Staff at Cardiff University say they are prepared to take further action after claims the university threatened to withhold up to 100% pay from workers who participate in the Univeristy and College Union's assessment boycott. On April 19 staff at Cardiff University received an email from HR management that threatened to deduct between 50 to 100% of their pay if they follow through with the UCU’s marking and assessment boycott.
On April 20, the following day, members of the UCU across 145 universities in the UK, including Cardiff, began the boycott. This means that some staff have stopped doing all work related to students’ summative assessments, including exam preparation, marking, and invigilating.
Andy Williams, a senior lecturer in Cardiff University's school of journalism, media and culture and a UCU spokesman, said: “We were already scared and feeling very guilty for our students and then this email drops which threatens us with punitive strike deductions between 50% to 100%. The main overriding feeling when it dropped was anger, anger, and absolute rage at the insincerity of our employers who have given us such subpar standards and subpar offers.
