UCU to halt national strikes for two weeks 

The UCU has announced it has cancelled its planned strike action over the next two weeks across the country.

It claimed ‘significant progress’ had been made over issues of pay and pensions for university staff.

Planned industrial action on 21, 22, 23, 27 and 28 February along with March 1 and 2 will now not go ahead.

This will affect weeks 7 and 8 of this term at Warwick.

Action later in the term, on 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 March,  is still scheduled to occur.

Before going into details off the progress we have made we want to make it absolutely clear that this is simply a pause

– Jo Grady, General Secretary of the UCU 

The UCU has been demanding a pay rise in line with the cost-of-living crisis, improvements to pensions after recent cuts, an end to casualised contracts and a 35 hour working week.

Jo Grady, General Secretary of the UCU said: “We have reached a point in discussions with our employers where we have made significant progress across a range of issues.

“To allow our ongoing negotiations to continue in a constructive environment we have agreed to pause action across our pay and working conditions and USS pensions disputes for the next two weeks and create a period of calm.

“Before going into details off the progress we have made we want to make it absolutely clear that this is simply a pause.”