UCL Student Support for UCU Strikes Reaches Record High

Photo Courtesy: @UCL_UCU

Staff at UCL took part in nationwide strike action with 149 other UK universities on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th November over poor pay, working conditions and pension cuts. They will also be putting up picker fences out on Wednesday, the 30th of November.

The University and College Union (UCU) is demanding an increase in pay, action to close pay gaps, eliminate casualised employment, address staff’s concerns over working conditions and unpaid work, as well as a repeal of the cuts made to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

Many strikers on the picket lines around UCL pointed out the crux of the issue to be the marketization of the higher education (HE) sector. Dr Saladin Meckled-Garcia, the Branch Secretary of UCL UCU, said that the vice-chancellors (VCs) have turned universities into “factories for making money out of students”. He said: “Students’ money is not going into getting more out of education, investments in their teachers and their experience. Their money is going to build buildings or pay the salaries of the people at the top.”

Students were at the picket line in solidarity with the staff. The results from the referendum on UCU Strike Action conducted by the Student Union (SU) show that 68.7% (4,322) of students voted to support the strikes. 26.9% (1,693) opposed while 4.4% (275) abstained. It broke the record of being the largest referendum the SU has ever held, and its results show an increase of students who support strike action. Lorelai, a UCL student, said: “Their working conditions are our learning conditions.”  

Strikers expressed that most university lecturers are not on high wages, nor are they neglecting students’ needs. “We’ve got thousands and thousands of people working in the university sector who are on casual contracts, some of them on zero-hours contracts, getting paid a pittance, barely scraping a living [...] whilst our employers, the VCs are on six-figure salaries,” Dr Meckled-Garcia said. He emphasised the poor working conditions of lecturers and oversubscription of classes, have “a direct impact on students’ education”. Rob Trainer, a member of staff at UCL’s Student and Registry Services said taking industrial action now will help safeguard the well-being and working conditions of students who aspire to enter the sector. “They’re already ripping up the pension scheme, 35%. So all the students who want to go into academia or professional services or higher education jobs, what’s gonna be there for them? If we don’t do something now [...] you guys will have nothing,” he said.