCU Higher Education Officers.

While we understand the disruptive nature of strike actions, we feel compelled to take this step as it appears to be the only recourse left to us.

We now call on the University Executive Board to negotiate with us around the threatened pay deductions with a view to avoiding the proposed strikes.

We deeply value a harmonious relationship between the university administration and its employees. It is therefore with a sense of responsibility that we offer a potential resolution. To be clear, we are willing to stand down the announced strike dates if the University Executive Board withdraws their threats of punitive deductions and takes steps to reverse any punitive deductions that may have already been made by the time the decision to reverse is made.

Contrary to your announcement to students, our actions are not a national issue – it is in response to decisions at Cardiff University specifically, which it is within your power to rectify.

We consider punitive deductions as pay deductions that are not proportionate to the amount of work being boycotted. We maintain that Cardiff’s response of deduction 100% of pay and claiming that further work done by staff is ‘voluntary’ and may (or may not) yield a 50% discretionary payment is punitive. Other universities have announced deductions that are far lower and that more accurately reflect the workload that marking represents. The Open University, for example, is deducting 20% while Hertford, Ulster and Queen Margaret have decided against making deductions altogether. There are reports of other universities that are quietly deciding against making deductions. It is clear that Cardiff University is making a choice that it does not have to be making: one that is designed to hurt its own staff.

We know that the successful operation of a university relies on the collective efforts and goodwill of its staff.  We hope that through open dialogue and understanding, we can find a resolution that can be mutually beneficial to all parties.

We sincerely hope that the University Executive Board will consider our proposal and engage in constructive discussions about making an immediate reversal of the punitive pay deduction policy.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt response and a positive resolution to our shared challenges.

Yours sincerely,

Cardiff UCU