The BSA is aware that many sociologists, as UCU members in UK Universities, have participated in recent ballots about industrial action about pay and conditions of work and/or in defence of their pension scheme (USS). Strike action or action short of strikes by UCU colleagues is scheduled to start on 1 December in 64 universities across the UK.

The BSA understands the issues raised by UCU about work and remuneration in higher education. While not all sociologists are members of the UCU, the USS pension scheme, or the universities affected by the action, the BSA would like to reiterate our support to our members who are both facing the immediate financial pressures of being on strike and all those involved in the fight to protect pensions and resist the marketization of higher education. A link to UCU advice, information and answers to FAQs about the proposed strike action can be found here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/strikeforuss

We hope that employers will take meaningful steps towards engaging with the issues that lie behind the different actions being taken and the likely re-ballots in the New Year.

Communication with members during strike period

The BSA office supports our members and all sociologists who are affected by the UCU strike action. To honour the digital picket line, the BSA will not tweet, retweet or send promotional emails for the full strike period from 1-3 December. We will maintain radio silence, with the exception of urgent emails, such as abstract decisions for approaching conferences, journal article decisions and essential communications relating to the Annual Conference. We may send select, essential communication because some members are not affected by the strike, for example those based outside the UK and at non-striking institutions.

We understand that members on strike may not open correspondence and, in some cases, will be deleting all email communication they receive during the strike. The BSA office will therefore resend all essential communications after the strike to ensure that members do not miss important information. As it is impossible for the office to know which members have and have not deleted communications during the strike, some members may receive communications twice.

We are here to support our members and will keep all communication to an absolute minimum in solidarity with all those who are taking part in the action. The office staff will be in and working regular hours as we are not university employees and so are not directly involved in the disputes. We are happy to help anyone getting in touch with us during this period.

We are thinking of all those who will be on the picket lines and affected by the strike.