Strike action re-ballot: 20 March - 24 April

Following the successful ballot of members to take local action against Imperial College London as part of a pay dispute for the 2022-23 pay offer in the autumn, members of the Unite the Union Imperial branch are being balloted again for a further six-month mandate.

The re-ballot opens on 20 March and concludes on 24 April.

As with all formal industrial action, the ballot will be conducted by postal votes. Please try to return your ballot paper by Wednesday 19 April to ensure it arrives in time to be counted.

Update your contact details on your MyUnite login page if you have moved house since the previous ballot. If you have not received your ballot paper by Monday 27 March, please contact Maria Fraser at Unite HQ.

Members of the Unite the Union Imperial branch may call you during the next few weeks to check on whether you've received your ballot and/or returned it, as well as an opportunity for you to speak with committee members and reps about how we can best support you going forward.

Update on strike action

Unite branch members at Imperial overwhelmingly voted in favour of taking strike action,  This strike mandate remains in place until April 2023.

The next strike action will take place on Wednesday 22 March.

Previous strike action took place on Wednesday 30 November, Monday 23 January and Thursday 23 February.

On Thursday 23 February, BBC News filmed a piece reporting on the strike action, and UCU General Secretary Jo Grady joined for a special branch meeting, to which Unite members were invited to attend.

Follow this page for more updates, including announcements on potential future dates of strike action.

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The Unite the Union Imperial branch will be re-balloting members between Monday 20 March and Monday 24 April to extend the six-month strike mandate.

We may also be calling voters during that time to check in on whether there's anything more we can do for branch members and follow up on whether you have received your ballot papers.

You can update your contact and postal details on the MyUnite portal, to ensure you receive your ballot papers in the post.

Unite is Britain's biggest union with 1.42 million members working in both the public and private sectors, employed by universities, NHS, non-profit making organisations, IT companies and the service sector.

At Imperial, Unite represents technical, professional and support service staff and also biomedical and nursing staff on our medical sites.

Unite negotiates with the College to improve pay, terms and conditions and to ensure fair and equal treatment for staff.

You can join Unite the Union directly via the website.

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In autumn 2022, members of the Imperial branch voted to take industrial action in response to the ongoing pay dispute. 

The results were:

Yes - 79.05%

No - 20.95%

Turnout - 51.72% (minimum turnout of 50% for the ballot to have met the threshold for formal mandate)

These results are similar to the ballot that UCU members took at the same time.