UK PAY DISPUTE: THOUSANDS OF UNIVERSITY STAFF TO STRIKE FOR 18 DAYS BETWEEN FEBRUARY AND MARCH

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Fri 13 January 2023:

In the UK, around 70,000 employees at 150 universities will walk out over 18 days between February and March.

The University College Union (UCU) reported that the strike was launched due to disagreements over wages, working conditions, and threats against pensions.

The union, which comprises academics, trainers, librarians, and other professionals employed by colleges and universities, stated it was calling for higher pay after employers set a pay raise worth 3% after more than ten years of pay awards that lagged owing to inflation, Reuters reported.

If the issues are not resolved, the union will also re-ballot staffers at all 150 universities to extend its mandate and allow industrial action to be called well into 2023, including a boycott of marking and assessment starting in April.

To address the rising cost of living, the union is calling for both — measures to stop the use of “insecure” contracts and a pay increase. On Wednesday, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which advocates for university employers, presented the UCU with a salary offer worth 4 per cent to 5 per cent, but the union claimed this was insufficient.

 

If the issues are not resolved, the union will also re-ballot staffers at all 150 universities to extend its mandate and allow industrial action to be called well into 2023, including a boycott of marking and assessment starting in April.

To address the rising cost of living, the union is calling for both — measures to stop the use of “insecure” contracts and a pay increase. On Wednesday, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which advocates for university employers, presented the UCU with a salary offer worth 4 per cent to 5 per cent, but the union claimed this was insufficient.

“Today our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action,” UCU general secretary Jo Grady said. “University staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts. The choice is theirs,” he continued.

Britain’s universities have been rocked by a series of lecturer walkouts since the start of the academic year.

A three-day walkout by UCU members at 150 universitiesin November was the largest strike by higher education staff in history.

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