A planned strike at London Metropolitan University was today called off after lecturers and the university's bosses agreed to take their longstanding dispute to the arbitration service Acas.
Members of the lecturers' union Natfhe have been engaged in a row with bosses for nearly a year now over new contract arrangements following the merger of the universities of North London and Guildhall to form the new institution more than two years ago.
The strike was called off at the 11th hour last night after representatives of lecturers' union Natfhe met with the university governors' disputes committee.
After the meeting a joint statement was issued, which agreed to: "Formal cessation of all industrial action, with immediate effect, to allow time-limited negotiations to take place at Acas, under the auspices of the Acas conciliation service, regarding the material issues of the dispute. The Natfhe negotiating team will recommend to the meeting of the higher education committee on January 21 2005, the lifting of the academic boycott for the duration of these talks."
The dispute centred on nearly 400 ex-Guildhall staff who Natfhe claimed were being forced to take up the new London Met contract against their will. The university said it was simply attempting to put all its staff on the same conditions.
However, tensions rose between key players at Natfhe and the university's vice-chancellor, Brian Roper, and escalated amid accusations of bullying and counter claims that Natfhe was living in "la la land".
One academic was threatened with the sack in November and the boycott had left some students' work going unmarked last summer after lecturers at other universities refused to mark it. A day of industrial action last September was halted after the university obtained a high court injunction to prevent it happening.
The disputing parties have agreed that their problems must be resolved by February 21. They will agree a set of proposals on the way forward which will be discussed separately by Natfhe and the university's board of governors on March 16.
In the meantime, Natfhe and the university's bosses have agreed to only communicate jointly-agreed statements to the press, that no staff will be dismissed and that all industrial action will be suspended.
