The TaxPayers’ Alliance has found the cost of recent university
strikes is equivalent to the tuition fees for 10,285 British
undergraduates’ degrees.
Analysis shows that since 2018, the total cost of the 36 strike
days is £285.4 million, equivalent to £8 million per day. The
University and College Union (UCU) once again balloted this month
over pensions alongside pay and working conditions for staff. The
fresh wave of strikes come after students faced a year or more of
online lectures and disruption, due to strike days and the covid
pandemic.
The UCU, led by one of the top 20 best-paid trade union bosses,
has pursued strike action over pensions despite concerns about
the generosity of existing schemes. According to the latest
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, the higher education USS
pension scheme is in the top 20 per cent of contributors. It is
also in the top half of the most generous public sector
schemes.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance is calling on university union bosses to
stop further disruption, in the interests of hard-pressed
students and taxpayers.
Key findings:
-
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) have
approved strike action in response to the latest dispute over
the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).
-
Since 2018, UCU members have engaged in at least 36 strike
days.
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The total cost of the teaching time lost in strikes since
2018 is almost £178.3 million. If non-teaching staff are
included in this figure, the number rises to £285.4 million.
This equates to £8 million per day of strike action since
2018.
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A further £29 million has been spent on trade union facility
time by universities up to 2021.
-
In 2017, the maximum tuition fees chargeable in England,
Scotland and Northern Ireland were raised to £9,250 per year.
Since this time, almost all English higher education
institutions have increased their fees to match this limit
for at least some of their courses.
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BRIEFING
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
“University union bosses cannot think that now is the right time
for yet more expensive strikes.
“With learning set to be disrupted once again, students and
taxpayers will be questioning value for money in the higher
education sector.
“Union leaders must step back from constant strike action and be
realistic about finding solutions to issues like unaffordable
university pension pots.”
