UCU: Third wave of UK wide university strikes begins today with five day walkout
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Staff at 40 universities begin five days of strike action this week
Another 27 universities will be hit with five days of strikes next
week New industrial ballots also opened at 149 universities across
the UK Over 50k staff at 67 universities are taking five
consecutive days of strike action over the next two weeks,
beginning today (Monday) as University and College Union (UCU)
members at 38 universities walk out over cuts to pensions
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Over 50k staff at 67 universities are taking five consecutive days of strike action over the next two weeks, beginning today (Monday) as University and College Union (UCU) members at 38 universities walk out over cuts to pensions and deteriorating pay and conditions. Two more universities begin their action on Wednesday (23 March) and staff at 27 further universities start their walk out next week (Monday 28 March) [NOTE 1]. Over one million students will be impacted [NOTE 2]. Due to the nature of its teaching model, which includes weekends, staff at the Open University will be taking seven days of strike action.
This is the third round of strike action of the academic year.
Staff recently took up to 10 days of
strike action over three weeks, from Monday 14 February to
Wednesday 2 March, and previously went on strike for three days
in December 2021. Last month university employers forced through USS pension cuts, which will see 35% slashed from a typical member's guaranteed retirement income. In the pension dispute, UCU is demanding that employers revoke their cuts and re-enter negotiations. New retail price index inflation figures of 7.8% mean UCU estimates staff pay is now down by 26% in real terms since 2009 [NOTE 4]. Over 70k academics are employed on insecure contracts. The gender pay gap in UK universities sits at 16%, whilst the disability pay gap is 9% and the race pay gap is up to 17% [NOTE 5]. In the pay and working conditions dispute the union is demanding an end to race, gender and disability pay injustice; a framework to eliminate zero-hours and other insecure contracts; and meaningful action to tackle unmanageable workloads; as well as a £2.5k pay rise for all university employees. The union said universities can more than afford to meet the demands of staff. University finance figures show total income across the sector is around £41.9bn with reserves of £46.8bn. Students have been supporting the striking staff and the National Union of Students joined the previous round of action with a student strike on Wednesday 2 March. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Vice-chancellors across the UK have the power to end these disputes. The money is there to pay staff properly, tackle punishing working conditions and reverse pension cuts that will devastate retirement incomes. Instead, university bosses are choosing to sit on reserves worth tens of billions of pounds and make their own staff suffer. That’s why we are out on picket lines yet again. 'By continuing to ignore the longstanding and serious concerns of staff, vice chancellors are not only pushing their own workforce to breaking point, but also doing serious harm to the future of higher education and preventing it from being the best it can be.’ Notes [1] GROUP ONE: Members in the following institutions are called to take five consecutive days of strike action starting today (Monday 21 March) and continuing until Friday 25 March unless otherwise noted:
* Staff at the Open University are taking two extra days of
strike action because the teaching model is different to a
standard university week with the bulk of tutorials taking place
during the weekend. They will also be on strike on Saturday 26
and Sunday 27 March. GROUP TWO: Members in the following institutions are called to take five consecutive days of strike action starting on Monday 28 March and continuing until Friday 1 April unless otherwise noted:
[2] According to the 2019/20 HESA Student Record, there are over 900,000 undergraduates and 300,000 postgraduate students at the 67 institutions taking strike action. Enrolments increased by 9% in 2020/21, meaning the actual figures are likely to be higher. [3] Hundreds of thousands of students could be unable to graduate if staff begin a marking boycott. At the 68 universities that currently have a mandate to take strike action and action short of strike there were 240,760 undergraduate and 192,385 postgraduate graduations in 2019/20. The actual figure for this year is likely to be higher as student numbers have increased year on year, and Covid affected 2019/20 awarding/reporting of qualifications. [4] In October 2021 UCU showed that staff pay had fallen by 20% in real terms since 2009. The retail price index increased by 7.8% in January 2022 in comparison to the previous year. These latest inflation figures mean UCU now estimates that university staff pay has fallen by 25.5% since 2009. [5] UCU’s 2021/22 pay claim states the average gender pay gap across the UK higher education sector stands at 16%, the pay gap between Black and white staff is 17%, and the disability pay gap stands at 9% (HESA staff record 2018/19). |
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