Thousands of university workers in UK strike over pay and pensions

Thousands of university workers in the UK have gone on strike in a dispute over employers’ policies about pensions, pay and working conditions.

On day one of the strike planned for coming weeks, large number of university workers on Monday formed picket lines in Glasgow and London, chanting slogans, playing music and holding DIY banners, the University and College Union (UCU) said in a statement.

The staff of 44 universities, including Cambridge, Leeds and Edinburgh, are joining the strike this week, to protest “brutal pension cuts,” the UCU said.

Next week, 50,000 staff from around 70 universities are expected to walk out over the employers’ proposal, which would see the average staff member losing 35 percent of their retirement income.

The UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, who joined the picket line at the University of Strathclyde, acknowledged the great support from students.

“The response from students has been overwhelming and I want to thank every single one of them for standing with us,” he remarked.

Grady said the UCU has put forward several compromise proposals but the university employers have failed to accept any of them.

University staff are striking today

We won’t let bosses destroy our pensions#OneOfUsAllOfUs https://t.co/xdgz5CTFxp

— UCU (@ucu) February 14, 2022

“Vice-chancellors should not doubt the resolve of our members who are determined to stick this out and win what they deserve,” she said, referring to thousands of UCU members who have joined the strike.

Regarding the pay dispute, the UCU is demanding a £2,500 pay increase, as well as action “to tackle unmanageable workloads, pay inequality and the use of insecure and exploitative contracts.”

The development comes on the heels of a recommendation by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which said the universities should dock 100 percent of pay for staff who work to rule as part of the forthcoming industrial action.

“It is outrageous that when they should be trying to resolve this dispute, employer representatives have instead been finding new ways to deduct pay from university workers,” Grady complained.

FROM MONDAY staff at 68 UK universities are going on strike for 3 weeks! An extra part of the strike is the "#DigitalPicketLine". Everyone researching in the UK can join in. - it means no talking research on Twitter or attending online events. ✊🏻 pic.twitter.com/n0Q1ii4T7u

— Striking Dr Lee Raye (@LeafyHistory) February 12, 2022

“Rather than punishing their workforce, these so-called leaders need to look in the mirror and ask why students support staff taking strike action and why their own workforce is so demoralized,” she added.

The strike, which is the latest in a long-running dispute, has caused disruption to normal activities at the country’s largest universities.

In late 2019, UCU staff at 60 universities initially went on strike, which grew to 74 institutions in a second wave of strikes in February 2020.

The outbreak of COVID-19 halted the strikes temporarily but the staff could not resist another strike in last December, which hit more than a million students in leading universities such as the Open University and University College London.

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