'Biggest ever' university strikes planned over next week
Over 150 different universities will take part in strikes over pay, working conditions and pensions in what has been coined as the ‘biggest ever’ strike.
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| Credit: UCU. |
70,000 members of staff across universities in the UK plan
to undertake industrial action on 24, 25 and 30 November.
The University and College Union have said over 2.5 million
students will be affected by these strikes which could even “escalate in the
new year alongside a marking and assessment boycott.” Students are set to face
cancelled lectures and those who do attempt to attend university will have to
cross picket lines.
However, the union have offered their employers a way to
stop all of this: “Disruption can be avoided if employers act fast and make
improved offers.”
Action begins on 24 November, but a lot of staff plan to take
action the day before by refusing to cover for any absent colleagues.
UCU demand a pay rise because of the cost-of-living crisis
and a cut in pensions, which they claim will see the average member lose 35%
from future retirement income. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association
have brought forward pay negotiations to next year in response to the cost-of-living
crisis.
Raj Jethwa Chief Executive of the Universities and Colleges
Employers Association said: “Any threats of industrial action will do nothing
to support students, staff or the many higher education institutions working
hard to avoid redundancies or maintain staffing levels”
However, Jo Grady UCU General Secretary responded: “Vice-chancellors
are choosing to pay themselves hundreds of thousands of pounds whilst forcing our
members on to low-paid and insecure contracts that leave some using food banks.”
The National Union of Students are backing the UCU strikes, stating how students have also faced struggles, like high rents and extortionate tuition fees. NUS Higher Education VP Chloe Field said that the university sector has time and time again “put profit above staff and student well-being.”