27 November 2022
In a morale-boosting act of solidarity, Glasgow students march down the road from the library opposite the UCU picket to join them. Photo Workers.
Three days of strike action are hitting virtually every university in the country, with action on 24, 25 and 30 November in the biggest walkout that the University and College Union (UCU) has ever taken. More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities are acting in defence of their pay, pensions and working conditions.
The members want an above-inflation pay rise and vowed to step up action next year if their demands are not met. The UCU added that employers also imposed a pay rise worth just 3 per cent this year following over a decade of below-inflation pay awards.
The union also calculates that the average member will lose 35 per cent from their guaranteed future retirement income due to pension changes.
Affordable
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the sector can more than afford to meet staff demands The UK university sector generated a record income of £41.1 billion last year, with the 150 vice-chancellors facing action collectively earning an estimated £45 million.
“[Staff] have had enough of falling pay, pension cuts and gig-economy working conditions, all whilst vice-chancellors enjoy lottery-win salaries and live it up in their grace-and-favour mansions,” she said.
“Staff are burnt out, but they are fighting back.”
“Staff are burnt out, but they are fighting back and they will bring the whole sector to a standstill. Vice-chancellors only have themselves to blame. Their woeful leadership has led to the biggest vote for strike action ever in our sector.”
Grady continued, “Students are standing with staff because they know this can’t go on. And they know that a sector which generates tens of billions of pounds each year from tuition fees can afford to treat its staff fairly.
“Further disruption can be avoided if the concerns of staff are addressed with urgency. But the overpaid vice-chancellors killing our sector should be under no illusion: 70,000 dedicated university workers are ready to take even bigger action in the new year.”
Solidarity
A representative for the National Union of Students said, “Students stand in solidarity with the university staff across the UK who are taking strike action this week. Staff teaching conditions are students’ learning conditions.”
“We must fight together for a fairer, healthier education system for everyone who works and studies. This is the fifth year in a row that government cuts to education and slashes to workers’ rights across the UK have resulted in strike action on our campuses,” she added.
“In that time, staff and students have stood together in the fight for better pay and conditions for all university staff, including the thousands of postgraduate students on increasingly casualised contracts. The struggles we face as students are inextricably linked to the reasons that staff are striking.
“High rents, astronomical international student fees and cuts to maintenance support have happened for the same reasons that staff are suffering under huge workloads - the failed marketisation of the sector, which has put profit above staff and student well-being.”
• The UCU’s Respect FE campaign in further education continues to gain improved offers on pay, workload and conditions in many participating colleges. Members at Chichester College Group were due to begin further strike action last week. But last Friday’s weekly newsletter to UCU members reported that action had been suspended to allow consultation on an improved offer from the employer.
Regional official Michael Moran said, “The improved offer is testament to the resolve of a determined membership unwilling to take further real terms pay cuts. Make no mistake action will continue if the further talks do not bring results.”