UCU announces additional strike dates for UK Universities

The UCU (University and College Union) announced on 4 March that staff at 68 UK universities will strike for five more days before Easter. 

Image from flickr

The strike action will proceed if the vice-chancellors do not meet staff demands concerning staff pay and working conditions. The upcoming strike action will be taking place over the following two weeks. 39 universities, including UCL, will be striking from 21 March to 25 March, and another 29 universities will be facing strikes from 28 March to 1 April.

Overall, more than one million students will be affected by strike action, as seminars and lectures will probably be cancelled by staff that are UCU members. UCL has said that students will not be assessed on academic content that is not properly covered due to the strikes. 

The industrial action is taking place due to staff demand for improved working conditions and higher pay, especially concerning the pay gaps that exist within several UK universities. The UCU has calculated that on average staff pay is down by 25.5%. As well as a decrease in payment, there is also a gender pay gap of 16%, race pay gap of 17%, and a disability pay gap of 9%. As a result of their industrial action, UCU members hope to eliminate these unequal pay gaps and fight against the decrease in real wages. They also seek to revise issues like casualisation and increased workload.

Data from HESA Staff Records

Many staff members are also taking action short of strike (ASOS), where staff only work to contract and do not reschedule any of the classes that may have been cancelled due to the strike. 

This has led to serious consequences for some UCU members. After a strike ballot was opened, staff at Queen Mary, University of London were told by vice-chancellors that 100% of their pay would be withheld if they did not reschedule their classes that were cancelled during the strikes. Other universities have threatened to do the same to their members of staff as the industrial action continues, and this may continue to occur as strike ballots persist. 

However, this has not seemed to hinder UCU from taking further action. Their general secretary, Jo Grady, has made a statement saying: “Let this ballot be a warning to university bosses across the UK: try to emulate Queen Mary and you too will face strike ballots and further disruption.”