Queen's Students' Union launches petition for lecturer strike referendum
Thomas Copeland & Chelsea Abbott
Queen’s University Belfast Students’ Union (QUBSU) officers have launched a petition to call a student referendum on whether the QUBSU should support staff strikes.
In a statement the QUBSU officers said: “Whilst we support the work of trade unions and workers on campus - as a students’ union - our foremost responsibility is representing the collective voice of students. Students have experienced immense disruption in recent years and strike action will clearly impact on students’ academic life.
“We believe that now is the time to ballot our members to establish a collective student response to the strike action.”
If the petition is signed by more than 1.5 per cent of the student population a student-wide vote will be likely be held on the 15th and 16th of November.
The University and Colleges Union (UCU) is balloting staff at Queen’s on whether to take strike action.
Staff are being balloted on both the USS pension scheme and on pay and working conditions.
If the ballots are successful, strikes are expected to commence before the autumn semester ends and continue into the spring semester.
Whilst the National Union of Students has backed staff planning to strike, QUBSU has so far not declared whether it would support strike action by Queen’s staff.
In launching a petition for a student referendum, the Students’ Union has decided not to support or oppose the strikes unilaterally, nor to seek majority support from the Student Council in favour of supporting the strikes or in favour of holding a student referendum.
QUBSU backed the most recent round of UCU strikes, which took place in late 2019 and early 2020, by seeking majority support from the Student Council.
However, during this year’s referendum, the QUBSU officers have said that the “Students' Union will remain neutral on the issue of striking and not join any lobbying efforts made from UCU.”
The QUBSU officers have further committed to “follow your lead and respect the outcome of any all-student vote, representing your interests during any strike action.”
According to the online petition, if students vote in favour of supporting the strikes, the QUBSU “will support the cancelling of classes, lectures and teaching” and “will attend and encourage other students to join the picket line”
If students vote against supporting the strikes, the QUBSU “will not attend the picket line”.
Due to the prolonged timeline of holding a student-wide vote via a petition, the process is being triggered before the results of the UCU ballots are announced. If the strike ballots are not successful the referendum will be cancelled.
During the referendum campaign, expected to commence on 8 November, two groups will be selected to lead the campaigning for and against the potential strikes. They will be given access to promotional resources, including posters and flyers, by the SU.
The QUBSU officers added, “Our initial petition is to bring this topic to the entire student population in a referendum, and we want to hear all of your voices. Whether you are unsure, for or against, we will create space for you to echo these opinions on wide-reaching platforms.”
Whilst the QUBSU officers have committed to following the policy decided by the student referendum, if less than 10 per cent of the student population participate in the vote, the Students’ Union constitution stipulates that the result is only advisory and cannot bind the SU.
You can find the petition here
Thomas Copeland is the The Scoop’s head of news
Chelsea Abbott is The Scoop’s deputy health and lifestyle editor