Queen Margaret University (QMU) has told its staff it will withhold all pay from any employees taking part in the UCU’s upcoming UK-wide marking and assessment boycott.
University staff received an email from Principal and Vice-Chancellor Sir Paul Grice on 13 April explaining that all pay would be withheld from boycotting staff.
This is despite the fact that staff will continue to carry out work not related to marking and assessment during the boycott.
Karl Johnson, a sociology lecturer at QMU speaking for QMU UCU, told The Student: “Something has gone very wrong at our university.
“The decision to threaten staff who intend to participate in the democratically-mandated Marking and Assessment Boycott with withholding 100% of their pay, has seriously – one fears irreparably – harmed the reputation of our university.
“Staff are being threatened with a severe, disproportionate, and uncaring punishment.”
At time of press, Queen Margaret University and the University of the West of Scotland are the only universities in Scotland known by The Student to say they will withhold 100 per cent of pay from boycotting staff.
The boycott, set to start on 20 April, is part of a long-running UK-wide pay dispute between the UCU and UK universities.
Queen Margaret University staff are not members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, meaning that QMU UCU members are not a party to the UCU’s ongoing pension dispute.
UCU Scotland issued a statement on Monday condemning the pay threat, describing it as a punitive measure for staff “withholding a fraction of the labour they carry out day in, day out”.
Christie McDove, a 4th year Public Sociology undergraduate student and member of Queen Margaret University’s Student-Staff Solidarity Network, shared her views with The Student:
“I am dismayed at QMU senior management choosing to withhold 100% pay from workers engaged in legal and mandated collective action.
“To market the university on social justice values and then take such a punitive and repressive action is a disgrace.”
Queen Margaret University Students’ Union (QMUSU) president Aasiyah Patankar told The Student that the Students’ Union had no official stance on the university’s pay withholding threat.
She further said that she personally had no comment on QMU’s decision in her role as Students’ Union president.
Johnson also commented on the support QMU UCU has, telling The Student: “We have the support of UCU Scotland, branches across the UK, and most importantly – despite everything – of students.
“We, as ever, have the moral high ground.”
A spokesperson for Queen Margaret University told The Student: “The decision to withhold pay for staff participating in the marking and assessment boycott reflects the timing and impact of the action on students.
“As a form of partial performance, a marking and assessment boycott has the potential to cause more harm to students than any other form of industrial action.
“We are also aware that other Scottish universities will also be applying up to a 100% pay reduction for each day in which a member of staff fails to complete their marking and assessment duties.”
Queen Margaret University Student-Staff Solidarity Network has launched an open letter to QMU’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Sir Paul Grice, urging him to reverse his decision.
The group encourages students to sign the open letter, which is not limited to QMU students.
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