Staff at UK universities to vote on Autumn term walkout

Members of the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) are being balloted on a potential strike action that may see lecturers walk out before Christmas.

The ballot, which ends on 4 November, comes as a result of complaints about pay, pensions, and working conditions.

If the ballot is successful, it will be the third walkout in the last three years, following UCU strikes at 60 institutions in 2019 and at 74 institutions in 2020.

The UCU is demanding: a withdrawal of pension cuts; a £2,500 pay rise; an end to racial, gender, and disability pay gaps; as well as a framework for eliminating precarious employment contracts and unmanageable workloads.

General Secretary of the UCU Jo Grady said that: “University staff are the backbone of the sector, but for a decade, they have been thanked with massive cuts to their pensions, collapsing pay, and the rampant use of insecure contracts.

“The idea that staff would want to go out on strike again could not be further from the truth.”

In the face of potential disruption to teaching, the National Union of Students has supported the UCU’s planned action, stating that “students will hold employers responsible if vice chancellors and employers do not come to a negotiated settlement and address the fundamental issues repeatedly raised by staff”.

After a difficult 18 months, students do not deserve any further disruption

– UUK spokesperson

University College London’s (UCL) students’ union has committed itself to opposing the industrial action, asking academics to “boycott the UCU ballot” and “put students first”.

The union has passed a policy expressing sympathy for the strike ballot’s motivation, but highlighting that a strike would be “a further obstacle” to students’ educations after a year of online learning.

Universities UK (UUK), which represents vice-chancellors, and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) have both opposed the ballot, arguing that the controversial pension cuts were necessary to prevent a rise in contributions, and that a guaranteed 1.5% pay increase was already instituted by universities in August.

The chief executive of the UCEA, Raj Jethwa, said: “It is very disappointing that UCU is starting yet another campaign to encourage its members to cause disruption for students through potentially damaging industrial action”.

The UUK spokesman echoed these remarks, saying that “after a difficult 18 months, students do not deserve any further disruption. It is unclear why UCU thinks it is appropriate for students to suffer.”