Negotiations over university staff’s pay must restart “urgently” to prevent students from facing graduation delays due to a marking boycott, the University of Cambridge’s leader has said.
The dispute should be “resolved as quickly as possible” so that students have their exams marked on time, a statement from Dr Anthony Freeling, acting vice-chancellor at Cambridge University, and Michael Abberton, president of the University and College Union (UCU) Cambridge branch, has urged.
Members of the UCU began the boycott at 145 universities across the UK in an ongoing dispute over staff’s pay and working conditions on April 20.
The union has said the boycott, which has been in place for more than a month, will continue until employers make an improved offer.
The acting vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and the union’s Cambridge branch have called on the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) to return to the negotiating table with the UCU “to reach an agreed settlement” for the sake of students who face graduation delays.
