UCU announces 18 days of strikes

Photo courtesy: University College London UCU Facebook

UCL staff are set to strike for 18 days between Wednesday 1st February and Wednesday 22nd March. The University and College Union (UCU) announced strikes across 150 UK universities, involving 70,000 UCU members. Staff will walk out over pay, working conditions and pension cuts.

The UCU is demanding a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. Over the last decade staff pay has fallen 25% behind inflation. The UCU revealed that it was offered a pay deal of between 5-8% on 25thJanuary, but rejected the offer, claiming that it didn’t address the years of pay degradation.

Staff are also striking to end zero hour and temporary contracts. According to the UCU, one third of academic staff are on temporary contracts and are paid hourly. Staff also face excessive workloads which cause hours of unpaid work. 

In the pension dispute, the UCU is demanding that employers restore staff pension benefits and repeal pension cuts. Following the package of cuts introduced to staff pensions last year, members are losing an average of 35% from their guaranteed pensions. Those at the beginning of their careers are losing hundreds of thousands.

At UCL, staff are also following a continuous period of ‘action short of strike’ (ASoS). This means that staff will only work their contracted hours, not volunteering to do more. Staff will not reschedule lectures and classes missed because of the strikes, will not provide materials covering classes and lectures cancelled due to strike action, and will not cover for absent colleagues who are striking. 

The UCU will soon be re-balloting its 70,000 members to extend the union’s mandate and enable further action throughout the rest of the academic year. This could include a marking and assessment boycott in April. The reballot campaign will be launched this week. 

UCL are encouraging staff to give reasonable notice to students if they are striking. The university has also promised that students will not be assessed on any material which has not been taught due to the strikes. 

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, has said that the union ‘remains in dispute but determined to reach a negotiated settlement.’

Here are the strike days announced: 

Week one: Wednesday 1 February

Week two: Thursday 9 February, Friday 10 February

Week three: Tuesday 14 February, Wednesday 15 February, Thursday 16 February

Week four: Tuesday 21 February, Wednesday 22 February, Thursday 23 February

Week five: Monday 27 February, Tuesday 28 February, Wednesday 1 March, Thursday 2 March

Week six: Thursday 16 March, Friday 17 March

Week seven: Monday 20 March, Tuesday 21 March, Wednesday 22 March